There was a glimmer of hope in the end — but the Falcons finally concluded their season 16 journey.
Despite the best efforts of Team Falcons’ coaches, a tough loss at the opening of the playoffs also ends their toughest season yet.
Coach Robert “Trebor” Sanchez had been handling the on-stage coaching by himself for the majority of the season. As the Falcons descended into their disastrous seven-match losing streak, it was clear that he needed help. While the inclusion of coach Mohammad “Moody” Samal in week six didn’t yield immediate results, his aid helped Falcons achieve their historic end-of-season push to qualify for the playoffs.
But now that the story has come to an end with Team Liquid getting their revenge for their week eight loss. We asked the Team Falcons coaches about their immediate thoughts and lessons they’ve learned about the season.
“Yung natutunan ko this season is malaking factor yung boses sa team,” said coach Trebor. “Kasi nung early season masyado kami naco-control. Kung may clear na boses sa team, nakakatulong siya so kailangan ko pa bumoses.”
“Sa career ko sa esports, lagi ako solo,” reflects coach Moody. “Iba rin yung feeling na may katulong ka to help the team. Syempre, first time ko rin sa MPL so I had to learn. Pero para sa akin talaga, yung feeling na may isa pang utak sa pagdra-drafting at ha-handle ng team.”
Coach Trebor mirrored that sentiment as Team Falcons really had a marked improvement once the two had time to work together with the team. “Malaking factor talaga si coach Moody kasi may katulong na ako sa stage. Nagkaboses kami noong dumating si coach Moody.”
Perhaps if the two were assisting each other at the start of the season, things might have gone differently.
For the Fans
There’s no sugarcoating how ugly this season was for Team Falcons, but despite it all, they kept fighting. They kept fighting because they knew there were those who still believed in them. For that, the Team Falcons coaches can only extend their thanks.
“Simulan ko ng sorry kasi nagkulang,” said coach Moody. “We really expected to go the distance sa run na to kasi nakita namin yung lakas namin sa end ng regular season. Pero most of all thank you kasi hindi sumuko [yung fans] sa paniniwala sa amin.”
“Sobrang thankful ako kasi sumusuporta pa rin sila kahit ganun yung run namin sa regular season,” said coach Trebor. “Kahit konti na yung naniwala na makapasok kami sa playoffs, nandun pa rin sila. Thank you talaga, kinapos lang kami.”
Banner photo from MOONTON Games.