Coach Ynot: “Kailangan Ko Mabreak Ang Record ni Yeba”

There are stories in esports that begin with fire and gold—teams formed with pedigreed names, big money, and highlight reels.

Then there are stories like ONIC PH: Misfit-laden. Scrappy. Ridiculed. Rewritten.

When Coach Tony took the helm of ONIC PH, he wasn’t handed a winning deck. Instead, he assembled a team that the rest of MPL quietly scoffed at: K1ngKong, a talented but overlooked jungler from a team that couldn’t buy a win; Kirk, the benchwarmer from RSG and Minana who was often passed over; Brusko, benched and seemingly forgotten during his stint at RRQ. The only glimmers of stardust? Frince’s raw potential, and the volatile brilliance of Kelra.

“Lahat ng mga players, especially those here in the Philippines, deserve an opportunity to showcase who they are and how they play,” Coach Tony tells ALL-STAR. “ONIC as a whole has allowed that to happen.”

And maybe that’s the magic of ONIC PH: a willingness to believe in stories that haven’t been told yet.

“We just gave them an identity,” he adds. “Knowing that the org trusts them, knowing na wala kayong pangalan—eh di gagawa tayo ng pangalan.”

“Kailangan ko ma-break ang record ni Yeba”

What ONIC PH did was more than just shuffle pieces on a chessboard. Coach Tony built a system where personality didn’t have to be sacrificed for performance, where swagger could coexist with structure.

It was a delicate dance—letting talents express themselves while refining the rhythm of the team. And the results? A playoff run that stunned fans and made analysts eat their words.

Coach Tony is now at the cusp of greatness, and he’s got his eyes locked on a record.

“Ako personally as a coach, kailangan ma-break ko yung record ni Yeba,” he says, referring to Coach Yeb, a revered tactician with multiple MPL and MSC titles under his belt. “Kailangan kong mahigitan yung MPL championships niya, sa MSC, sa SPS—that’s my goal.”

But don’t mistake this ambition for animosity. There’s history here. A shared past that predates Mobile Legends and goes all the way back to the dust-filled computer shops of 2009.

“Syempre tropa ko iyon eh! Hindi ako papatalo sa tropa ko!” Coach Tony laughs.

Back then, it was Dota 1. Tony was already grinding; Yeb was still a student learning the ropes. They became teammates across versions—Dota 1, Dota 2—and learned each other’s ticks, timing, and tenacity.

“We go way back. So kilala talaga namin ang bawat isa.”

What ONIC PH is building isn’t just a one-season wonder.

It’s a movement. A statement that names aren’t born, they’re made. That redemption arcs don’t end in tryouts—they begin there. That even in a league dominated by dynasties and decorated veterans, there’s still room for a group of underdogs who simply refused to be overlooked.

“We know we are great, we know we can do it right now,” Tony says. “So ipagpapatuloy lang namin.”

The losers are no longer losing. They’re rewriting the meta—one misfit at a time.