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Meta Matters is a series where we take a deeper look into the esports metagame. We’ll explore strategies used by the best teams and supplement that with our own research and statistics. Esports isn’t just a random group of people playing video games – the meta truly matters!
The epic finale of the region’s biggest PUBG Mobile esports tournament, the PUBG Mobile Professional League Malaysia/Singapore (PMPL MY/SG) Spring Split 2020, is just around the corner, landing next week from 13 - 15 Apr. Although these top 16 teams have proven to be formidable gunners, there’s no telling how much of their strategies were held back and reserved for the main event. One can’t help but wonder: what other potential are they hiding? Who is actually the true team to emerge victorious from the arena? From whom better to seek advice than the professional casters of PMPL MY/SG, ChuChu and OnTheGo.
Shoutcasting and game analysis has been ChuChu’s game since 2012, starting out with Dota 2 before settling on Mobile Legends: Bang Bang and PUBG Mobile. The latest tournaments she has shoutcasted include MPL MY/SG S4 and S5, PMCO SEA Qualifiers and Grand Finals 2019, PUBG Mobile Star Challenge 2019, PMNC 2019 Penang and KL Qualifiers, PMCO Fall Split Global Preliminaries 2019, and Selangor Cyber Games MLBB.
Like his counterpart, OnTheGo began his shoutcasting career with Dota 2 before moving on to the wildly-popular mobile esports scene of PUBG Mobile, having casted the PUBG Mobile Campus Championship 2019, PMCO and PMNC. OnTheGo is also the manager of Team Secret’s PUBG Mobile team since June 2019.
When it comes to who would most likely win the championship, ChuChu thinks it’ll be Yoodo Gank (much to the delight of fans, for sure). “They’re one of the most balanced teams in terms of their performance, player coordination and positioning,” ChuChu remarked, saying that their “duos” match-up are top notch as well. The pairing of either Fredo and Draxx - as support or flankers - with frontliners/fraggers, Manparang and Jumper, is “the safest - and even strongest - option.” “Even when they are knocked out sooner than expected, they’re usually in the top 10 rankings, often clutching a few kills before being eliminated.”
Instead of one team, OnTheGo believes that the top three teams are on equal footing to bag the PMPL MY/SG championship title. “With the Grand Finals spanning three days, I think Team Secret will lead the first day,” he said, subsequently adding that Bapak Ah Esports will overtake his team the next day before Yoodo Gank ultimately comes out on top in the final match day. “On the last day, everybody will focus on getting points and Winner Winner Chicken Dinners (WWCD) by staying inside the circle (including Team Secret and Bapak Ah Esports),” he opined. “Yoodo Gank will instead stay right outside the circle, letting the in-circle teams kill each other before they “third-party” and finish off the weakened teams. They can claim a lot of WWCDs and climb the ranks exponentially on the last day, for sure.”
According to OnTheGo, Yoodo Gank’s biggest strength lies in Jumper. Commended by OnTheGo as “a very good player that can play multiple roles including support, sniper, and even rusher,” he even has the valuable ability of passing down his wealth of knowledge “in a very fun and easy way that anyone he teaches can understand.” The experienced scout is also responsible for recruiting streamer/former Mobile Legends: Bang Bang esports player, Fredo, who later turned out to be “one of the best rushers in the country” and a great addition to Yoodo Gank. “Kudos to Fredo for improving so fast, but also to Jumper for teaching him and the team so well.”
Even though Yoodo Gank is strategic in approaching the circle, Team Secret rivals them in this aspect, albeit less consistently. “When they play aggressively, Secret can be pretty good,” although sometimes they end up sandwiched between enemy teams. Aside from good communication, Team Secret also excels in strategy. For example, when it comes to guiding Uhigh on what to do, ChuChu believes that Madtoi does it best. “He knows when to let Uhigh go on a rampage.” The Thai player is also the MVP in reading the map and circles, which is why captain BiuBiu usually appoints him as the shotcaller, resigning to a more supportive role. “Team Secret is hot and cold - sometimes they play like Yoodo Gank (balanced), and other times they’re like Bapak Ah Esports (aggressive).”
As a strong contender for top three, Bapak Ah Esports’ firing power and thirst for kills is unparalleled. “They are one of the most aggressive teams in PMPL MY/SG, even jumping from one compound to another just to flush everybody out.” Confidence and communication are some of their strongest qualities too, evidenced by one of their runs against Traitor Esports, where they meticulously attacked the rookie team and took advantage of Traitor’s hesitance (a trait that’s prevalent in most new teams). With no coach to, well, coach them, “Bapak has the most potential to be a strong team, as they know how to adapt better due to self-learning.”
“With everyone else playing safe on the first day, Team Secret will be on top because we like to play aggressively, which is why we have the highest kills in the league so far.” Although Uhigh is responsible for a huge chunk of their player kills, the team is “about all of its players working together as one unit” - Uhigh needs Madtoi to cover his six so he can unleash his beast mode, with IShotz covering front and back. “BiuBiu is ‘the sun of the team’s universe,’” the Team Secret manager remarked. “He won’t koyak (lose his cool) when they lose and has always maintained a positive attitude. He even offers himself as the sacrificial lamb or diversion, so his teammates can get the kills.”
Team Secret at PMPL MY/SG 2020.
Alas, there may be a chance that Bapak Ah Esports will snatch Team Secret’s flag. “Bapak Ah Esports’ captain, Trixnity knows how to predict the circle placements well,” OnTheGo pointed out. “Somehow he always knows where the next circle will be, which is largely why they’re always in the top four and winning WWCDs; plus, they shoot well.” It’s no wonder that aside from Yoodo Gank and Team Secret, OnTheGo is confident that Bapak Ah Esports will also represent Malaysia in the PMPL Southeast Asia Spring Split 2020 (PMPL SEA), an honour given to the top three PMPL MY/SG teams.
MasterRamen is the mastermind behind Bapak Ah Esports.
Despite the sound logic of ChuChu and OnTheGo’s professional predictions, there are too many obscure factors that affect the players’ performance. “Players - especially newcomers - forget that they have their own unique strengths and forget to complement their teammates’ play style,” said ChuChu. “Every team here is on the same par as one another.” OnTheGo echoes her sentiment as well. “All teams can shoot well,” he said. “It’s a matter of how each team figures out a solution to their weakness and improve their understanding of the game, their teammates, and their map awareness.”
Some of the more unpredictable teams that ChuChu thinks show promise include N.E.D Brotherhood, TARA Proyector X, Resurgence, EVOS.ViP and Axis MPX. ”Sometimes their kill value is high, but they don’t have good positioning, and vice versa. It is hard to find the right balance.”
“League season is the best time to practice, placement doesn’t matter,” OnTheGo added. “When a team loses a lot, they’re blessed with the opportunity to learn a lot more than winning.” He believes that teams like N.E.D Brotherhood (similar to Team Secret in aggression ), and even EVOS.ViP, Last Survivor R2K and TARA Proyector X have the potential to be excellent teams. “If TARA’s players stick together, they can become this one great team and surprise us next season,” due to their willingness to go the extra mile to learn, fix their issues and take inspiration from existing strategies to make them their own.
The PMPL MY/SG 2020 Grand Finals will take place from 13 - 15 Apr, LIVE on the PUBG Mobile official Facebook page.
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