KarlTzy: Crowned. Completed. GOATED.
“MABIGAT BA?” (“Are they heavy?”) we asked.
Karl Gabriel Nepomuceno—better known as KarlTzy—stood before us, holding all the medals he has collected since he was 14. Ten in total. All of them gold.
“Oo, mabigat!” (“Yes, they’re heavy!”) he said with a laugh.
But when the question turned to what these medals and trophies meant, his answer wasn’t about legacy, dominance, or history.
“Yung journey ko na napakahirap. Hindi siya sobrang dali na nakuha ko agad kasi inabot ako ng five years para makumpleto ko iyon. Sobrang happy ako na nakuha ko yung MSC,” KarlTzy told ALL-STAR.
(“My journey was really tough. It didn’t come easy—I spent five years before I could complete it. I’m really happy that I finally got the MSC.”)
By now, his trophy cabinet is complete: four MPL Philippines championships, two M-Series World Championships, a SEA Games gold, and at last, the elusive MSC title, the MLBB Mid Season Cup.
But behind the glitter of gold lies a story less about greatness, and more about growing up.
The Young GOAT and the EGO
As he held each medal in his hands, KarlTzy remembered the different versions of himself that won them. It was as if every piece of gold carried a chapter of his own becoming. One by one, the Young GOAT allowed us to see how he outgrew his ego and transformed into a man.
Now 21, KarlTzy is far from the reckless teenager who stormed into MPL Philippines back in Season 6.
“Sobrang yabang ko noong Season 6!” he laughs, remembering his first MPL PH championship.
(“I was really cocky back in Season 6!”)
“Sobrang yabang, sobrang walang pakialam. Siguro dahil na rin sa mga kakampi ko kasi lahat sila sobrang yabang din talaga, eh! Sa sarili namin, talagang iniisip namin na kayang kaya namin lahat.”
(“I was so cocky, didn’t care about anything. Maybe it was because my teammates were the same way—everyone was super full of themselves! By ourselves, we really thought we could do anything.”)
KarlTzy recalled the 2019 SEA Games with a grin. “Mayabang din ako noon, eh!” he admitted. By the time he lifted the M2 World Championship trophy with BREN a year later, that swagger had swelled into full-blown ego. As his former teammate Pheww put it, “We felt like gods.”
But the journey was far from smooth. In BREN, which he considers his prime, KarlTzy was feared—sometimes even by his own teammates.
“Sobrang taray ko na player,” he recalls. “Sobrang wala talaga ako ng pakialam sa mga nangyayari. Kaya kong durugin yung mga kalaban.”
(“I was such a brash player. I really didn’t care about what was happening around me. I could crush our opponents.”)
That swagger earned him the title “Young GOAT,” a name the world gave him before he turned 18. But for KarlTzy, the label meant little.
“Noong una, parang wala lang sa akin,” he shrugs. “Hindi naman need mag debate noon kung GOAT ba talaga ako o hindi. Wala naman talaga akong paki noon.”
(“At first, I didn’t really care. There was no need to debate whether I was really the GOAT or not. I just didn’t care back then.”)
The Hard Fall
In 2021, during MPL PH Season 9, KarlTzy made the high-profile move to ECHO, joining a roster that fans quickly dubbed the “Super Team.”
With a roster composed of Yawi, Bennyqt, and the “Tzy Brothers”—KurtTzy, KarlTzy, and 3MarTzy—the lineup promised dominance. Instead, it delivered heartbreak. ECHO suffered an early exit in the playoffs, marking one of the most painful chapters of KarlTzy’s career.
“Medyo napahiya, syempre,” KarlTzy admitted.
(“I was a bit embarrassed, of course.”)
But his greatest battle wasn’t humiliation. It came in Season 10, when the meta shifted—and so did his role.
If you ask KarlTzy which chapter of his career demanded the most from his heart, it wasn’t the triumphs or the heartbreaks of earlier seasons. It was Season 10.
Swallowing Pride
Season 10 was when KarlTzy truly struggled with himself. For years, he had been the centerpiece—the assassin jungler who racked up kills while the whole team funneled resources into him.
But the meta had shifted. He was asked to play tank, a role that stripped him of the spotlight. At first, he couldn’t accept it. The idea of a tank-jungler went against everything he knew.
“Noong Season 10, na-realize ko na kailangan kong tanggapin yung mga changes sa meta,” said KarlTzy.
(“In Season 10, I realized that I needed to accept the changes in the meta.”)
Still, he swallowed his pride and reshaped his mindset about the game’s dynamics. Playing tank wasn’t about glory. It wasn’t about kills. It was about keeping teammates alive, sacrificing your own shine so that others could finish the fight.
Becoming a Man
By Season 11, the reckless prodigy had slowed down, learning to pause and reflect—not only in-game but in life. It was also the season KarlTzy won his first MPL title since Season 6.
“Yung version ko noong Season 11, sobrang nag-iisip na ako sa mga gagawin ko. Hindi lang inside the game, pero outside the game rin.”
(“My Season 11 self, I started thinking about everything I did—not just inside the game, but outside of it too.”)
