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| (Image Source: Smart Communications) |
Smart Omega, the professional gaming squad backed by Philippine telecommunications giant Smart Communications, has officially welcomed former Execration members Billy Jazha “Z4pnu” Alfonso, Renz Errol “Renzio” Cadua, Kiel Vj “Kielvj” Cruzem, Grant Duane “Kelra” Pillas, Patrick James “E2MAX” Caidic, and Joshua “Ch4knu” Mangilog as members of its new official roster for Mobile Legends Bang Bang (MLBB) which is slated to compete in the eighth season of Mobile Legends Professional League - Philippines (MPL-PH) starting August.
Aside from the former Execration members, Smart Omega will also develop four rookie players Robert Remar “Hito” Candoy, Dian Felix “Dian” Cruz, Dean Christian “Raizen” Sumagui, and Romeire “Allidap” Padilla to complete its ten-man team under the helm of coach Jaime "Pakbet" Abalos. The new Smart Omega eSports athletes will be housed in the Smart Omega bootcamp complete with fully functional facilities to help them prepare for future tournaments. Smart has also provided the players with Smart 5G devices and a Smart 5G Rocket WiFi device to help them sharpen their skills and train seamlessly on the telco's superfast 5G network.
“We are extremely excited about this development in the Smart Omega team. These young men have shown their passion, determination, and heart in their gameplay, and we are more than happy to support their growth and development in the professional esports industry,” said PLDT and Smart Communications First Vice President and Head of Sports Jude Turcuato. He added, “We would also like to thank our former players who have decided to move on with their careers. We wish them all the best." Feeling grateful to be part of the new team, Z4pnu shared, “Maraming salamat sa pagtanggap sa amin dito. Gagawin namin ang best namin. Para sa amin, start pa lang ito ng aming journey at pinapangako namin na gagawin naming lahat ng makakaya namin. Ang message ko naman sa fans, sana suportahan niyo pa rin kami kahit may bago kaming team, sama-sama pa rin kaming lalaban sa mga tournament. At alam ko, lahat kayo nandyan. Maraming salamat. (Thank you for welcoming us in this team. We will do our very best. For us, this is just the start of our journey and we promise to do the best that we can. To our fans, we hope that you will continue to support us in this new team, we will still be together, fighting in tournaments. And I know that you all will be there. Thank you.)"
The former Execration members managed to do a "Cinderella run" and struck a legendary comeback to book a spot in the Grand Finals of the Mobile Legends Southeast Asia Cup (MSC) 2021. They have went on and eventually defeated the once undefeated and fellow Filipino squad Blacklist International to be crowned as the Kings of MSC. The MSC featured some of the best MLBB squads across Southeast Asia countries including the Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand among others.
