ON August 18, Gerald "Dlar" Trinchera surprised the MPL community in the Philippines and Indonesia when he announced his departure from Indonesia's EVOS Legends. Fans were quick to accuse EVOS of not utilizing Dlar.
"Obvious naman na ginawa nilang practice player si Dlar para maka adapt sa Philippine meta," said one Facebook user.
"Parang hinold lang nila si Dlar para hindi makua sa MPL-PH," said another, commenting on the untimely release date of Dlar from EVOS.
To settle the dust, EVOS Legends has released a statement to the MPL Philippines Press Corps, which sent questions to the organization regarding Dlar's departure.
"The decision to return to the Philippines came from Dlar's personal choice. At the midpoint of each season (after completing leg 1), there is always a joint review conducted internally by the coaching staff and players, which refers to performance evaluations, particularly for Dlar. From the management's perspective, there were discussions with Dlar about their future plans and what they intend to pursue. Ultimately, Dlar decided to return to the Philippines, challenging themselves to try hard and focus on the competitive scene there. However, there is no detailed information yet on whether Dlar will start competing in the current season or the next season. Hence, the management has made various efforts and will continue to support Dlar's decision in pursuing their aspirations in the Philippines," said EVOS.
But why was Dlar rarely allowed to play for EVOS Legends?
"Observing the progress of each week's MPL tournament, at the beginning of the week during practice, we always have trials to determine the roster that will play in that week, receiving more practice time before match day.
"The observations for this season indicate that Fluffy's performance is still better than Dlar's. This serves as the basis for us to achieve our goal of winning each match, where the best players will be part of the roster lineup.
"However, if we look at Dlar's development from the time they joined until now, we have made efforts to involve Dlar in the competitive scene and also beyond the arena, such as developing Dlar's talents in entertainment aspects. This will be very useful for Dlar's personal branding in the future," said EVOS Legends.
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