From being one of the earliest players to touch the game to being the brilliant tacticians that they are today, Aniel “Master the Basics” Jiandani and Dexter “Dex Star” Alaba have grown to become one of the most respected coaching duos in the professional ML:BB scene.
Coming up short in Season 15, Aurora Gaming PH is on its way to chase the Immortal Cup once again, as the number one seed from the regular season this time.
With expectations building up on their shoulders as the team’s strategists, the two coaches talked about the regular season and hopes for the future in an exclusive interview with Manila Standard Sports.
‘Light’ within
For the Aurora Gaming PH head coach, they owe their regular season success to everything that happened to them after Season 15.
“Para sa akin, lahat talaga ng naging learnings from EWC hanggang sa pagdating ni Light. Nag-add up lahat ng natutunan namin doon. Nag-connect talaga lahat kaya naging maganda regular season namin ngayong season,” Jiandani said.
When Dexstar was asked about the greatest difference between seasons 15 and 16, Dexstar answered, “Si Renejay kasi sikat. Kumbaga, may parang celebrity (aura). Goods si Renejay. Pero siyempre, may ano pa din sina Domengkite (Jan Del Mundo) since rookie sila. May parang barrier or wall pa din, kahit na hindi naman ano sa kanila yun.”
“Then nu’ng bago si Light (Dylan Catipon) sa team, si Light ‘yung nag-aadjust since sina Domeng dalawang season na. Mas na-build up ni Domeng ‘yung confidence niya,” he added.
When the coaches were asked how sure they are that Light will win the MVP award, Jiandani, without any hesitation, uttered, “Para sa akin 99%. Sobrang deserved niya mag-MVP.
Aurora Türkiye
Temporarily coaching for the organization’s Turkish team back in the Esports World Cup last July, the seasoned head coach praised the team’s current undefeated performance in the MTC Turkiye Championship Season 6.
“Ang laki ‘din ng naging improvement talaga nila. After the EWC, isa ‘yun sa mga napag-usapan namin na, tingin namin, mas mag-dodominate sila kasi ‘yung experience na nakuha nila sa EWC is ang laking difference kumpara sa kung anong meron lang sila.”
He then expressed his wishes seeing both Filipino and Turkish teams go up against each other in the international stage.
“Gusto talaga namin magkita na kami ng dalawang Aurora na nasa international (stage). May jokes pa nga sila na: ‘Pag hindi kayo nakapasok, pupunta pa din kayo.’ Siyempre sabi namin: ‘Hindi, dudurugin muna namin kayo.’ So, may mga ganoong biruan,” MTB reminisced.
‘Pinakamalakas ng Pinas’
With Season 16 turning out to be one of the closest and most competitive seasons in recent time, the two coaches believe that the most cohesive team will emerge as the strongest one in PH.
“May iba’t-iba kaming style kung paano kami mag-coach. Kung paano man namin ginagawa ‘yung role namin as coach, dedepende pa ‘rin talaga ‘yun overall kung paano mag-coconnect ‘yung idea namin,” Master the Basics said.
“Kahit gaano kagaling or kaganda ng idea, strategy, or draft, kung yung player mismo hindi nila kayang i-execute or masunod ‘yung gusto naming gawin, lahat ng idea ng coaches, tapon ‘yan. Kasama na din ‘yung management kung hindi naka full support sa inyo, mahirap din siya,” Dexstar added.
