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| Photo from Minana Esports |
by Drew Malihan
MANILA - Minana Archives needs three games to frustrate RRQ Kaito to grab their second win in Season 2 of MLBB Developmental League - Philippines (MDL-PH) on Wednesday.
Both teams came from a loss in their last series, with RRQ falling victims to Smart Omega NEOS and Minana Archives being swept by MHRLK Esports last week.
Southeast Asian Games gold medalist Kenneth Jiane "Kenji" Villa made his MDL debut, his first match after almost four months since last playing in the Snapdragon Pro Series PH Qualifiers, playing in place of Edferdz "Ferdz" Fernandez, as well as putting Janus "Y4nusu" Badando in the jungle in place of Mark Vincent "MarkTzy" Pagaduan.
Minana Archives put up a 12-1 master class in the first game with the only death coming a pickoff against Martin Kian "Sanaaa" Viray 's Chou.
Midlaner Josh Ian "Daizo" Alburo grabbed the MVP nod with his Faramis, tallying two kills and nine assists, contributing to 92 percent of total Minana Archives kill scores, while Salvick "Kouzen" Tolarba led all players in gold and damage dealt with the Beatrix.
It was a different story in the second game as RRQ Kaito brought the game to more than 21 minutes to secure a rubber match, with a full team clash in the lord area going to the Kings of Kings' favor with all but Kouzen's Bruno left to defend for Minana.
Justin Ahron "Shocker" Guanga's Gord puts up five kills and dished four assists to lead RRQ Kaito to a tie, grabbing the MVP nod while Kim "Daiki" Sebanes's Karrie puts up a 4/0/6 KDA score.
Minana Archives sealed the deal in the final game thanks to both Daizo's Pharsa and Kouzen's Irithel, who did most of the damage especially in the latter half of the 22-minute game.
Gellert Mackenzie "Briskzzz" Pangilinan's Baxia made things complicated for Y4nusu's Fredrinn as mobile tank-jungle hero rotates quicker, including some objective steals from RRQ.
The Kings of Kings will try to look for answers against a strong opposition in ECHO Proud to start Week 4, while Minana Archives will try to ride on their momentum as they will face Euphoria Esports tomorrow.
Follow him on X: @drew_corner.
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