FINALLY AFTER years of waiting for his desired international championship, Coach Paul Denver "Yeb" Miranda has finally arrived.
Gone are those days when his awful 0-13 record in Cignal Ultra was the only achievement he accomplished as he garnered loads of championships in MPL Indonesia and now the prestigious MSC 2023 trophy.
It was a crowning moment for Coach Yeb who once only attained a runner-up status back in the M3 World Championship where Onic PH suffered from the hands of Blacklist International.
Now it was his turn to avenge his defeat as he finally defeated the V33Wise-led Blacklist International.
Upon a closer look, one may notice that Coach Yeb has done a wonderful job, to the point where he even played the correct cards over Aniel "Master The Basics" Jiandani.

The limitations in MTB's draft
Both coaches Paulo "Pauloxpert" Munsayac and SEA Games Bronze medalist Zen Gayapanao discussed to Spin.ph the problems in Coach MTB's drafts.
For the Filipino coach who helped Cambodia secure a bronze medal in the recently concluded Southeast Asian Games, he questioned MTB for picking Wanwan early in the series.
"Honestly, sobrang naging mismatch yung laban, particularly on drafting section. Sobrang genius ni Coach Yeb then [kay] MTB (Master The Basics) marami po talagang mali," said the SEA Games coach.
"Halos lahat ng first phase ng drafting, talo na agad Blacklist (International) especially Games 1 and 6. Showing mage and marksman simultaneously without respecting Kairi's assassins."
As to why he found this problematic? Here what Coach Zen told Spin.
"Kahit sinong coach po kase expected na may lalabas na assassin diyan kapag nag-show na ng dalawang squishy heroes sa 1st phase. Plus, Kairi yan e."
And given Coach Yeb's ability to trap his rivals in terms of drafting, MTB's decision played well into the Onic coach's plans.
Blacklist tends to place their primary damage output from their gold laner, and with the Wanwan pick, Coach Yeb knows which heroes to limit Lee Howard "Owl" Gonzales' damage output.
Enter Uranus and Masha. Not only can they absorb Wanwan's damage, as they can also challenge Novaria's long range bombs.
While Coach Zen focused on the Wanwan early pick, he likewise mentioned Blacklist's lack of respect for Kairi's hero pool, which was also something that the former Bren Esports coach mentioned as well.
"Maybe what he could've done better us to ban out assassins of Kairi if he really planned on going Novaria and Wanwan," explained Coach Pauloxpert.

Is Blacklist lacking in terms of hero pool?
By watching closely at the series, Coach Yeb managed to ban two major picks in Blacklist's arsenal namely the Diggie and Estes, who have been primary staples for the Queen Johnmar "OhMyV33nus" Villaluna.
But she wasn't the only one being targetted as Kenneth Carl "Yue" Tadeo was also stomped as his Pharsa and Valentina picks were contested.
This was evident in Game 1 where MTB was left with no choice except the Minotaur pick, while the other OhMyV33nus staples aren't the best options against the current meta and Onic's draft.
However, the limitations aren't just focused in this series as Blacklist would only revolve around the following support heroes in the tournament namely, Valentina, Faramis, Minotaur, Novaria, Yve, Diggie, Estes, Kagura, and Lolita, heroes that teams would normally expect from them given their playstyle and draft patterns.
As for heroes like Chou, Franco, Khufra, and Grock? These seem far-fetch unless if we go back in time when mages were gold laners or if OhMyV33nus or Yue are willing to try these heroes.
In fact this was something that Coach Pauloxpert pointed out.
"As for MTB, I think he was struggling in the drafting phase because he has to work with his team's hero pool. So he had very limited options."

Coach Yeb's drafting traps
However, if there's one factor that really stood out, it would have to be Coach Yeb's tactical prowess.
Banning V33nus' Estes and Diggie throughout the series was an important tool to limit momshoes' heroes and he didn't just end there, as he also contested one important tool in Blacklist's composition...Valentina.
Blacklist loves the Valentina pick as it allows them to steal key abilities, which in turn would mask their flaws in terms of hero pool, and the Codebreakers have two notable specialists in Yue and Danerie James "Wise" Del Rosario.
So how does Coach Yeb deal with this? He either selects this hero, ban it, or limit other key threats in Blacklist's lineup as seen in Game 2.
Blacklist had their signature Novaria and Valentina pick, but Yeb decided to ban Edward "Edward" Jay Dapadap's Lapu-Lapu pick, which ultimately led MTB selecting Terizla, a hero that is good against Muhammad "Butsss" Sanubari's Joy, but limits Blacklist's mobility.
Edward is renowned for using mobile based EXP laners to cut waves, split push, deny the opposition's pushing capabilities, and flank opponents in teamfights, but the Terizla pick would weaken his overall objectives.
And given Blacklist's obsession with utility junglers as seen with Fredrinn, Yeb already had his countermeasures prepared with his Bane and Moskov picks in Game 2, as they can easily shred any tanky threat.
Even in that Game 3 loss, Yeb still managed to outplay MTB in the draft. The Valentina ban weakened Blacklist's grasp in the midlane role and with Yue's hero left on the block, Yeb decided to select Yu Zhong.
Whatever hero Yue picks, whether Yve or Pharsa, Butsss' Yu Zhong counters it. Onic could've actually won that game if the circumstance was favorable for them in the final Lord fight.
Then in Game 4 Coach Yeb's drafting masterclass carried on as he selected Valentina and Lolita, while banning the Minotaur, forcing OhMyV33nus with only a few options left.
The Mino ban also meant that Kairi "Kairi" Rayosdelsol's Fanny had so much room to engage, while the Lolita pick is good in denying Owl's Wanwan while forcing Blacklist to use their abilities to deny her Noumenon Blast, giving space for Kairi to engage.
It likewise didn't help that Kairi had two squishy threats to assault namely Wanwan and Benedetta.
In the end, Coach Yeb checkmated his rival.
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