Liquid ECHO once again emerged as the champion of MPL Philippines after dominating defending champion Falcons AP.Bren in the Season 13 grand finals, with Sanford “Sanford” Vinuya taking his second Finals MVP award.
In an exclusive interview with Tiebreaker Times, Sanford admitted he was surprised to have won the award, especially given Alston “Sanji” Pabico’s performance in the final two games that led to their championship victory.
“Totally di ko po siya inexpect talaga kasi sobrang deserve po ng lahat na maging MVP, especially si Sanji. Siya po talaga yung clutch nung Game 4. Sobrang thankful pa rin ako na ako yung napili pero kung ako tatanungin, si Sanji talaga yung Finals MVP,” he said.
The 17-year-old explaner remains thankful as he believes this award silenced all his doubters after his team finished third last season and missed defending the M-series title.
“Sobrang saya po kasi ito na yung chance na pinakita ko na nasa prime pa rin ako. Marami na nagsasabi sakin na yung prime ko is tapos na nung M4. Gusto ko lang sabihin sa kanila na hindi pa tapos.”
In the grand finals, Sanford dominated his match-up against Hall of Legends inductee David “FlapTzy” Canon, giving ECHO enough space to operate and win decisive battles in objective team fights.
He averaged 4.5 kills and 6.5 assists in the grand finals against only 1.5 deaths in the four-game series.
(C) MPL PH
“Yun po talaga mindset ko, high risk, high reward talaga. Tini-treat ko po itong grand finals na parang scrim na lang kasi yung main goal ko po talaga this season is makapag-MSC. Di ko inexpect na ganun yung ipe-perform ko. Dahil din po siguro sa suport ng Cavalry, di ko to magagawa kung di dahil sa kanila,” said Sanford of his aggressive gameplay in the grandfinals.
Now with two Finals MVP awards under his belt, including two MPL PH titles and the M4 World Championship crown, Sanford enters the Hall of Legends conversation.
However, he feels that there are other people more deserving of such an award.
“Medyo deserve naman po pero para sakin may mga tao pa na mas deserving sakin. Medyo maaga pa naman. Feel ko mas marami talagang deserving sakin,” he said.
He believes that both his teammates Frederic “Bennyqt” Gonzales and Jaypee “Jaypee” Cruz deserve to be considered for such recognition.
“Sakin po, si Bennyqt kasi Season 5 pa lang andiyan na siya. Sobrang consistent din ng laro niya eventhough di pa siya nagtsa-champion before nakalipat sa ECHO,” explained Sanford.
“Then si Jaypee din kasi nakasali na siya sa halos lahat ng international tournament eh. Nakapag-back-to-back champion na siya. Nakapag-Worlds na siya. Nakapag-MDL at nakapag-MPL champion din so talagang sobrang deserve niya.”
