It takes a lot of maturity to face your fear and push through it.
AP.Bren’s Jamespangks is back for another round in MPL PH S16, but this time he believes things will be different after coming to a key realization.
Season 15 was his MPL debut, and it was a pretty rough one, to say the least. AP.Bren finished in seventh with an abysmal record of 3-11. Far below expectations for the former developmental league champions.
It took a bit of time for Jonathan “Jamespangks” Mendoza to figure out the cause of his poor performance was and the root of the issue was rather simple: he was simply playing scared.
“Na-realize ko talaga yun sa sarili ko,” said AP.Bren’s Jamespanks. ”Hindi naman ako ganito. Parang ‘ano yung mali ko? Bakit ganito yung laro ko?’ Nung rine-review ko yung games ko, may ginagawa ako sa scrims na hindi ko ginagawa sa stage kasi natatakot ako magkamali.”
It’s a problem that every rookie experiences, but not something they realize straight away. Despite their experience playing in a competitive environment in the developmental league, it wasn’t enough to prepare them for the reality of the MPL stage.
“Nung last week ng season 15, mindset namin nun is ‘laglag na kami, laruin na lang namin yung laro namin,’” added AP.Bren’s Jamespangks. “Parang yung mindset ko nun is bibigay ko na lang yung best ko, tapos same mindset kami ng teammates ko. Wala na kaming takot, gagawin lang namin yung role namin. Andali maglaro pag ganun.”
Overcoming Your Fear
With their primary culprit identified, Jamespangks and the rest of AP.Bren are now making sure that they play with confidence in season 16. Last season may have been a wash, but it helped them figure out what they needed to improve.
“Sinabi ko sa sarili ko na hindi na ako pwede maging ganun,” said AP.Bren’s Jamespanks. “Kasi parang nasayang yung isang taon, pero hindi siya totally nasayang. Dahil dun, na-realize ko na kailangan ko gawin yung dapat kong gawin. Wala na masyadong kailangan iniisip.”
Now comes the true test, and true to his word, Jamespangks isn’t playing scared. When asked which team he’s excited to face, he simply said all of them, as he has a lot of unfinished business.
“Feel ko kasi nung season 15, parang binabata lang ako – kami lahat. Parang tingin ng mga teams easy kaming kalaban. Ngayon, gusto ko labanan lahat ng teams kasi lahat bawian.”
Banner photo from MOONTON Games.