By Season 13, with former captain Yawi gone, he stepped into the mantle of leadership. The boy who once played only for himself was now carrying the weight of others—and in the process, claimed his third MPL PH championship.
But ego was still a dangerous companion. In Season 14, when he was briefly substituted for Zaida, KarlTzy nearly walked away.
“Gusto ko lang lumipat ng team,” he admits. “Sobrang ego ko na tao at sa tingin ko, hindi ako yung problema ng team noon and yet ako yung pinapalitan.”
(“I just wanted to switch teams. My ego was huge, and I felt like I wasn’t the problem for the team back then—yet I was the one being replaced.”)
For a boy who had once been the axis of the game, being benched was humiliation. But it was also the beginning of maturity.
“Siguro moving forward,” KarlTzy reflects, “mas magiging professional ako sa mindset ko.”
(“I guess moving forward, I’ll be more professional in my mindset.”)
And by Season 15, after years of pressure, scrutiny, and sacrifice, he rediscovered the simplest, most fragile gift of all—joy. It was also the season he lifted his fourth MPL PH championship, proof that happiness and victory could finally exist side by side.
For the first time in his career, there was more enjoyment than pressure. “Itong Season 15, enjoy lang talaga! Hindi ko alam anong meaning, nag-enjoy lang ako eh!”
Part of that joy was finally finding comfort in all of his teammates, a harmony he admitted he never fully felt in past lineups. For the first time, there was no clash of egos, no suffocating pressure to prove himself. Instead, there was trust. Laughter. A lightness that reminded him why he played in the first place.
Strength in Support
When KarlTzy looked back on what the MSC trophy truly meant, his answer came without hesitation: his teammates.
“Wala talagang pressure, kahit sa MSC. Enjoy lang talaga! Kapag kasama ko yung apat, feeling ko hindi kami matatalo,” KarlTzy told ALL-STAR.
(“There was really no pressure, even at MSC. I was just enjoying it! When I’m with the four of them, I feel like we can’t be beaten.”)
That sense of being carried by something bigger than himself didn’t stop with teammates. Even off the stage, KarlTzy felt it.
“Sobrang sarap po sa pakiramdam na may nag-sponsor sa Team Liquid PH sabay sinusuportahan kami,” said KarlTzy, referring to DITO Telecommunity, whose team are huge fans of his.
“Kasi lagi ko pong nababalitaan na kada game namin, nanonood po sila at palagi nila kaming ginu-good luck. Sobrang nakaka-motivate lalo.”
(“It feels really good to have a sponsor for Team Liquid PH supporting us. I always hear that they’re watching every game and wishing us good luck. It’s incredibly motivating.”)
For KarlTzy, it wasn’t about branding or fanfare but about knowing someone had their backs, win or lose. Beyond the support, DITO also provided reliable access to data—something Karl relies on to stay connected, practice, and compete. “Sobrang malaking bagay, thankful ako sa DITO kasi sinusuportahan nila kami every match,” he added. This, he felt, was aligned with DITO’s commitment to championing Filipino talent, giving them the tools to shine on a global stage.
The Last Missing Piece
MSC 2025 became the final chapter, the trophy that had eluded him for half a decade. When KarlTzy finally lifted it, there was no arrogance left. Just relief.
“Parang nabunutan ako ng tinik dahil nakumpleto ko na lahat ng major achievements,” KarlTzy said.
(“It felt like a thorn was finally removed because I had completed all the major achievements.”)
Five years of defeats. Five years of near-misses. Five years of roster changes and restless nights wondering if it would ever come. Until finally, it did.
“Yung journey ko na napakahirap. Hindi siya sobrang dali na nakuha ko agad kasi inabot ako ng five years para makumpleto ko iyon. Sobrang happy ako na nakuha ko yung MSC,” he said.
(“My journey was really tough. It didn’t come easy—I spent five years before I could complete it. I’m so happy that I finally won the MSC.”)
The Man Beyond the Boy
Looking at KarlTzy now—at 21, at the height of his powers, trophies gleaming behind him—it is tempting to speak only of destiny, of prodigy fulfilled. But greatness, as he shows us, is rarely clean. It is not only about skill, but about hours lost, egos wounded, and lessons learned too late.
If the boy of M2 was selfish, funneled by a meta that revolved around him, the man of MSC 2025 has learned to shift, to adjust, to become whatever the game requires: Assassin or Utility, selfish or selfless, boy or man.
In the end, KarlTzy is not the GOAT because he was flawless. He is the GOAT because he was flawed—and still won everything anyway.
And when history speaks of MLBB, perhaps that is what will be remembered: the boy who gave up his youth, the man who carried his game, and the face who proved that greatness, in all its messy contradictions, can belong to a boy who simply wanted to play.
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Publisher and Creative Director: James Leonard Cruz. Art Director: Karlota Tuazon. Interview and Cover Story: Mario Alvaro Limos. Photos: Vyn Radovan. Social Media: Xavier Bautista and Patrice Dabao. Hair and Makeup: Muriel Vega Perez, assisted by Lalai Glendro. Powered by DITO Telecommunity.
