Cover-Credits:
RSG PH continues to prove its title as the “Kingslayers” after a victorious match against ONIC PH in the fourth week of the Mobile Legends: Professional League (MPL) Philippines (PH) Season 9. ONIC PH was able to match RSG PH’s map dominance and even opened up a third deciding match. However, Jonard "Demonkite" Cedrix Caranto spearheaded RSG PH to a successful match series with his relentless assassin playstyle. The substitute mid laner, Dexter "Exort" Martinez also showed an impressive performance with his Yve. Through a post-match interview, it was revealed that RSG PH made last-minute changes due to a medical emergency from one of its pro players.
Demonkite spearheaded RSG PH to upset ONIC PH in the MPL PH Season 9
ONIC PH had the early game advantage with its Johnson and Kadita combo. The unpredictability of Allen "Baloyskie" Jedric Baloy'a Johnson made it hard for RSG PH to find a good opening to engage. However, a critical misplay by Baloyskie at the 19-minute mark allowed RSG PH to go all in and secured a wipeout at the expense of losing Exort. With no one left to defend ONIC PH’s base, RSG PH pressed onward and closed the first game of the series with a victory.
Thanks to Jaylord "Hatred" Gonzales’s accuracy in landing Selena arrows, ONIC PH was able to execute deadly ambushes, taking a massive 9,000 gold lead against RSG PH. The massive gold lead allowed Mark "Markyyyyy" Christian Capacio’s Wanwan to hit its power spike, adding more pressure to RSG PH. After securing the Lord at the 16-minute mark, ONIC PH immediately rushed to finish the game with a victory and opened up a third deciding match.
In the deciding match, RSG PH managed to stay ahead of gold and objectives thanks to the swift rotations by Demonkite’s Lancelot. ONIC PH struggled during teamfigths and Objective securing due to Exort’s Yve putting pressure during skirmishes. In the end, Hatred’s Beatrix could not keep up with the gold lead and performed worse as the match dragged longer. After an uncontested Lord kill at the 13-minute mark, RSG PH went on to close the match series with a 2-1 victory.
Exort was drafted to play as RSG PH’s last-minute decision
Through a post-match interview, it was revealed that Exort was not supposed to play in the match against ONIC PH. However, due to unforeseen circumstances, he was given the opportunity to play as a mid-lane substitute for Arvie “Aqua” Antonio.
“Last night, Aqua slept early because he was down with a fever. He was then sent back (to the Bootcamp) and at the last minute, I was the one who played,” Exort said.
He added that he only made a few preparations and practice matches due to the last-minute changes.
“I made one game scrim and a few ranked games while waiting. So, yeah, I had last-minute practices,” the mid-laner said.
RSG PH hopes to keep its second-place position in the regular season leaderboards as it will face Nexplay EVOS on the fifth week of the MPL PH Season 9.
Keep up with the live scores, schedule, stream links, and more with AFK Gaming's hub for the MPL PH Season 9.
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