MasterEls: I’m inspired by those who inspired me.

Esports Inquirer talked to MasterEls – a big name in the Philippine Teamfight Tactics community, about juggling his commitments, his performance, and his outlook on professional TFT as a seasoned player.

How did you get into TFT?

I’ve been playing since set one. The first time I laid my eyes on the game, I already knew this was gonna be a game I was going to invest a lot of time in.

Back in the days, I was rank one for like three sets, and I was always top five for like six sets in a row, but those times have passed. As you can see, I went 5-8-8, but that’s just how the cookie crumbles, you know. There’s a lot of new players coming into the scene, and they have a lot of potential, honestly, and I’m so proud to see everyone grow individually, and I’m looking forward to seeing more.

Do you think you could have performed better than your top 512 exit?

I’m 100% sure could have done better. Unfortunately, I had a lot on my mind coming into Macao, because not only am I supposed to produce a big video for Riot Games, I’m also coming in here as my own content creator.

I wanted to make vlogs outside of just TFT. And on top of that, I also run a business remotely, so I have a lot of things going on in my mind.

But I’m not using that as an excuse. I’ll try to be better next year. I actually announced that I was retiring from TFT, but I changed my mind. So this whole event was really motivating that I might actually just keep on going.

What were your preparations going in?

I barely got to prepare, honestly. Fortunately enough, I was able to bring in a plus one – Kitz – and Riot Games was kind enough to allow me to bring her to help out with recording, shooting footage.

Overall, my mental was ready for the event. Apparently, it wasn’t ready enough to compete. But next year, I swear to God, I’m turning it back. 1-1-1 next year.

How do you feel being in TFT Macao Open now, against these massive names?

Well, for one thing, it feels very surreal, you know? Because, like, as much of a content creator I am, I’m also a big nerd when it comes to watching my favorite TFT streamers. I watch these guys a lot on Twitch. I see their YouTube videos. I’ve seen them compete multiple times, and it’s always an exciting experience for me. So I think if I were to put it in one word, it’s thrilling, really.

How was your experience as a spectator?

I think the entire event was, at least by my eyes and by my standards, was a very huge success. Like, this is something that was set up by Riot Games completely for the gamers and by the gamers, in my opinion.

Walking around the venue, I felt like I was a kid in a candy store, you know what I mean? Like, there are these cool booths I could be part of. I took photos with cosplayers. I got to play Project K – it’s an honor, truly.

How does your fellow Filipino competitors in TFT Macao Open make you feel?

I feel like these kids really deserve a lot more attention. I’ve been trying for the past year and a half now to bring more light and attention towards the players that deserve the attention.

This is why I established a group called Mastery GG: I’ve been trying to mentor these kids and help them out on how to become influencers in a sense. Because, if they can make a career out of playing games outside of just making money through competition, it would definitely help them long term.

I’ve been bugging them about, “Yo, let’s get dinner. I’ll pay for everything.” Like, I wanted to come here and be more of a guiding figure as opposed to just a competitor. Which, again, I’m not using as an excuse, but next year, 1-1-1. Truth be told, I really wanted to guide the kids to be better and learn more about the industry, and I’m definitely going to stick around from now on. If they need me, I’ll be available.

What’s driving you to help them?

The drive comes from my lack of support when I was looking for guidance. Back in the days, I’ve always looked for someone to mentor me. Unfortunately, [I couldn’t.] But, I was able to find friends and colleagues that supported me behind the scenes, who acted as if they were mentors, in a sense.

I want to share the knowledge I’ve collected over the past few years to the new breed of players for Teamfight Tactics Philippines. I was basically inspired by others who inspired me.

Thoughts on TFT Paris Open?

By then, you’ll see a completely reverted Master Els, back to the gaming sense of who I was back in the days. I want to go back to my roots. Instead of retiring from TFT, what I’m going to do is I’m going to retire from every other game on the planet… because the game is 100% going places, and it’s not going anywhere anytime soon.

How do you feel about the upcoming SEA server merge?

I’m very excited. That’s actually the reason why I’m not quitting the game. I was complaining so much – “why do I have to sit here and wait for 20 minutes for one game?!” Whenever you make it to the top 50 of the server, you always have to queue up longer than most players afterwards. So it always takes up a lot of time – twenty minutes is a big deal.

When you’re not playing TFT, who is MasterEls?

When I’m not playing TFT, I am an editor for creators such as Matara Kan, Sykkuno, and a lot of other people you might have seen on YouTube. I’ve made thousands of videos. My videos have garnered over 2 billion views collectively. And I’m also a businessman. I also host TFT tournaments.

Can you talk about your beginnings in esports?

It was tough times for me, honestly, back then. I was running a business where it’s a kiosk where we sell fruit tea. So I had like a couple of branches in SM malls around Metro Manila. Then, it was my first time ever having the luxury to instal; fiber internet. I was like “Wow, now I can stream!”

I immediately pivoted, and I was like, okay, business is good and all, very productive, but I’d like to follow my heart. So I went straight into gaming and streaming, and then the rest of it just, you know, it just happened. This was back in 2018.

Any advice for people who want to go into competitive TFT?

Oh wow, don’t be like me, man. I went 5-8-8. But jokes aside: play the game, rank up, because if you’re the best in the room and you’re doing extremely well in something, someone will always see it.

There’s always someone watching. Even when you feel like nobody sees your best effort, there’s someone watching. And at some point, people will find you—the right people. After you climb up, you know, just hit me up.

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