Two years ago, then rookies Johnmar “OhMV33NUS” Villaluna and Danerie “Wise” Del Rosario took the league by storm as they spearheaded ONIC PH’s rise in the local Mobile Legends ranks.
The dynamic duo, who became the fulcrum of ONIC PH’s unorthodox healing meta, led the squad to two consecutive finals appearances in Seasons Four and Five which, unfortunately, took the wrong turn as they fell to Sunsparks twice.
Season Four will forever be remembered as one of the biggest blunders in MPL-Philippines history as ONIC PH, who was on the verge of ending Game Four, dropped a 2-1 advantage en route to a reverse sweep from Sunsparks. On the other hand, Season Five was the easier pill to swallow for the team, who won the opening game before surrendering the next three to the same squad.
Despite the heartbreaking losses, it was still an impressive run from ONIC PH. After all, they did all that in just a span of seven months.
Unfortunately, though, that wasn’t the understanding of some of the members of the MPL community as come Season Six, the two became two of the most criticized players in the league.
With the Project Next patch in full effect, assassin heroes rose to prominence as the best junglers for the running META while the position-four supports strayed away from the traditional ones and leaned on the mages.
This left both Wise and OhMyV33NUS struggling in the latter part of the season, which ultimately led to ONIC PH’s fourth-place finish – their lowest since they arrived in the league back in Season Four.
“Nakaramdam lang ako ng bash specially dahil dun sa pagkakaroon ka ng limited hero pool is nung Season Six,” shared OhMyV33NUS moments after Blacklist International’s 4-3 grand finals victory over Execration.
“Feeling ko kasi kapag sanay ka talaga sa marksman tapos yung kakampi mo sabay din gumalaw sa composition na may marksman, feeling ko kayang kaya talaga e.
“Yung ibang teams lang siguro kaya nila nasabi na ganun kasi ‘di talaga kabisado yung marksman. Ako kasi ano e, gustong gusto ko talaga yung marksman na role,” added Wise.
Eventually, the two, who were considered as the faces of the franchise, were shipped to Blacklist International in exchange for rising star Kairi “Kairi” Rayosdelsol. And with the results they garnered, the trade to the Tier One-backed squad became their bridge to prove the doubters wrong.
Now playing under Kristoffer “BON CHAN” Ricaplaza, who designed Blacklist International’s schemes based on OhMyV33NUS and Wise’s respective hero pools, the two played the best Mobile Legends of their careers.
Leaning on the unorthodox healing meta which is now dubbed as the ‘Nice One, Baby’ META, Blacklist International put up a league-best 12-1 regular season record. The team then took down Bren Esports, Aura PH, and eventually, Execration to win the franchise’s first-ever MPL championship.
“So siyempre napakalaking redemption nito para sa akin kasi napatunayan ko nga na hindi ako yung problema,” said OhMyV33NUS.
“Sinwerte lang din siguro talaga kami kasi nakadepende rin talaga ‘yan sa team mo, sa coach, kung paano ka mag fi-fit in. Sobrang saya namin kasi nahanap namin yung Blacklist family para mapakita talaga namin yung potential namin at kasi mas na-enhance nila yun e — yung potential namin. So doon lumabas yung lakas namin dahil sa kanila.”
Now, after three tries, the V33Wise duo can finally call themselves champions. And they have coach BON CHAN and the entire Blacklist International squad to thank.
A match made in heaven indeed.
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