Hadji: I Want to Play Exp Laner

There was a time when Salic “Hadji” Imam was about to give up. Season after season, he played without a championship to his name. “Dati pasuko na ako,” he says, looking back at that younger version of himself in Season 2. Yet, he didn’t quit. He stayed. He reinvented himself. And in the years that followed, he became what every team desires but rarely finds: a player who could fill every role and still be excellent at it.

From jungler with Omega, to support and mid laner with Blacklist, Hadji has been called the “KDA Machine” and the “Utility God.” His arrival in Season 8 completed Blacklist’s championship puzzle. He played Diggie when needed, burst mages when called for, and anchoring roles when the system demanded it. He was not the loudest presence onstage, but he was indispensable. In Blacklist’s golden run, Hadji was the quiet constant.

Yet now, after trophies and heartbreaks, after being left the last man standing with Oheb from that Season 8 roster, Hadji wants something different.

“Gusto kong mag Exp Lane,” he says. “Feeling ko bagay siya sa mindset ko saka sa playstyle ko.”

The Exp Lane is not glamorous. It is about patience, timing, and an instinct for survival. It asks a player to think long-term, to give up early skirmishes for late-game inevitability. Perhaps that is why it appeals to Hadji now. He has been called selfless, shaped by experiences that forced him to listen, to think beyond himself. “Maraming nagbago sa akin,” he admits. “Naging selfless ako.”

There are still goals left unfinished. “Gusto ko pang makapag-MSC kasi iyon lang ang tournament na wala akong appearance,” Hadji says. The MLBB Mid Season Cup, formerly the MLBB Southeast Asia Cup—the one gap in his collection of medals.

When he talks about the past, there is no bitterness. Only a trace of wistfulness. “Minsan naiisip ko iyon,” he says of his championship teammates who have gone elsewhere, “pero naiintindihan ko na may kanya-kanya kaming mission, may kanya-kanya kaming priority. Nakakapanghinayang lang.”

The Hadji of today is not the boy who once almost quit. He is older, deliberate, ready to play a role that demands endurance. The Exp Lane suits that kind of man.

Considering everything he’s gone through, he hopes people will remember him for one thing.

“Multirole.”

For Hadji, it was never just about being a champion in one position. It was about proving he could be anything—jungler, roamer, mid laner, and now, perhaps, an Exp Laner too.