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| Photo from RSG Philippines |
by Drew Malihan
MAKATI - Arvie "Aqua" Antonio made his MPL Philippines comeback to the delight of the RSG Philippines faithful.
His return is sweeter as the Raiders battle ONIC Philippines to a 2-1 comeback win to start their professional league campaign on Friday.
Beside Aqua, RSG saw the return of Patrick "rTzy" Lim to the main scene under their brand, while ONIC PH debuted an entire new squad with the exception of Kenneth "Nets" Barro, while Frince "Super Frince" Ramirez was named in the substitute list.
ONIC did not made their lives easy in the first game as they went back and forth for almost 27 minutes of game time, as an RSG PH attempt for a final push gone wrong when Dean Christian "Raizen" Sumagui's Lancelot and "Nets's Karrie made clutch kills against Dylan Aaron "Light" Catipon and Eman "EMANN" Sangco to overturn the game for the hedgehogs.
Nets grabbed the MVP nod with seven kills and five assists for ONIC PH in their 14-12 affair.
Both teams saw another close affair in the second game but a crucial lord dance in the 14th minute saw ONIC lose three players from Aqua's Gord and EMANN's Beatrix, leaving John Darry "Irrad": Abarquez full access to the lord.
From there it was all RSG Philippines as Brian "Panda" Im's men dominated the late game to force a rubber match, with Light getting the MVP nod with a 0/4/11 performance with the Franco.
It took the Raiders 26 minutes to finish off the comeback in Game 3, with another lord dance going to RSG's favor despite ONIC PH leading by as much as more than a thousand gold that time.
With Irrad's Lancelot taking down Nets' Bruno and Raizen's Fredrinn, RSG made sure they got the series as they went straight to the base and take down the last tower to seal the deal.
Irrad grabbed the MVP nod with a 5/1/5 KDA from the Lancelot while EMANN delivered with a 5/1/4 performance from a surprise Ixia pick.
The Raiders will next take on Blacklist International on Saturday to keep their momentum, while ONIC will look for their first win against ECHO on the same day.
Follow him on X: @drew_corner
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