AS THE talent pool for Season 10 was revealed, fans noticed someone was missing.
Since Season 2, Thaddeus "TDZ" Padua has been part of the casting desk, and his sudden disappearance was quite a surprise.
Instead of TDZ, Hans “Sonah” Galeria rounded out the caster panel, making his debut cast in Season 10.
But all was made clear today, when Lazy Esports Pro, an amateur team in the Philippines, announced that it had snapped up as the caster as a coach. Instead of using TDZ, Padua opted to change his IGN to Mahadeva.
“I'm handling an amateur team right now as a coach, gusto ko kasi ma-expand knowledge ko sa ML in a different perspective, and try na mapa-MPL or MDL yung team,” said TDZ to Spin.ph. “Lazy Esports Pro. Dati syang Lazy Arsenals. They played [the] Juicy Legends tournament.”
He added: “Expectations ko is na ma-grow yung team together in-game and in real life, and to achieve our goals to play and win in higher tier tournaments such as MPL.”
Casters venturing into coaching is nothing new in the MPL scene. Caisam “Wolf” Nopueto served as an analyst for Onic PH back in Seasons 6 and 7, while Neil “Midnight” De Guzman would also play the same role with Nexplay EVOS in their Season 8 campaign.
The latter, however, had to sacrifice his casting career in Season 8 given the MPL’s policy that casters can no longer be on the desk if they are part of any team's coaching staff.
How TDZ will handle the caster-to-coach transition
To help him out in his new career track, TDZ consulted Wolf.
“I asked Wolf for advice, however it’s more on how much a coach is getting paid. He offered to help just in case and I’m grateful,” he revealed.
TDZ revealed that he already had experience coaching a team. During those days when he was hooked on Dota 2, he handled Team Hashtag.
“In-a-apply ko muna yung way nang pag-coach ko before nung nag-handle ako ng Dota 2 team. I believe the most important thing in any game, especially MOBA games, is communication,” he said. “Kapag maganda comms parang isang utak lang yung naglalaro. Ang smooth ng execution.”
Then when asked about Sonah taking over his slot, he believes that it is his time to shine.
“Sonah deserves it. I'm glad whenever a new caster joins the group kasi nagbunga yung pinaghirapan nila. I know the feeling, I've been there. It’s his time.”
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