It’s not easy being an import but Hadess has learned how to deal with the challenges of playing away from home.
Of the notable Filipino imports in MLBB, NIP Flash’s Jaymark “Hadess” Lazaro has had one of the longest careers overseas. He started playing professionally in 2020 for Cignal Ultra before joining Geek Fam in Indonesia in 2022. Later, he would join Singapore’s Team Flash in 2023 and become the region’s representative for the M5 World Championship.
Now Hadess is representing Singapore once again with NIP Flash in MSC, the biggest MLBB tournament to date. For him, this is a great opportunity to play and learn from international teams even though there’s more at stake.
“It will definitely increase competitiveness among teams,” Hadess shared with The GAME. “Personally, I don’t feel any extra pressure with the larger scale. Instead, I’m more excited to participate in these bigger tournaments.”
As someone who’s played outside of the Philippines for the majority of his career, we asked him what his biggest challenges were and he said that it was “being far away from my family, which I am very close to, and dealing with occasional homesickness.”
In addition to this, he also mentioned that he had some difficulty eating the different kinds of food in Indonesia and Singapore. Mundane, yet very real hurdles that any OFW faces.
Hadess, however, is a true professional and has learned how to adapt to his environment. He frequently calls home to avoid homesickness and has learned to adjust to the local cuisine. Most important of all was the lesson he learned in his years playing as an import: “It’s okay and important to step out of your comfort zone. To be in a new country or environment can be challenging and unfamiliar. But I learned that if I can embrace these challenges, I will see a lot of personal growth.
“I think being in a different country also opens up my mind to different cultures and perspectives, and this makes it very enriching to me.”
Wise words from someone who has gone beyond his boundaries and learned how to take advantage of it.
Banner photo from MOONTON Games.
Related Stories:
Liquid ECHO’s Sanford is Looking for Redemption This MSC 2024
Falcons AP.Bren and FlapTzy Head into MSC 2024 With No Fear
Kairi, After A Year of Success With ONIC Esports