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| Once on the verge of revisiting his desire to play for Onic Indonesia, Edward Dapadap is now a member of the record-setting Aurora Philippines' MPL Philippines Season 16 squad. Richard Esguerra (file photo) |
MANILA--When asked by reporters who they would thank for helping them achieve a record-setting MPL Philippines regular season campaign, members of Aurora Philippines quickly mentioned Elrasec "Boss Rada" Ocampo, the esports umbrella's country head, as one of them.
Edward Dapadap's answer, though, stood out, at least in the ears of this writer.
Dapadap said that he is thankful to Ocampo because the latter quickly brought the former to Aurora PH at a time when he was already considering at least one opportunity abroad.
When Dugout Philippines asked for clarification from Dapadap regarding his thanksgiving message, he shared that he had actually considered joining Onic Indonesia in the past.
"Nagkawatak-watak na kami sa Blacklist. Umalis sina VeeWise (Johnmar "OhMyV33nus" Villaluna and Danerie "Wise" Del Rosario) at ako. Dapat talaga ine-explore ko yung Onic, yung team ni Kairi [Rayosdelsol] as in noong Season 11 pa lang. Gusto kong makasama uli si Kairi at maging kakampi," Dapadap said.
A Dapadap-Rayosdelsol duo would have made a lot of wonders for Onic ID and probably taken MPL Indonesia by storm since they were already inducted into MPL PH's Hall of Legends.
Along with the potential hype, though, comes the potential pressure of whether the tandem would actually work, which, according to Dapadap, was one factor that held him back.
"'What if di ako makapag-perform and what if hindi ako makasabay sa communication?' Kasi yung ibang players ng ibang bansa, parang nawala sila bigla sa eksena at sa spotlight. So parang natatakot ako para sa career ko, although Pilipinas yung malakas na region," he further said, adding that the language barrier since Indonesia is not really known as an English-speaking nation also factored in.
Edward shares funny Aurora PH recruitment moment
Dapadap then said that Ocampo was at an unlikely place when the former made the call to say he was joining the latter at Aurora PH.
"Ang funny lang noon kasi nasa toilet si Boss Rada that time," Dapadap revealed the funny story.
"Noong napag-isipan ko kasing maga-Aurora ako, tinawagan ko siya. Tapos sabi ko, 'Boss, dyan na lang ako.'"
The recruitment was virtually a walk in the park since both Dapadap and Ocampo had worked together with Blacklist before, alongside most of Aurora PH's other members.
With Dapadap hopping on with the allies that he has had for quite a while, Aurora PH, which took over from the franchise left behind by Minana Evos since Season 14, quickly became title contenders, pushing Onic Philippines to the limit in the grand finals that season before finishing third in Season 15.
This Season 16 became a historic moment for Aurora PH, becoming only the second team in MPL PH history to win 13 straight matches, tying Onic PH's record it set in Season 14 last year.
For Dapadap, it was, after all, a great decision to stay in MPL PH.
"Everything happens for a reason," he concluded.
Aurora PH, which, for being the top seed, has drafting advantage throughout the entire MPL PH playoffs, can set the new league record for the longest winning streak ever on Oct. 23 when it takes on whoever prevails in the Oct. 22 first-round clash between Twisted Minds Philippines and TNC in the upper bracket semifinals at the Cuneta Astrodome in Pasay.
Recent history favors Aurora PH since they swept their regular season series against Twisted Minds PH and TNC.
