WITH JOHN "IRRAD" ABARQUEZ, having a spectacular Season 11 playoff performance, one can argue that he could be a breakout star in Season 12.
Unfortunately a 0-2 defeat against a V33Wise-less Blacklist International served as a wakeup call for the up-and-coming jungler.
Coach Brian "Panda" Lim revealed in a post-match press conference that Irrad was suffering from mentality issues this season, struggling to apply what he learned in training to the actual stage.
"One of the main issues that is happening right now is that our players lalo na si Irrad is having a hard time, trying to play the tournament aggressively like parang sa scrim," started the Hall of Legends inductee.
It was puzzling to see Irrad underperform in this series especially with the confidence he displayed from last season's playoffs. During Game 1, in a draft where RSG was supposed to win, Irrad's mental lapses got the best of him.
"For example that Game 1 Hayabusa, sa totoo lang it's an unlosable draft. Legit. Kapag sa tournament na, Irrad becomes nervous na and then he starts playing passive na."
Panda added: "So what's the point of giving him assassins if his mindset is passive na? So this is a challenge that I really need to tackle during the regular season...how to train Irrad to play a tournament like it's a scrim."

Humanizing Irrad
Even during the victory that RSG attained over Onic PH, Irrad's mentality was placed under the spotlight, something that Coach Panda revealed.
"Maraming beses na sinasabi ko sa kanya kahit last night where we won against Onic. Sabi ko kay Irrad, 'I don't really care if 0-10 ka, we lose because as what I said, regular season is a preparation for the playoffs."
He elaborated: "I just want you to try everything you want para walang regrets. But again, tao din siya e. Hindi niya kaya mag-change bigla-bigla. So this is something that I need to tackle further ahead."
It likewise didn't help that his teammates weren't able to deal with Stephen "Sensui" Castillo's Baxia in Game 2 as he was given so much space in the jungle.
"For Game 2, again this is a clumsy mistake that the team made. Sabi ko sa kanila maraming beses, 'If there's a Baxia, huwag niyong iwanan yung jungler niyo kase baka may chance na baka mahuli yung resources niyo early game," explained Panda in the press conference.

Honing Irrad's discipline
While Irrad's sudden dip in mentality is something that Coach Panda needs to address, he did reiterate that Irrad should've much better now given the discipline that his prized jungler developed during the offseason.
"Na-boost yung confidence niya, pero the Irrad before and Irrad now is different. I'm not saying that Irrad last season was better because in terms of scrim performance, he is way better ngayon because last season he was playing his own game style, carrying the team."
He clarified: "Ngayon, I played him to be a more team player now regarding sa discipline and also communication, execution with the team."
Then when asked if Blacklist's decision to ban his heroes in Game 1 was a cause of Irrad's demise, Panda denied this thought, saying: "No not at all, si Irrad maraming heroes sa scrim but again kahit anong hero we give, if he puts a very passive character inside the game, the result will be the same pa rin," narrated Panda.
Still it may be too early to judge Irrad and RSG in Season 12 and given their history of bouncing back last season after an awkward regular season, perhaps we could see the team steamroll as the weeks progress.
And maybe Irrad could finally find his new voice in the team, something that Panda hinted.
"This season, so far the early part, maybe he is trying to find his voice regarding how I'm going to lead this game because bagong Irrad ako," said Panda.
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