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    Rockhart: MPL-PH season champ should be ‘Mobile Legends’ SEA Games team

    One pro team, veteran caster suggests, rather than a Gilas-style selection
    May 18, 2021
    PHOTO: (Rockhart) Tammy David

    AS IN 2019, esports juggernaut Mobile Legends: Bang Bang will be among the medal events in the upcoming 2021 SEA Games in Hanoi. Needless to say, the Philippines will be eager to defend its gold in MLBB.

    Back then, the team was composed of Jeniel "Haze" Bata-Anon, Angelo Kyle "Pheww" Arcangel, Allan Sancio "Lusty" Castromayor, Karl Gabriel "KarlTzy" Nepomuceno, Kenneth Jiane "Kenji" Villa, Carlito "Ribo" Jr., and Jason Rafael "Jay" Torculas.

    It was an all-star collection, selected from a combine held four months before the games, and led to victory by ArkAngel’s coach Brian “Panda” Lim.

    Current MPL-PH Season 7 caster Karl “Rockhart” To, though, has another suggestion.

    “For me, sa SEA Games, as much as possible, isang buong team,” he said in his show in audio livecast app Calamansi (Google Play, App Store), where he goes live almost every day from 9 p.m. onwards.

    The app makes it possible for fans and listeners to volley questions. One listener asked him about Execration's Joshua "Ch4knu" Mangilog, which Rockhart used as an opportunity to segue into a discussion about the upcoming regional competition.

    It was his opinion, he said, that the national MLBB squad should just be one intact pro team, and not a Gilas-style crew of the best players.

    “Pag hinimay-himay mo pa, isa sa Exe[cration], isa sa Bren, isa sa Blacklist, isa sa Omega, ganun di ba, ang hirap. Kasi magpa-practice sila. E kailan na yung SEA Games, diba? Ang lapit na.”

    In fact, in response to another listener, he believed that the champion of the MPL-PH would actually be the ideal national team.

    In an interview with SPIN Life, Rockhart clarified his position.

    "Ako kasi, [it's about] efficiency," he said. He described the very tough schedule awaiting pro Mobile Legends players: the MPL-PH Season 7 playoffs and finals until June, then the regional Mobile Legends Southeast Asia Cup (MSC) also in June, and then MPL-PH Season 8, which will likely begin in August and run all the way to October.

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    The SEA Games, meanwhile, will commence in December.

    Rockhart continued: "Ongoing na din yung Season 8, tapos magte-train pa tayo for possible different combinations in Hanoi. Everything that the pro players are going through, bugbog-sarado na talaga sila. Tapos dadagdagan mo pa yung effort, yung pressure of practicing with different players from different teams. For me, that's not going to build synergy."

    This is why he advocates just selecting the most recent MPL-PH champion to be the country's flagbearer in the esports event.

    "They've already proven that they're the best. Why do we have to do it again? And why do we have to experiment [all] over again?" Rockhart said.

    The rules for the national team would be determined by the sport’s national association, the Philippine Esports Organization or PESO. This early in the game, of course, the NSA has not yet released guidelines for team selection.

    Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph

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    PHOTO: (Rockhart) Tammy David
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