Seen as outcasts and "leftovers" after being left without a team during the off-season, winning the title in the MPL Philippines Season 9 would be a fitting redemption act for some of the RSG players, according to Coach Brian “Panda” Lim.
Creating the RSG team from the scratch and consisting of players who, most of them, got released by their former teams, the veteran tactician was simply happy to see his players prove themselves in the big stage once again all while putting the team in good position to contend for the MPL crown.
“When RSG started, everyone calls us a “chop suey team.” Not even a single player in RSG has a championship title especially in the MPL but we all started there from Season 8 but in Season 9, we’re actually getting the right puzzles together,” said coach Panda whose wards proved to be some of the best players in the league right now after toppling ECHO with a 2-0 sweep and snatch the MPL top spot with league-best 10-2 record.
Kenneth “Kenji” Villa and EJ “Heath” Esperanza were former players released by Omega Esports after it went for a major revamp prior to Season 8. Arvie “Aqua” calderon was from the Cignal Ultra while Dexter “Exort” Martinez was previously from Nexplay Evos.
Season 9 additions Dylan “Light” Catipon and Clarense “Kousei” Camillo were also released by their former team TNC Pro Team before RSG picked them up in the off-season.
With these players along with young guns Jhonard "Demonkite" Caranto, Eman "Emann" Sangco, and Nathanael "Nathzz" Estrologo in the fold, RSG is currently the hottest team in the league with a seven-game win streak which allowed them to be in a good position to secure the No. 1 seed at the end of the eliminations.
Panda is eager to keep their momentum going to the playoffs as the team tries to win its first title in its second season in the league.
“I’m really happy because we’re on the way reaching our goals. So, if we win, everyone would think that the chop suey or leftovers are actually the best pieces of the season so it’s masarap to think about it,” he added.
The job is far from over, however, as RSG still has two more games to play, one against the M3 World Champion Blacklist International and runner-up Onic Philippines in the final week of the regular season.