Banoobs Praised Renejay Hours Before the Tirade. Here’s What He Said

Sometimes, what happens inside the MPL’s media room does not always filter down to the hype posts on social media. In fact, few people know that before Banoobs of Blacklist International posted tirades against Aurora’s Renejay Barcarse, he was actually heaping praises on the veteran roamer, whom he described was on his “A-Game” that night. 

“Before kami mag start, part ng plan was ilabas yung kung ano ang mayroon kaming mailalabas. Kung matalo, definitely, dissect lang namin yung learnings and experience kasi yung awrahan sa game, hindi iyon natuturo. Kung na-awrahan ka, kailangan mong matanggap iyon, ma-dissect mo sa sarili mo, ma-absorb mo, then ma-limit-break mo sa sarili mo para pagbalik mo, hindi ka na maaawrahan,” Banoobs told ALL-STAR. 

(“Before we start, our plan is always to show what we’ve got. And if we lose, we’ll dissect the learnings and experience, because intimidation tactics in the game can never be taught. If you get intimidated, you have to accept that and learn from that so that when you come back, you won’t be easily intimidated anymore.”)

According to Banoobs, Blacklist encountered no pressure during scrims, but during the actual game, he admitted the team had some jitters. He even commended Aurora’s Renejay Barcarse as the master of intimidation tactics. 

“I think pagdating sa actual game, I can commend Renejay because that’s his A-game. Na-awrahan niya talaga si Perkz, nakikita ko. And I really commend Renejay for that. Normally, kami, hindi namin nakikitang ganoon yung laro namin, very composed kami maglaro throughout our scrims, we have amazing results in scrims. Pero there are some things we cannot control, and one of those things is yung nagkakaroon ng ganoong awrahan.”

(“When it comes to the actual game, I can commend Renejay because that’s his A-game. I could tell he really intimidated Perkz. And I really commend Renejay for that. Normally, we wouldn’t see that kind of performance from the team, we are very composed throughout our scrims, and we have amazing results in scrims. But there are some things we cannot control, and one of those things is intimidation.”)

Renejay’s Response to Banoobs’ Praise

When ALL-STAR revealed to Renejay how Banoobs praised him several times during Blacklist’s interview with the media, the roamer was visibly flattered and couldn’t answer immediately. When he finally got his composure, he said it was nothing personal. 

“Siguro po inilalabas ko yung angas ko sa laro. Kumbaga, ipinapakita ko po kung anong kaya kong gawin sa laro. Hindi lang naman po sa kanila, sa tingin ko po sa lahat ng nakakalaro namin. Sobrang confident ko lang po kanina na kalabanin sila kaya ganoon ako ka-aggressive.”

Asked if the match against his former team Blacklist International was a factor in his aggressive play that night, Renejay did not mince words. 

“Mayroon po, pero hindi dahil galit ako sa kanila. Dahil lang former teammates ko sila.” With a smile, he teases his former teammates at Blacklist International. “Gusto ko lang ipakita sa kanila na kung ano yung ginagawa namin dati, ipaparanas ko sa teammates ko kung gaano kahirap iyon,” he laughs. 

In MPL-PH Season 12, Renejay’s leadership was instrumental in motivating the team to secure a slot in the M5 World Championships. It was the highest placement Renejay got in his esports career.

Why did Banoobs post about Renejay?

On the morning of August 17, Banoobs, founder of esports team Minana, tagged Renejay in a series of posts and comments on Facebook, alleging the roamer played a part in poaching former Minana EVOS player Dominic Delmundo, aka Domeng. It was triggered by Renejay’s reaction to Daily Tribune’s JM Siasat’s question during the post-match interview with Aurora on August 16.

Siasat asked Renejay for a reaction to Banoobs’ statement during a press conference a week earlier in which the Blacklist manager said he would rather not allow the former Blacklist players who are now in Aurora to return to his team. 

“The question was, hyupothetically speaking, if players would transfer back (to Blacklist), tatanggapin pa ba? And according to Banoobs, hypothetical lang ha, hindi na daw. Althouigh hindi pa rin sarado yung pinto, hindi na raw kasi nasaktan na sila,” said Siasat. 

“Siguro po sa akin, unang una, hindi ko pa po nakakasama si Banoobs, so hindi ko po talaga siya kilala. So kung nasaktan po siya, wala po siyang karapatan masaktan kasi hindi naman po siya yung nakasama namin noong time na iyon,’ said Renejay. 

According to Renejay, his departure from Blacklist International was an agreement between him and Tier One’s co-founder Tryke Gutierrez, who promised them he would welcome them back with open arms if ever they decide to return to Blacklist.