Love is certainly not lost between old pals now turned rivals.

RSG Slate Philippines' H2wo poses for a photo with old pals Yawi of ECHO and Renejay of Blacklist (Blacklist International photo)

John Paul “H2wo” Salonga had the numbers of both of his old pals Renejay “RENEJAY” Barcase and Tristan “Yawi” Cabrera in their matches in the first round of the MPL Philippines Season 11.

H2wo and his RSG Slate Philippines were living up to their Kingslayers nickname, defeating defending champion Blacklist International where RENEJAY played with a 2-0 sweep before pulling off a huge 2-0 win against M4 World Champion ECHO which has Yawi as starting roamer.

Strange was seeing his old pals from the other side of the stage for the RSG jungler especially after all the seasons he spent with the two during their time in Nexplay EVOS when they formed the once so-called ‘Big 3’.

"Nakakapanibago kasi ang tagal ng seasons na magkasama kami ni Renejay eh. Tapos di ako sanay na magkaiba kami ng team,” said H2wo who parted ways with NXPE the same time Renejay left the team.

While still feeling odd playing against Yawi, H2wo admitted that there’s some kind of relief to get one against the defending champions especially with how dominating their performance prior to their game in Week 4

"Ang sarap sa feeling kasi alam namin yung team ni Yawi sobrang lakas talaga. Lalo na nung nag-M4 world champion sila. Kaya ayun, nice game kay Yawi. Sarap sa feeling kasi nakatalo kami ng M4 world champion,”said H2wo.

The veteran jungler said the win should come as fitting momentum for the team heading into the second half of the regular season. The game against ECHO should also be a huge confidence booster for the reigning MSC champions especially after a roller-coaster start to the season

"Importante samin yung pagkapanalo sa Echo kasi ito na yung step ng momentum namin since papasok na yung second round ng regular season namin. Papasok kami nang may confidence. Ito na yung sinasabi ni Light na di naghehesitate,” H2wo commented about the game which easily became the highlight of the Week 4 action,