The Giants have had a rough M6 so far but coach Arcadia believes they can still show everyone why they’re still tournament favorites.
At a 1-2 standing, things are looking dire for the Selangor Red Giants’ M6 run but SRG coach Arcadia still thinks that they can overcome this challenge.
The star Malaysian team rocketed to success ever since they won MSC 2024, the very first million-dollar MLBB tournament. Their international victories continued when the Giants represented Malaysia in IESF WEC 2024 and took that trophy as well. Both times they took down the Philippines in the grand finals, leading many to believe that they might possibly be the new MLBB world champions this year.
Those are some lofty expectations for a region that’s been seen as the distant third best for many years. With their current performance in the M6 World Championship, it may seem that the pressure is finally getting to them. However, Filipino head coach Michael “Arcadia” Bocado thinks otherwise.
“I don’t think that the pressure is that big,” said SRG coach Arcadia. “For sure there’s pressure but as a team we try to have the right mindset with our players. We take the pressure as motivation – for example like playing in front of the home crowd. So I think it’s not really about the pressure, it’s about our technique.”
Coach Arcadia says that they’re making too many critical mistakes that their opponents are capitalizing on to take the win. “This is something that we expected because I think all of the other regions are stepping up. All of them are catching up with each other and these are the best teams in the whole world. So we’re approaching this tournament with respect to everyone and treating them all as if they’re all on the same level.”
Rising Up to the Challenge
As impressive as SRG’s rise to the top is, it put a spotlight on them for all the other regions. Now that the world knows that SRG are real contenders, they’re taking extra effort to prepare for them and find any weakness.
“That’s the reality when you’re winning,” said SRG coach Arcadia. “As you want to progress further, the challenges pile up. It’s really up to us on how we will overcome these roadblocks if we want to keep winning. So it doesn’t actually get easier. It gets more challenging, but that’s the fun part of being consistent.”
Despite being on the cusp of being eliminated from M6, coach Arcadia believes that they can still turn it around. They came into the world championship as one of the favorites and they still have a chance to show the world why.
“I think we just need to reset and make sure that we’re mentally ready for the situation that we’re facing. As long as we can stay composed the whole tournament our chances to proceed are still high.”
Banner photo from MOONTON Games.