COACH PAUL DENVER "YEB" MIRANDA and Kairi "Kairi" Rayosdelsol have had enough on the 'Kairi-Esports' debate.
Fans kept on arguing the same narratives over-and-over again where Filipinos are the reasons why the Indonesian MLBB team, Onic Esports have dominated the scene.
Kairi responded to those comments via Instagram, saying: "yg bilang kairi esports gada otak," (Those who say Kairi Esports have no brain.)
Meanwhile in Caisam "Wolf" Nopueto's podcast, Coach Yeb likewise shared his sentiments.
"Hindi porket may Pinoy sa Onic Indo at Geek Fam e sasabihin niyo na binuhat ng Pilipino, kasi kawawa naman si Luke (Geek Fam), ang ganda ng ipinakita. Kawawa naman si Aboy (Geek Fam), si Nnael (Geek Fam), hindi na-appreciate yung talent at effort so hindi lang ako sa Onic nagsasalita and I'm sure si Baloy ganundin yung nararamdaman.
"So paano yung team ko Onic? Hindi nila nakikita nila yung galing nung iba...I'm sure nakikita nila yung galing pero mina-mock nila."
Coach Yeb even dug deep as to who Kairi was referring to on Onic's IG saying, "Yung sinasabi ni Kairi doon sa IG niya na iyon is galing sa Indonesia. Indonesian yung sinagot niya doon kasi mina-mock yung teammates niya."
Looking at their statements in can be argued that Coach Yeb and Kairi are doing what good teammates are supposed to do: never leave any bad blood inside the locker room, otherwise things could get really worse.
What MPL fans need to realize
This is very common in traditional sports, as we take a look at a notable example.
When Liverpool lost to Real Madrid 1-3 in the UEFA Champions League finals back in 2018, all eyes were negatively aimed at the former's goalkeeper, Loris Karius.
If you watch the game, Karius was the reason why Liverpool lost as he made atrocious errors that should never happen in a grand final of a major sporting spectacle.
Liverpool's head coach/manager Jurgen Klopp was then asked about Karius' performance and while one can't blame him for going all out against his goalkeeper, he instead defended him.
Until now when reporters bring up that incident, Klopp still protected his former player and said: "There's no bad blood, but knowing the situation from the beginning was tough."
Karius' career went downhill after that incident as he bounced across other teams, but it can be argued that things could have gotten worse had Klopp criticized him in public. He was given a second chance after that horrid finals performance, and the opposite could happen had Klopp been brutal about him to the press.
Now let's shift the sights in the MPL scene. What if Coach Yeb and Kairi agree with the sentiments that 'the Philippines carried Indonesia' and discussed it on public?
Here's what will happen, a massive level will distrust will happen and things could reach a boiling point to the point where the tension among members will ruin the hard-earned chemistry that was established, which will look extremely atrocious for the reputations of both Coach Yeb and Kairi.
This should already debunk the following myths from fans saying, 'Inutusan lang kayo ng Onic' or 'mataas kasi bigayan sa inyo,' as Coach Yeb and Kairi are professionals and as the old saying goes 'professionals have standards.'
Now some fans have the counter-arguement that Kairi literally carried the entire Onic roster but was that really the case?
Digging deep into 'Kairi-Esports'
If you watch the grand finals of the MSC 2023 finale between Onic Esports and Blacklist International, it was clearly evident that each cog from the Indonesian squad worked wonders.
Indeed Kairi was the center of attraction given the numerous instances he overwhelmed Lee Howard "Owl" Gonzales, but the other members really shined well.
Nicky "Kiboy" Fernando was indeed the star of the show as he masterfully made space for his teammates to engage. There was no doubt that he definitely deserved the MVP award during the MSC.
Muhammad Satrya "Butss" Sanubari was up against the GOAT EXP laner Edward "Edward" Jay Dapadap, and he never seemed to be fazed by his rival. Butsss was spectacular in that finals outing especially when he played Masha.
And if you look closely in the match against ECHO PH, it was indeed an Indonesian masterclass from Gilang "SANZ" and Calvin "CW" Winata, where the latter outplayed Frederic Benedict "Bennyqt" Gonzales.
Imagine if these players didn't perform well in two of the most difficult matches for Onic in the MSC, would they still be champions?
Now there are other arguments where fans mentioned that Coach Yeb and Kairi's arrival changed the fortunes of the team, because they became champions with them. To be honest they have a good point, but it seems to lack a deeper context.
Coach Yeb and Kairi instilled a winning mentality, but oftentimes the effort from the team gets overlooked.
Kiboy, Butsss, SANZ, CW, and the rest of the crew stepped up because of their arrival and things would've been different had they not evolved their game.
They spent hours embracing the winning mentality from foreign individuals, which isn't easy to do, as there could be some shades of jealousy, language barrier, and other internal problems.
Yet they never let those factors deterred them and instead placed a lot of effort in becoming champions, proving that Kairi alone isn't the reason for Onic's recent success, hence debunking the myth of 'Kairi-Esports.'
Does this mean that the term shouldn't exist though?
Personally I think it should no longer exist given that Onic Esports proved everyone wrong during the MSC 2023 finals, but given its mainstream status it would be impossible to remove it.
And while fans can constantly bring up the phrase, I just hope that they'll understand the deeper context.
After all, 'No man is an island.'
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