E-sports

Cloud9’s Midnight Shares His Thoughts on Coaching a North American MLBB Team

By Ramon Domingo - July 12, 2024
Outside of Southeast Asia, the MLBB scene is much different and coach Midnight gives his insight as to why.

After providing his analytical mind as a caster in the MPL Philippines, Neil “Midnight” De Guzman takes on the challenge of being Cloud9’s MLBB coach. The teams in North America have needed help ever since their stellar performance in the M3 World Championship. Few know the game better than Midnight but it seems that more work needs to be done as they exited MSC 2024 in the bottom half of their group.

“Heading into MSC we knew there were struggles and challenges that we were going to face. They showed up and it seems like we still need more practice,” said coach Midnight candidly. 

Midnight joined Cloud9’s MLBB team, formerly known as BloodThirstyKings, as a coach back in March. He’s been balancing his dual duties as caster and coach up until the start of MSC 2024 and while his schedule has been hectic, he’s really invested in seeing Cloud9 improve despite current results. “We’re really keen on making sure that the things we learned are applied to any future tournaments we play.”

Cloud9’s Midnight Shares His Thoughts on Coaching a North American MLBB Team
Cloud9’s Michael “MobaZane” Cosgun during a match in MSC 2024. (Photo from Esports World Cup)

One of the key things that he did was bring the entire team over to the Philippines. Not only do they get to play in the strongest MLBB region in the world, they also get to experience what it’s like to play as a Philippine team, warts and all. 

“While bootcamping in the Philippines they had to adjust to different things,” said coach Midnight, chuckling at the memory.

“Like cockroaches and dirty bathrooms, and also each other since they come from different backgrounds. But the training was still the same, they got to experience what it’s like to be in a bootcamp. Like dealing with each other, casually talking with one another, so the bootcamp was decently helpful.”

The Struggle to Improve

Some might think that Midnight’s decision to coach Cloud9’s MLBB team is a bit of a swerve but it’s nothing that he hasn’t already done before.

“Not a lot of people know this but I was a coach before becoming a caster. The transition was smooth but the struggles came from coaching a different region.”

It’s no secret that Southeast Asia produces the best MLBB players and teams. It’s only natural then to try and apply that structure to a struggling region like North America.

“When you’re coaching a Filipino or any Southeast Asian team, they all know that there’s a system that’s set in place. In NA it’s very different so I think that’s where the difficulties come from. Adjusting to the players, adjusting to the environment, making sure that everyone’s comfortable with the new changes.”

Coach Midnight also believes that the region faces difficulties outside the game that are practically beyond their control.

“The only disadvantage NA teams have is that they don’t get the same practice as Southeast Asian teams due to the infrastructure of the game. Their own servers are so far away from each other that the west and east coast are playing on different pings. That’s the biggest issue of NA and why they’ve degraded because mechanically speaking they’re still on par with Southeast Asian players.”

Cloud9’s Midnight Shares His Thoughts on Coaching a North American MLBB Team
Even though they exited MSC 2024 early, Cloud9 were still able to get a win against Xianyou Gaming. (Photo from Esports World Cup)

Still, coach Midnight thinks that time and more exposure to international competition is good for the region. Challenges aside, the one sure way for a team to improve is to play and learn against the best. We’ll see where North America lands if they’re given both in the future.

Banner photo from C9 Midnight.


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