Tristan “Yawi” Cabrera and ECHO spent the past two days in the Shooting Gallery Studios where they scored dominant 2-0 victories against Blacklist International and Bren Esports in the MPL Philippines Season 11.
Indeed, it has been a grueling opening week schedule for the reigning world champion.
But instead of taking the Sunday off to rest, the 21-year-old roamer still went out of his way to travel back to Makati from ECHO’s bootcamp in Parañaque to support his former teammate and close friend John Paul “H2wo” Salonga, who will be making his debut for RSG PH.
“Actually, chinat niya ako bago mag-game sabi niya manonood daw siya,” said H2wo after RSG PH’s match against ONIC PH.
“Tapos nagulat ako wala siyang kasama, mag-isa lang siya kaya ayun thank you kay Yawi. Salamat sa support kahit magkaibang team na tayo, papanoorin rin kita soon kapag may laban kayo,” he added.
H2wo made sure to repay Yawi’s support by helping RSG PH open its Season 11 campaign with a rousing 2-0 victory against ONIC PH.
The former Nexplay EVOS jungler, who assumed the spot vacated by Jhonard “Demonkite” Caranto, said there’s definitely pressure in replacing the former Rookie of the Season.
He also admitted that he is still adjusting to RSG PH’s disciplined approach after spending the last five seasons playing for the uber-aggressive NXPE.
“Siguro may onting pressure kasi lalo na bago akong member sa RSG, lalo na pinalitan ko si Demonkite. Kaya may onting pressure kasi goods yung laruan ni Demonkite nung past seasons kaya need kong galingan ngayong season,” said H2wo.
“Pero masaya kasi sa bago kong team nanalo kami agad ng first game. Yung pakiramdam na bago sa RSG parang naninibago pa kasi more on discipline sila sa RSG kaya ayun, ginagawa namin yung best namin para maging mas malakas pa lalo,” he continued.
RSG PH head coach Brian “Panda” Lim doubled down on what H2wo said and bared that the 20-year-old jungler is still in the adjustment phase. He, however, praised H2wo for being patient and professional during his transition.
“Yung totoo or plastic? Sa scrim [namin], one out of five. Sa NXPE 0.5 siguro, so the for the past two months I increased [his rating] to 0.5 points,” said Panda.
“But again, this kid has lots of potential because mabait, masipag, and very honest. He just needs more knowledge, experience, and discipline.”
