Before heading to the Bren Esports headquarters in Makati last Saturday, the thought of banning the Wanwan had already crossed the mind of coach Francis “Duckeyyy” Glindro solely because of one person alone – Benedict “Bennyqt” Gonzales.
So, how come the Bennyqt special passed the first and second phase of the draft in the crucial Game Three?
“Okay, bibigyan naming kayo ng storya ‘no. So, papasok pa lang ako dito sa office alam ko… in-expect ko na na mag wa-Wanwan sila. Kinausap ko si Lusty, sabi ko, ‘Bords, baka mag ano ‘to, mag-Wanwan ‘to kasi [ginagamit] ni Benny,” Duckeyyy shared in Bren Esports post-match press conference.
“Nagda-draft na kami ng Game Three, fourth and fifth ban, nag-uusapusap kami kasi hindi pa siya nag ma-marksman the past few games. So we thought baka ang priority lang nila na hero is si Hadess, nawala na rin sa isip ko yung Wanwan tapos nung na-ban na naming yung Yi Sun-Shin, biglang nag salita sila, ‘Ay! Mag wa-Wanwan ‘to!’ So ayun, huli na ang lahat.”
After dropping the opener due to some lapses in the early game, the defending champions managed to dominate Game Two to send the series to a winner-take-all Game Three.
With the Selena open, Duckeyyy nabbed Angelo “Pheww” Arcangel’s most celebrated hero followed by the Baxia and the Pacquito which could go either to David “FlapTzy” Canon and Allan “Lusty” Castromayor.
Knowing Karl “Gabriel” Nepomuceno still has no hero in the current pool, Aura PH took out the Lancelot and the Claude, respectively, while Bren Esports answered with a Granger and a Yi Sun-Shin ban.
With only one viable jungler left, Aura PH – who has the opening pick in the second phase – took the Harley without any hesitation while Bren Esports, who was running an Alpha draft all along, took the unorthodox pick alongside the Angela.
There are two things to know when drafting an early game type of hero like Alpha.
First you should always have a backup plan just in case the Alpha goes passive in the early stages. That’s why, picking heroes such as Wanwan, Harith, and Alice, to name a few, is a must in these kinds of drafts.
Second is, if you failed to do the first, then you should finish the game as early as possible to prevent the opposing teams from staging a comeback.
And well, in this case, Bren Esports did neither which resulted in the 2-1 loss.
Duckeyyy was quick to shoulder the blame for the mishap and vowed to come back stronger in
