Blacklist International coach Kristoffer “BON CHAN” Ricaplaza revealed that he initially pushed for trade to get Nexplay Esports core John Paul “H2Wo” Salonga during the off-season.

The Tier One-backed squad, who had a respectable fifth-to-eighth place finish in the MPL-Philippines Season Six, was dealt a huge blow after rising star Kairi “Kairi” Rayosdelsol suddenly asked for a trade two weeks after the season.

That, along with the fact that Nexplay Esports was also luring one of Blacklist’s homegrown stars in Edward “Edward” Dapadap, urged BON CHAN to go into a negotiation with NexPlay.

“Si Edward, alam naman natin na bago mag-start yung season na gusto siyang kunin ng NXP which is hindi natuloy,” BON CHAN told Patch Notes.

“Actually inooffer namin siya… Binibigay namin sa NXP si Kairi saka si Edward kapalit lang ng isa. Kasi iniisip ko, taga=Bataan si Kairi at Edward, ba’t ‘di na lang magsama sama yung mga taga-Bataan dun kay Dogie since nandoon na rin si Renejay.”

The deal failed to materialize.

Blacklist International instead dealt Kairi to his preffered team which is ONIC PH, where they received the iconic duo Danerie “Wise” Del Rosario and Johnmar “OhMyV33NUS” Villaluna in return.

Edward decided to stay with the organization while H2Wo stayed with Nexplay as well.

And it looked like all three teams benefited from the trade as both Blacklist International (3-0) and ONIC PH (2-0) are both at the top of their respective groups with eight and five points, respectively.

Nexplay, meanwhile, is currently at the second spot in Group B with a 1-3 card for five points.