Looking back at Zico's journey: from MPL PH to the MPL KH title

On Sunday, Filipino and Khmer fans alike celebrated the ascension of Team Burn x Flash to the MPL Cambodia Autumn Split 2022 throne after dispatching Logic Esports 3-1, in the finals and at the center of it all was Coach John Michael "Zico" Dizon, a former MPL Philippines player and later coach.

The move to Cambodia to lead Team Flash after the MPL PH Season 9 exit became one of the biggest pieces of news not only in the Philippine esports scene but also across Southeast Asia that was later followed by an exodus of Filipino players and coaches transfering to the various regions including Malaysia, Indonesia, North America and Mongolia.

Zico, who went to the M1 World Championship after finishing runner-up in the MPL PH for Onic Philippines in Season 4, had to overcome getting eliminated in the Season 5 qualifiers and taking a break in Season 6 to assess his options in the professional scene.

That's when Setsuna "AkoSiDogie" Ignacio came calling and invited Zico to join Nexplay as the Analyst/Assistant Coach for Season 7.

Although they finished 7th-8th that season, Zico took the reins as the team's Head Coach in Season 8 and got into the top four. And even though they crashed out early in the Season 9 playoffs, they had a fighting chance against then M3 world runner-up Onic PH before succumbing to a close 3-2 loss further proving Zico's brilliance as the team's general.

Moving to Cambodia

The transfer to an overseas MPL league wasn't actually planned and happened by accident. Everything started when AkoSiDogie created a troll post on social media saying that he is "selling" players John Paul “H2wo” Salonga and Renejay “RENEJAY” Barcase along with Zico after their Season 9 campiagn.

In the aftermath, several teams from Singapore and Indonesia contacted Zico to inquire about his services. He ultimately chose Team Flash in Cambodia.

"Sila yung pinakamadaling kausap kasi talaga. Kaya hindi rin ako nahirapan magdecide after nun," he recalls

He was scheduled to have a one month trial run with the team but the management was so satisfied with his work that they requested him to fly in just after two weeks of trial.

Having not won any championship yet and failing to crack the top three in the Philippine region since Season 4, Zico ventured into the unknown. He was ready to take his time to develop the squad handed to him and grow them to become future contenders, only it happened so unexpectedly soon.

"Ako mismo sa sarili ko, di ko inexpect na ganun ko kabilis makukuha. Kasi three months pa lang ako dito sa Cambodia. One season pa lang ako," Coach Zico told members of the media on Tuesday's Zoom conference.

"Sobrang speechless pa rin ako hanggang ngayon. Hindi pa rin nagsisink in sakin na, ayun nga, na champion na ako. May championship title na sa pangalan ko,"

Outside of exploring opportunities abroad and getting out of his comfort zone, the trip to Cambodia was very personal to Zico as he tried to prove his doubters wrong.

"Sobrang importante sa'ming manalo kasi gusto ko patunayan sarili ko sa mga nagda-doubt. Kasi sobrang daming tao na nag-doubt sakin noong nasa Nexplay pa ako. Ngayon, gusto ko patunayan sa kanila na kaya ko magpa-champion ng isang team, which is nagawa ko na and sobrang proud ako sa sarili ko."

Struggles in the MPL KH

Coaching a foreign squad is no easy task given the difference in culture, language and the way they approach the game.

And Zico felt everything right away when he arrived in Cambodia.

"Yung comms nahirapan talaga ako lalo kay CCat. Kasi sa kanilang lima, siya lang yung hindi nakakaintindi ng English eh. So medyo di kami nakakapag-usap which is sobrang hirap dahil siya yung madalas nagbubuhat," Zico explained.

In a MOBA game where communication is key to team synergy, the language barrier was a daunting task to overcome.

Luckily for Zico though, he found solace in roamer Ty "D7" Oudom who became his extension in communicating with Sok "CCat" Roth and Khmer members of the team. D7 became his official translator and it showed in the game as the roamer captained their team fights and initiations.

But the struggles didn't just end with communication.

Coming from the Philippines where professional players spend around eight hours a day training for the MPL, the coach had to address the issue of practice time which would be detrimental to the team in the long run if not settled.

With their goldlaner still studying, the team severely lacked practice games that limited their ability to grow and develop chemistry.

"Practice namin hapon lang, 4pm and 7pm. Minsan 7pm lang kami nag-iistart kasi ang gold lane namin nag-aaral siya. So sabi ko (sa management), kung interesado ba sila kunin si Hesa," revealed Zico.

This dilemma turned into a golden opportunity for Jhonwin "Hesa" Vergara, a former Nexplay player, to follow suit in Cambodia and the rest is history. 

Almost losing steam in the Grandfinals

After going up 2-0 in the grandfinals series, Team Flash started to look sloppy in Game 3 as Logic Esports mounted a comeback campaign in Game 3, imposing their will as they may all throughout to get one game and sustained their momentum in Game 4 controlling the match from the early game.

Facing a rejuvenated Logic Esports and in danger of a stinging reverse sweep, Zico admitted feeling tense during those moments on the sidelines.

"Sobrang hirap in case na matalo kami dun. Feel ko matatalo kami buong series kasi mawawala yung morale nila as a team. Kahit sabihin natin na reset, cheer up natin sila. Iba pa rin kasi talaga yung feeling nila kapag ka natalo na," Zico recounts how he felt during the tense moments of Game 4.

"Medyo nag-50-50 ako nun eh. Medyo kinabahan ako. At the same time nagtiwala ako kay CCat pati kay Hesa kasi alam ko sila yung magdadala"

But his wards responded to the trust with a beautiful team fight execution in the 15th minute where Hesa scored a double kill that helped his team gun a 5-0 wipeout and take the championship in one fell swoop.

—JMB, GMA News