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    Coach Panda praises H2wo's maturity and hails Irrad as Kairi-like player

    In the end, Coach Panda aspires to redeem himself next season
    May 7, 2023
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    THE DEFENDING MSC CHAMPIONS, RSG Slate PH can no longer defend their trophy as ECHO PH slayed the Raiders in the lower bracket.

    It was a close encounter as the series went to distance, but in the end it was the Orcas who had the last laugh.

    The outcome speaks a lot on RSG's resiliency, a team who managed to reach the top three despite an awkward regular season performance and losing key players in Jonard Cedrix "Demonkite" Caranto and Arvie "Aqua" Antonio.

    With a valiant end to their campaign, Coach Brian "Panda" Lim praised his team for their overall efforts.

    After spending his entire career under Nexplay EVOS, John Paul "H2wo" Salonga joined the Raiders.

    While he lost his starting spot due to John "Irrad" Abarquez' revelationary performance, Coach Panda reminded him on what he needs to improve.

    "What I like about H2wo is his mentality. He is humble, but I always told him that, ‘H2wo ang bait-bait mong tao pero what I want to change from you is your personality sa in-game. For example if he is like a teddy bear from outside, always nice, then I wanted him to be a lion in-game," reflected Coach Panda.

    Yet amid his flaws, Coach Panda praised H2wo for being one of the beacons of the team.

    "But because of that personality and maturity, the team was able to have tenacity to keep on going because he is the happy maker in our team e."

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    Irradicating Kairi

    Speaking about Irrad, Coach Panda looked back and assessed what would happen if he had more time with the up-and-coming star.

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    "Kay Irrad, batang-bata ito talaga. He feels like he’s a tiger or lion pero I call him a fox who wants to be a lion, because a fox is a sly enemy pero mabilis mag-adjust sa environment," explained the MSC champ coach.

    Had there been more time with Irrad, Coach Panda realized that the former MDL jungler has potential to play like Onic Indonesia's Kairi "Kairi" Rayosdelsol.

    "So iniisip ko, we only trained with him for two weeks of solid practice and two weeks of adjustments. What would happen if I trained him talaga, just focused on him so hard and improve his mechanics, decision making, communication, and also mentality, then he can become the next Kairi or better than Kairi," revealed Panda.

    Meanwhile, Panda acknowledged the efforts from the other members of the team. He did reveal that he bullied Dexter "Exort" Martinez, but he admired his overall willpower. Exort has been overlooked in the previous seasons as he was relegated to the bench.

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    "Kay Exort, grabe I think this whole season I bullied him so much. I told him, ikaw yung butas, ikaw eto, wala naman nagbago, and I’m sure that’s so stressful for him."

    Coach Panda kept on: "Pero I really loved the way how he keep going on and on, and then I don’t think right now his performance is under Aqua. He really performed well today. I’m very proud."

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    A more determined Coach Panda

    For RSG to overcome a grueling season, Coach Panda couldn't have done it without the efforts from Dylan "Light" Catipon. The RSG roamer has been one of the most consistent performers for the Raiders due to his setups.

    "If he (Light) falls off, then there’s no team tapos wala din ako. So I’m very proud and thankful kay Light for staying strong kahit we have sobrang daming adjustments and drama this season."

    But it wasn't just Light who drove the ship for RSG as the other veterans were key as well. Nathzz saw a coming-of-age development this season.

    "Kay Nathzz, I’m happy with his maturity. He didn’t walk out this time sa playoffs. Actually he was the one being positive kanina e."

    And in the end, Coach Panda expressed his desire to avenge his defeat.

    "EMANN is strong, I will make sure that he gets the achievement that he wants next time. Sobrang gigil talaga ako next season so watch out for us," said Coach Panda.

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