The Importance of Knowing Your Role

OG Dian and OG Pakbet show us the importance of being flexible with your playstyle

This article was written by Chise Alcantara.

Most of us go into ranked games with a handful heroes we are comfortable playing. A hero pool as small as five can get you to a high rank but in professional play, we see that the more heroes and roles you can play, the bigger asset you can be to your team. Last Sunday we saw OBS Gaming win against Digital Devils Pro in an exciting series.

To outsiders like us, it would seem like any other match-up but a lot of things were going on behind the curtains. A couple of DD Pro’s members were known as competent Fanny users, which was why OBS Gaming prioritized picking her even though they had to adjust their line-up drastically in order to accommodate the surprise pick. OG Dian, a tank main played Fanny and OG Pakbet had to pick an off-meta mage, Aurora. We inquire with them further to understand their thought process behind the risky strategy that paid off.

How often do you get fo play Fanny?

“I was an assassin player before I even started playing for OBS Gaming. But has actually been a while since I last played. I sometimes play assassins during my free time but never in our practice sessions,” says OG Dian.

Why the surprise pick then?

“We really didn’t want the other team to have Fanny since there were two Fanny users on their team. I’m glad the team trusted me with the role despite never practicing with them while playing an assassin,” says OG Dian.

Were you able to utilize any skills you learned playing as a  tank, now that you were given the opportunity to play an assassin again?

“Not really, ha ha! It’s totally different. When you’re a tank you rely on follow up from your team but when you’re an assassin you rely on the tank to initiate properly,” says Dian

As a tank, especially when playing solo, sometimes it’s hard to convince your team to follow-up on your initiation. How do you gain that trust?

“Just keep signaling and hope they will follow up. All you have to do is make sure the play you’re running is correct so they’ll follow up,” says Dian.

While OG Dian  was playing Fanny, we saw you support him through your plays as a mage. How would you describe your role in the team compared to an assassin?

“Mages and assassins are actually quite similar because they’re both damage dealers that like to pick off enemies but we usually feed the kills to the assassins because they can snowball harder because of the assassin emblem. Mages on the other hand require less gold to be effective so we’re okay with just farming,” says OG Pakbet.

Is there a reason why you chose Aurora instead of other meta mages?

“I picked her because she doesn’t need buffs to lane properly. We already had too many people who needed buffs. She can also function very well as a support for Fanny. It’s important for the members of the team to be able to adjust their playstyle when the situations demand it. That’s how good team play is developed,” says OG Pakbet.

Catch OBS Gaming’s Pakbet and Dian next week as the Mobile Legends Professional League Philippines continues its regular season!