TNC Pro Team greet the crowd ahead of their MPL Season 11 matchup against Omega Esports. Courtesy: MPL Philippines
MANILA - After coming out with a full-blown teaser to show that it is ready for the "biyaheng tagumpay," TNC Pro Team's performance has been shaky to end the first half of MPL Season 11.
From switching between two different lineups and relegating two of its players to the development league, TNC Pro Team struggled to find its groove, ending the first half at the bottom with a 1-6 win-loss card.
Speaking to ABS-CBN News, one of the team's veterans, Ben "Benthings" Maglaque, admitted they focused on the wrong playstyle as they started the season.
"'Yung meta kasi sa Indonesia puwede siya ng assassin and tank pero sa MPL PH sobrang objective-based so tank jungle talaga ang nangingibabaw. Lahat ng ano namin more on assassin talaga kaya siguro kami nahirapan," he said.
TNC used 8 junglers across 14 games in the first half of MPL Season 11. Of the 14 games, they used assassin type junglers (Hayabusa, Hanzo, Ling, Julian), with Hayabusa coming out more frequent in the drafts at 4, and Hanzo next at 2, while they used conventional assassins such as Ling and Julian once.
Among the tank junglers TNC used, they used Martis the most (4) next to Karina, Chou, and Fredrinn, having used them only once.
As a result, this made it difficult for them to secure objectives. returning coach John Laurence "Lift" Ruiz said.
"Mahirap mag-objective 'pag assassins kayo kasi hindi kayo makakuha ng turtle, pero 'pag naka-tank jungler tingin ko madali na namin mawo-work out," he added.
Their lone win came out through a 2-0 win against Onic Philippines, where they used Hanzo and Chou. Their jungler King "K1ngkong" Perez became the MVP in Game 2, as the game ran objectively.
TNC will face Nexplay to start the second half of the season. A win would mean momentum for the squad as they vow to unleash their "final form."
"Pinaka-exciting ang makita namin ang final form namin na pinaka-potential ng players. Siguro 'yun ang magiging exciting doon, ang malabas na namin ang mga nais namin malabas," captain Jomarie "Escalera" Delos Santos said.