Kiel “Kielvj” Hernandez is set to return in Omega Esports main five, taking over the midlane post from captain Patrick “E2max” Caidic who will be sitting out the Sibol qualifiers along with roamer Joshua “Ch4knu” Mangilog.
The esports organization announced its new-look lineup on Saturday, July 9 while introducing new roamer, Deomar “Mikko” Tabangay who is also set to be part of the team’s final roster for the upcoming MPL Philippines Season 10.
Joining the two in Omega are mainstays Duane “Kelra” Pillas, Renz “Renzio” Cadua and Christian “Raizen” Sumagui.
After playing a vital role in Season 7, Kiel’s performance spiraled down in the next few seasons and prompted head coach Jomie “Pakbet” Abalos to relegate him to the reserves. Kiel played sparingly in Season 9 and was not with the team when it tried to defend its crown in the MSC 2022.
Mikko, on the other hand, was part of the esports organization grassroots program, having been involved with the team since July last year as part of Omega Academy program. He finally found a break in the Sibol qualifiers where he is expected to fill in the huge shoes left by Ch4knu.
Omega will be seeing action in the second phase of the Sibol qualifiers along with other invited teams RSG Philippines and Blacklist International. The top two teams at the end of the qualifiers will get an invite to the Sibol combine which will serve as the training pool for the national team.
Sibol will then handpick players that will don the country’s tri-colors in the IESF World Esports Championships set in Bali, Indonesia in December.