AURORA MLBB spoiled Twisted Minds debut with a clean sweep on the opening day of the MPL Philippines Season 15 at the Green Sun Hotel in Makati City.
Twisted Minds kicked off the season with an unorthodox strategy with a minor tweak on the starting lineup in an attempt to catch Aurora MLBB off guard, switching Stephen "Sensui" Castillo from the jungler role to roam.
Twisted Minds head coach Kristoffer "BON CHAN" Ricaplaza explained the thought process behind the change of role of Sensui to being a roamer.
“Actually, jungler talaga yung role niya nung pumasok sa amin and accidentally, noong sinabi niyang gusto niyang i-try na mag-roam, nagulat kami na naging maganda yung result. So why not mag-proceed tayo as roamer si Sensui,” coach BON CHAN explained.
In Sensui’s daring shift in role, he is backed by a familiar force—his ex-teammate and Aurora’s team captain, Renejay “Renejay” Barcarse.
Was Aurora shocked by the sudden twist of events?
“Never namin in-expect na magro-roam talaga siya. Pero alam ko before nagcha-chat sila ni Renejay. Nagtatanong siya kung ano yung mga ginagawa ng isang roam. Then kami naman, hindi naman talaga namin alam na magro-roam siya kasi nasa lineup si Escalera,” head coach Aniel “Master the Basics” Jiandani said.
“Then ang na-expected namin talaga, maglalabas sila ng mga cheese strat kaso yun nga, cheese player pala yung nailabas,” Master the Basics jokingly added.
Twisted Minds may pull surprises up their sleeves, but Aurora remained jitterless and remained laser-focused on their mission – claiming their first win of the season.
In the heated showdown between Aurora MLBB and Twisted Minds, it all boiled down to the chemistry they have built through trials of fire all along.
Team chemistry prevails
Head coach BON CHAN admitted how their in-progress chemistry posed a challenge in their MPL opener but remained optimistic that they can work on it as the season pushes through.
“Unang-una siguro yung chemistry namin na hindi pa siya ganon ka solid, especially sa mga targeting, something like that. And para sa akin, hindi naman siya ganon ka hirap na i-fix and minor lang. So try namin mag-focus,” coach BON CHAN said.
Despite pulling off a clean sweep and giving their best efforts against Twisted Minds, Renejay pointed out the factor that spelled the difference but refused to be overly confident.
“Tingin ko, 100 percent naman. Pero dahil nga po siguro medyo bago pa yung Twisted Minds. Tapos hindi sila pagano ka-solid. Nagmukha lang parang konti yung percentage na pinakita. Pero all-in naman po kami sa lahat ng mga games namin,” Renejay expressed.
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