ECHO’s Tristan "Yawi" Cabrera remained on the bench as the MPL Philippines defending champs opened their Season 12 campaign this weekend.

This came as a surprise for many as he has been posting screen captures of scrimmage sessions alongside fellow ECHO players, where at one point, they’ve run into TNC Pro Team.

While he has found a formidable substitute in MDL Philippines Season 1 MVP Jaypee “Jaypee” Dela Cruz, ECHO believes Jaypee’s presence brings a different flavor to the ECHO squad.

"Parte ito ng plano namin," head coach Archie “TicTac” Reyes said on the game’s opening day, when they swept Blacklist International.

"Actually, di naman sa Blacklist kung ‘di sa buong liga."

In an interview with Mara Aquino, Jaypee said he only had one week to prepare.

And in that one week, he has already put up 26 assists, and got one MVP nod in their win against Onic Philippines.

Yawi was last absent during the M4 World Championship, when he sat out briefly. He returned in the last group stage matchup and played right until the finals where they swept Blacklist International for their landmark world title.

• M4: Amid controversies, Yawi keeps eyes on world title race

Assistant coach Robert “Trebor” Sanchez explained that they wanted to make things different this time around.

"Para ‘di lang din kami maumay, kasi ilang seasons na sila magkakasama. Inisip namin ng coaches and management na para may bagong flavor lang sa team. Kung gagana, idi-diretso namin," Trebor said.

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