League Pros Speak up about Philippine eSports

League of Legends (LoL) is one of the dominant Multiplayer Online Battle Arenas (MOBA) in the Philippines alongside Dota 2. However, Filipino LoL pros’ voices aren’t as well heard as those of Filipino Dota 2 pros. With that said, I took the time to talk to Jaiby “GAMEX.Wargods JLC” Paglingayen, Judge Gideon “Pacific Astarte” Cruz, Zherluck “Betrayal Zero.J2” Tolentino and Jomarck “SAS Flirt” Esguerra to get their opinions on the current state of Philippine eSports as well as get their insights on their lives as professional players.

What are your opinions on the current state of Philippine eSports?

JLC: It’s okay.

Astarte: Steadily improving.

Zero: Philippine eSports is still small in comparison to the eSports in other countries.

Flirt: Philippine eSports is still new compared to other countries.

What do you think Philippine eSports needs in order to improve?

JLC: Player behavior has to improve. They have to take the game more seriously and have more disciplined training.

Astarte: Players need to improve their attitude. They must show their determination to succeed through discipline, and investing time and dedication to improving. When Filipinos prove themselves internationally like Mineski did, they can attract more sponsors.

Zero: Philippine eSports needs more sponsors as well as government support. All the sponsors need to put forth a collective effort to uplift Philippine eSports together. Everyone must also get rid of the crab mentality that has been holding the country back from improving.

Flirt: The players need to be less toxic. They should trash talk less and let their game speak for themselves. Also, they should avoid having girlfriends so they can focus on improving.

How hard is it to become a professional LoL player?

JLC: It’s hard because you’ll need to spend a lot of time practicing to improve and make sure you can compete at a high level.

Astarte: It wasn’t so hard. I just kept playing and enjoying the game until I developed my skills to the point wherein I’m good enough to play competitively.

Zero: It’s hard because of the way of living here in the Philippines. The priority is generally on education and work. Also, parents aren’t very supportive of their children becoming professional players. There are also a lot of diversions keeping the players from focusing on improving their game such as school and work. Unlike in other countries, wages in gaming are low so the players also have to find means to support themselves besides practicing to get better.

Flirt: It was difficult for us because we aren’t very well known yet so we don’t really have any sponsors. We were just focusing on having fun. Also it’s hard because if you’re a high elo player, there are expectations to always play well.

What do you think is the difference between the LoL and Dota 2 scene in the Philippines?

JLC: In my opinion, the people in Dota 2 are more toxic. I heard that Riot had a study on player behavior and they claim that when you clash in LoL, there is almost no time to trash talk because it’s more action-packed. I think it’s harder to be a pro in LoL because the meta shifts much faster than that of Dota 2’s.

Astarte: There isn’t much of a difference for me. I played Dota before switching over to LoL and I think it just depends on which game you enjoy more.

Zero: I think the Dota scene is better because it’s been around longer and the scene has more support in comparison to LoL’s.

Flirt: We can’t give an opinion on this because we aren’t very familiar with the Dota 2 scene.

Do you guys think that the LoL scene has more lucrative tournaments in comparison to Dota 2’s?

JLC: LoL is better because LoL has more frequent competitive games because of the GPL and PGS, so our players have more opportunities to showcase their skills and play the game. However, in terms of compensation, I believe that both scenes are equal.

Astarte: Both scenes are equal in terms of tournaments.

Zero: I think that the LoL scene needs improvement because our tournaments here aren’t as well-supported in comparison to Dota 2 tournaments.

Flirt: We can’t tell because we aren’t familiar with the Dota 2 scene.

How does your team prepare for competitive play? Do you have a gaming house? If not, do you have any plans to get a gaming house in the future?

JLC: We practice 8 to 10 hours, 3 times a week. The number of hours increases depending on how many opponents we need to prepare for and who we are up against. We have a gaming house, however the internet is kind of slow so we prefer practicing in the shop instead.

Astarte: We talk with our coach and build our strategies depending on who we will be facing. Our team prefers to take our time to theory craft and come up with strategies to go along with our regular practice.

Zero: We practice twice a week in our sponsored shop for around 8-12 hours. We have no plans at the moment of getting a gaming house.

Flirt: We just go to shops and practice for 5-6 hours a day online. Our manager wants to get us a gaming house but isn’t capable of getting one at the moment.

Lastly, how does it feel to be a professional player?

JLC: We enjoy that we can earn a living through playing the game as well as get the opportunity to make a name for ourselves in eSports.

Astarte: It’s fun because we enjoy playing the game but we know that we can’t be players forever.

Zero: Awesome, but the stress is real.

Flirt: We are really happy because we get the chance to play in big events and get more experience. We hope that one day we’ll be good enough to beat the more established teams.

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