Bren Esports gained redemption following its triumphant performance in the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang event of the 32nd Southeast Asian Games.
Sibol head coach Ralph “Leathergoods” Llabres said Bren Esports was able to bounce back from a heartbreaking performance in Mobile Legends Professional League Season 11 following its gold-medal finish in the biennial meet last week.
Season 11 was a competition to forget for Bren Esports.
After ending the regular season as the top seed, the group of Angelo Kyle “Pheww” Arcangel, Kyle “KyleTzy” Sayson, Rowgien “Owgwen” Unigo, Marco Stephen “Super Marco” Requitano, and David Charles “Flap” Canon suffered back-to-back setbacks that dimmed its chances of winning the crown.
“They really had a good season and then came the get-lucky mentality after getting beaten by Blacklist International before getting eliminated by ECHO,” Llabres said.
“I dreamed about them winning the gold medal because that will erase the bitterness of those defeats. It was also a history made with Pheww being the first Filipino to become a two-time SEA Games gold medalist.”
He added that the SEA Games gold medal is enough to silence Bren Esports’ critics.
“All the hate was gone because of this medal,” Llabres said.
“I always tell them that winning an international tournament is good, but if they want to cement their name in the Philippines, they need to win the SEA Games.”
Bren Esports won the national team selection last January when it trampled M4 Mobile Legends world champion ECHO en route to winning the finals against GameLab.
“All the hate was gone because of this medal.”
Unlike traditional tryouts, Sibol puts up qualifiers for teams as a whole and not individual players and then holds a combine for the winning team’s coach to select more players from other competing teams.
In this case, Bren Esports Mobile Legends coach Francis “Duckey” Glindro tapped ONIC PH’s experience laner Nowee “Ryota” Caballo as their sixth man.
With a gold medal around their neck and MPL Season 11 behind them, Llabres is convinced that the M2 Mobile Legends world champion Bren Esports is finally back on top.
“Everybody thought they were going to the MPL Philippines Season 11 finals,” Llabres said.
“I have been part of Bren Esports since its inception so I am very happy not only because Sibol won, but also because it is my dream for Bren Esports to get back on top.”
“I teared up when they won. I am the type of coach who gets invested because I know the hardship they have to go through before getting to that stage.”
