Meet Team Lotus! First established in 2016, Lotus members come from different teams which competed in PCW 2016. Three of the members are participants of the PCW 2016 Championship. This year, the team joined DWARS Manila and Laguna but later combining the members to represent Team Lotus. Their guild has been standing strong for 12 years, since 2007.
Now that we know the team’s origin, get to know them individually.
John Doreza, going by the IGN ‘Daji‘, is the Yao Jing of Team Lotus. His role is to debuff targets so his teammates may swoop in for the kill. He is also responsible for luring enemies into strategic locations. He may be known as quite the joker, but he is vigilant in reminding the team about deadlines and submissions.
In real life, Daji is a Marketing Manager. He started playing PW in 2007 and he stuck around for the interesting gameplay and character customization. As a council member for this clan, he organizes events and gatherings that the team would take part in along with other team-related affairs. He has been with the team since PCW 2016, and some members he just met this year.
His journey as a PPAS 2019 Finalist has been a roller coaster ride. They took heavy considerations as a clan before they came up with the final list of players who will represent them. He considers the Swan Team as a tough competitor, since that team beat them during DWARS Manila, which he was a little bit nervous about. Luckily, his strategy against the opposing team worked. He also believes that the teamwork and the familiarity of the players to their respective roles and characters led them to be finalists. Their varying schedules was a big struggle that they faced as a team. This sometimes led them to cancelling practices and some trouble at the places where they would practice. Despite that, he enjoyed the moment they won the tournament and took their first photo as finalists.
He learned that staying focused on the strategy is the key to winning as a team. Never belittle the opponent and do not settle for an almost victory. Shake hands with your opponents before and after the fight to release tension.
To prepare for the upcoming finals, Daji will practice a lot more so he will be more comfortable with his job and role in the upcoming fight. He considers his team to be the toughest competition. As a group, they work to adapt to how others are performing so the team may be able to execute what is needed effectively. He assures PW fans and fellow players that Team Lotus will exhaust every resource to give them an exciting match.
To those who are aspiring to follow in his footsteps, he’d like to say: “Always put your feet on the ground. Be humble because you still have a lot to learn, not only as an individual player but also as a team player. When you choose your character or job, do not base it on who has the greatest damage or buff but pick someone who is fit for you and you’re comfortable to play with.” Their competition, “Good luck and may be the best team win. Let’s give it our all.”
Danny Morillo, going by the IGN ‘KasperSky’, plays as the WuXia of the team and is known to be the chill player. He has been playing Perfect World since 2007 and likes the unique skills of every character.
He has been spending a lot of time, effort and practice in his journey as one of the PPAS 2019 Finalists. KasperSky believes that him using WuXia again is one of the key reasons why he is a finalist since it does not create conflict with the team line up. He also learned that respect for one another is the best thing to do so they could practice more efficiently. He is preparing to practice better for the upcoming finals. KasperSky says that his love life is the toughest competition that he has.
He knows that players expect him to be dragon-like in the upcoming fights. He would like to say this to his fans: “If you know that there is an upcoming event, take the opportunity to be a part of it. Don’t just settle for showing your strength via chats, expose your power also during tournaments.” and to their competition: “Fight. Fight. Fight.”
Angelo Villanueva, going by the IGN ‘Saint’, is the Fa Shih or main nuker of the team. In reality, he is a customer support representative. He has been playing Perfect World since the beginning, liking the character customization feature and the flight system.
Saint only started playing with Team Lotus during the semi-finals. Still, he considers the journey as a PPAS 2019 Finalist to be a roller coaster ride. Even so, his favorite moment during those times is when the teams would throw trash talks at each other but no one would take it to heart as they have all been friends for a long time already.
Saint would like to the players who plan on following his footsteps to know that: “Just enjoy the game and be a sport all the time,” and to their competition: “Good luck and enjoy the fight!”
Emerson Magpantay, going by the IGN “DooMer”(Yao Shou), is the most carefree member of the group. Do not be fooled because he is known as the 1-hit player of the team. He also takes point to notify everyone when an enemy is down.
In real life, DooMer is a nurse by profession. He’s been playing PW since the beginning, liking the PK, TW, NW, in short… all the fighting. The accomplishments that he has for his team is defeating most of the enemy guilds with the help of the alliance. He’s been playing with Team Lotus since the semi-finals, and considers the journey as part of the PPAS 2019 Finalists like a roller coaster ride. All the good and the bad was aggravated by his struggle with sleep throughout the tournament.
Through all this, he learned that coordination and respect is needed in order for the team to function well. So, he continues to prepare for the upcoming tournament by doing more practices with different techniques and tactics. He knows that players expect a much-awaited fight since this is their team’s first time as finalists. He wants those aim to follow in his footsteps to know that: “Don’t settle for less, think outside the box, and soon you will be at the top!” and to their competition, “Good luck and enjoy the fight!”
Reynar Gacilan, going by the IGN ‘Great’, is the party leader of Team Lotus who gives commands and strategies. He’s been playing since he was in 3rd year high school since he first saw someone playing PW in the computer shop. He liked the graphics, the skills, the flying and the jumping features of the mount. With the ability to heavily personalize the characters which invites players further explore, he considers PW as the best online game he has played.
His considers his biggest accomplishment for the team to be their victory against Team Fidelis, a champion for 5 years, back in 2016. He has been playing with the team since 2016.
Great considers his journey as part of the PPAS 2019 Finalists to be heaven-like. Staying relaxed, not putting too much pressure, thinking positively, and focusing on the possibility of victory are the key reasons why Great is a finalist. Even so, he learned that coordination and respect for the team leader is the best way for their team to win the fight.
Great knows that the players are excited for them this upcoming finals since this is their first time competing. For those who want to follow in his footsteps, he says: “Don’t be negative, but instead focus on the positive. Just keep on trying and joining on tournaments. You may not get the result that you wanted, but at least you tried and you get to learn something out of it. Who knows, maybe one day you’ll be able to become finalists like us.” and to their competition: “Good luck and enjoy the moment as being part of the finalists.”
Mamu Gonzales, with the IGN ‘Jelly’, is the team leader. Functioning mainly as the support, Jelly is responsible for keeping everyone alive along with entertaining and motivating the group.
In real life, she is a Customer Support Representative. She started playing Perfect World since it was first launched in the country. She likes the uniqueness of the fashion feature of the game. Beating most of their enemy guilds as a clan with the help of the alliance is the biggest accomplishment for her team.
For Jelly, the journey as part of the PPAS 2019 Finalists has been a roller coaster ride. They compete as a whole, not only as a competitive team but also as a council of their clan. In this journey, the thing that she struggled the most with is having enough time to rest as she is very passionate about the game and her commitments outside of it.
She recalls her favorite moment during the whole tournament candidly. A player from a competing team stood up while the game was not yet over. When she came back, she was already defeated.
Despite everything, Jelly realized that coordination and respect is the best thing to apply in order to win. To prepare for the upcoming finals, they will practice more for different techniques and tactics, while facing her toughest competition–her schedule.
Jelly knows that players expect a much-awaited fight since this is their team’s first time as finalists. To those who are planning to follow in her footsteps, she’d like to say: “Don’t settle for less. Think outside the box and soon you will be at the top!” and to their competition: “Good luck and enjoy the fight!”