As we dive into the new year, things are getting spicy behind the screen of competitive Mobile Legends: Bang Bang between Indonesia and the Philippines. And seasoned caster, Frederick “Mirko” Loho, just tossed his two cents into the ring after some social media discussion involving Filipino big-shot Akosi Dogie and Ask Vell.
Before the ball dropped, Akosi dropped a video on his YouTube, giving the lowdown on what he sees as the laziness in scouting and team building in the Indonesian MLBB scene. He’s throwing shade at MPL ID and MDL ID teams for focusing too much on results and not enough on developing local talents. According to him, the increasing number of foreign player transfers is proof of that.
Vell jumped in, backing up Akosi’s claims. He thinks the impact of Filipino players and coaches in Indonesia is so strong that it’s time for a massive overhaul in the competitive scene there. Vell agrees that they’re too lazy to trust their own talent pool and are on the hunt for the next big thing or ‘the next Kairi.’
Mirko chimed in, nodding along with the idea that the process of nurturing new MLBB talents in Indonesia has been a letdown lately. The Indonesian caster was not denying the appeal of winning with foreign players, stating that teams are taking the easy route by grabbing imports instead of building up their own talents.
“I do agree with Dogie’s statement to a certain point. And I think the point that he brought up, saying that we (Indonesia) are not developing new players, etc. The teams are lazy because they’d much rather get an import. They’d much rather go for the easy route which is getting a developed import instead of building your own talents.”
But, hold up! Mirko wants us to know that importing players isn’t a total flop. According to him, foreign players and coaches are upping the competition level, pushing every team and player to aim higher every year. He argues that even though Onic might not have clinched the top spot, the imports are making a real impact and raising the bar for everyone.
“Onic or imports haven’t won anything? Maybe he (Vell) is referring to the M-series. Which is true. But when it comes to achievement, Kairi and Yeb, they’ve won a lot.”he said. “The imports are clearly working. The imports are clearly efficient. They are raising the level of competition for everyone. The rest of Onic players are improving so much. So saying they haven’t won anything is kinda wild!”
The debate on utilizing imports in MPL ID isn’t slowing down anytime soon. With more players from the Philippines joining the scene for MPL ID s13, it looks like this rivalry is heating up. One of Indonesia’s esports giants, Team RRQ, even dropped their Indo Pride and snagged two Filipino players after testing the waters with Min “Naomi” Ko from Myanmar last season.
