Reigning champion ECHO will use all of the heartbreaks it suffered in the offseason and convert them to lessons when it sees action in the Mobile Legends Professional League Philippines Season 12 starting 8 September.
Since winning the Season 11 title, ECHO has failed in its quest to capture the titles in the Mobile Legends Southeast Asia Cup, ESL Snapdragon Pro Series, and World Cyber Games.
ECHO head coach Harold “Tictac” Reyes said they had to deal with a lot of pressure going into the off-season tournaments as expectations were high after they won the previous MPL title as well as the M4 world crown.
“We felt a lot of pressure because they were looking at us to become champions after winning the M4 and MPL (Season 11). I felt like all eyes were on us,” Tictac said.
“What happened at ESL and WCG (World Cyber Games) was an eye opener to us. It gave us a lot of tips for the team. It was a huge thing that happened to us because we have learned a lot of lessons.”
To their credit, it was not like ECHO did not put up a fight.
They placed third at MSC 2023, fourth at World Cyber Games, and another fourth-place finish at ESL Snapdragon Pro Series despite the absence of Karl “KarlTzy” Nepomuceno and Benedict “Bennyqt” Gonzales.
For MPL Season 12, the team will banner the same battle-tested world championship roster of Tristan “Yawi” Cabrera, Sanford Marin Vinuya, Alston “Sanji” Placibo, KarlTzy, and Bennyqt, only replacing its former sixth-man with MPL veteran Jaypee dela Cruz.
With KarlTzy and Bennyqt having sat out for ESL, Tictac believes that his jungler and gold laner are now fully recharged for what is expected to be a grueling MPL season.
“To us, it was huge that we were able to rest the two, especially KarlTzy. He has been playing since Season 2 so he has been in the league for a very long time. He deserved to rest and reset so that he will feel the hunger to win Season 12,” Tictac stressed.
