IF THERE'S one thing the Sibol qualifiers proved, it's that the next few seasons of the MPL could be the era where the rookies would dominate.
In fact, there were impressive highlights from players like Vincent “Joy Boy” De Guzman from Bren Esports and Ralph “Flick” Hamoy from Onic Philippines.
Then there were those rookies who never crumbled under the pressure or series of unfortunate events — and instead, pushed their teams to the finals, as seen with Nexplay EVOS’ new big three.
They never felt the intimidation of wearing the big shoes left by the original trio of John Paul “H2wo” Salonga, Renejay “RENEJAY” Barcarse, and Tristan “Yawi” Cabrera, in fact they cherished it.
And the MPL veterans lauded the performances of these driven up-and-coming superstars.
A new big three, a new era for Nexplay EVOS
A Season 8 vlog from Jeff Lenjesson “S4gitnu” Subang revealed a frustrated Neil “Midnight” De Guzman criticizing his team for their lack of communication, saying, “Magsalita kayo guys! Magsalita lang!”
However, Nexplay’s post-match interview revealed a new shotcaller in the teams ranks who was able to address the team’s overall communication.
Despite his rookie status, Rainiel “URESHII” Logronio was chosen as the team’s shotcaller and he drew praise from H2wo.
“Actually malaki yung tiwala ko sa kakampi namin ngayon kase sa amateur pa lang napapanood ko sila tsaka yung shotcaller talaga namin si URESHII kaya may respeto ako sa kanya. Nakikinig ako sa kanya kase magaling siya mag-shotcall,” said Nexplay’s superstar jungler.
In fact, the deep level of trust that these two players have was revealed in H2wo’s herculean clash against RSG PH, where Nexplay overwhelmed the Raiders amid the 5-v-2 disadvantage.
“Nagtanong si URESHII na, ‘Kaya ba ito H2wo?’ at sabi ko, ‘Sige kaya ito.’ Tapos nag-ibon yung Pharsa sa harapan ko tapos kinombo ko. Kase wala silang damage maliban kay Pharsa eh.”
This ultimately led to a momentum shifting play in favor of Nexplay EVOS.
But it wasn’t just him that drew the attention of the community, as two other Nexplay newcomers, Marius “DONUT” Tan and Kenneth “CADENZA” Castro, also drew praise from Blacklist International’s analyst, Aniel “Master The Basics” Jiandani.
“Actually, yung tatlong rookies nila sina URESHII, DONUT, at CADENZA parang hindi sila mga amateur.”
And it’s possible that URESHII and DONUT might be prominently featured in Season 9 given their Sibol performances. Would the squad even go as far as slotting them in for RENEJAY and Jhonwin "Hesa” Vergara, especially with the latter rumored to be giving Setsuna “Akosi Dogie” Ignacio problems?
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