KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA -- Selangor Red Giants Filipino gold laner John “Innocent” Banal was hailed as the M6 World Championship Breakthrough Player for his breakout performance from the swiss stage to the knockout rounds of the global showpiece.

The former TNC player has been spectacular throughout the tournament, averaging 7.9 KDA along 837 gold and 4,356 damage per minute to beat fellow newcomers in the world stage in Onic Philippines’ King “K1NGKONG” Perez, Team Spirit’s Anton “Hiko” Pak and Team Liquid Indonesia’s Sultan “Aeronnshikii” Muhammad.

The crowd went wild inside the Axiata Arena here as Innocent, who played a vital cog to SRG’s run in M6, came out to the stage to receive his award before his team’s lower bracket finals match against TLID.

Innocent also highlighted his impressive showing with historic feats when he recorded the all-time highest kill in a game with 19 which he achieved in Game 3 of SRG’s 3-1 victory over RRQ Hoshi in their lower bracket clash.

He was also the first player in the M-series history to ever record 100 kills in a single tournament.

With Innocent’s breakout performance, the least surprised was his Filipino head coach Michael “Arcadia” Bocado.

“Para sakin sobrang lakas talaga ng batang to. Ngayon very proud lang ako na napapakita na niya sa buong mundo kung ano talaga yung potential niya,” Arcadia said of his star gold laner.

“Actually, doon sa performance niya, kung tutuusin hindi siya surprising samin kasi kahit sa mga practices, maganda yung pinapakita niya. Happy lang ako na napakita niya rin sa buong mundo,” he added.

Arcadia said he actually expected such a potential from Innocent even before they are in the same team and he believed that the 20-year-old player only needed the get out of his comfort zone to flourish.

“Hindi pa namin siya nakukuha, kalaban pa lang namin siya sa scrims, nakikita ko na na parang ang lakas nito ah. Tapos bakit parang ‘di siya nagsha-shine, ba’t wala masyadong nakakapansin sa kanya. Kumbaga, dun pa lang nakita ko na talaga ‘yung potential niya,” added the veteran coach.

“Naging fortunate lang siguro kami na after niyang pumunta sa team namin, mas lalo pa siyang nag-grow,” he added.