Winning when no one expects it just hits different, according to the world champion coach.
Aurora coach MtB is riding high on his first official M-Series world championship win, which was a long time coming for the veteran MLBB coach. Technically he was in Blacklist International’s M3 champion roster but he wasn’t officially recognized as part of the coaching staff.
However, Aurora Gaming PH is a completely different environment for coach Aniel “Master the Basics” Jiandani compared to Blacklist. Despite being made up of MPL stars, some who have won international tournaments, Aurora has always been seen as underdogs. It’s a good thing, then, that coach MtB likes it that way.
“Para sa akin, masarap talaga yung feeling na underdog ka kaysa sa feeling na expected na kasama ka sa top teams,” said Aurora’s coach MtB. “Masnakaka-motivate siya kasi alam mo na hindi nakatingin sayo yung mga teams. Tapos pag nanalo kayo, iba yung dating. Hindi siya katulad nung expected ka to win – kasi parang ‘wala, alam na natin na panalo yan.’ Yung feeling hindi ka expected manalo pero nanalo ka, masarap talaga.”
That’s a funny outlook from the coach, considering that half of his career was spent on Blacklist. At their peak, Blacklist was not only the most popular team in the MPL, they were also expected to be champions in every tournament they participated in. But it seems that Aurora coach MtB is more than happy to have other teams be in the spotlight.
“Masarap pa rin yung feeling na lahat supportive sayo kasi alam nila magcha-champion kayo. Pero mas-masarap yung feeling na manalo kapag hindi ine-expect ng tao na kayo yung magcha-champion.”
Still Underdogs
Of course, no one considers Aurora to be underdogs now with a world championship under their belt. Still, coach MtB knows better than to sit on his laurels and that’s a mindset that he’s actively teaching to his team.
“Kahit nagka-champion kami – yes nasa-top na kami, pero sa Pilipinas ang bilis humabol yung mga teams,” said Aurora’s coach MtB. “So yung mindset namin is underdog parin tayo, pero gagawin pa rin namin yung paraan namin na maging champion. I think better yon para sa performance namin kaysa isipin namin na champion kami, kami ang pinakamalakas, walang makakatalo sa amin. Ang mindset namin is kahit champion tayo, expect namin na hahabol at hahabol yung mga teams.”
We’ll see if that underdog mentality that won them a world championship will be enough to win them more trophies down the road.
Banner photo credit: MOONTON Games.
Related Stories:
