The key qualities of a good player and the specifics of the meta in China—highlights from the 8G podcast with Kzen and Coach Justine

King of Gamers Club jungler Ken Louis Bermudez “Kzen” Pyle, along with the team’s coach Justin Hamot “Coach Justine” Kanoi, appeared on the 8G podcast on the Wolf Casts YouTube channel. Here’s a quick rundown of the key points in our article.

According to Coach Justine, a high-level esports player must possess both self-confidence and the right mindset. If only one of these components is developed, it’s impossible to reach the peak of one’s skill. Kzen agreed with his coach’s statement and added a third key factor to the skills listed above: dedication to one’s craft. Payen is convinced that without passion, a person is unlikely to develop in their chosen field and move forward.

Kanoi noted the restlessness and excessive self-confidence of the young King of Gamers Club holder, Payen. The team’s coach clarified that he had already observed these traits during the preliminary tryouts. Despite these issues, the coach is confident that these shortcomings can be overcome in the future as Payen gains more experience. For his part, Ken Louis praised Payen for his incredible work ethic and constant readiness to play ranked matches in Mobile Legends: Bang Bang. At the same time, Kzen highly praised the young esports player’s mechanical skills, which allow him to easily outplay opponents in the Gold tier.

The jungler shared his experience playing in China for the Ying Jiang Nan team and described the local culture as completely different from what he was used to. The main challenges for the foreign player were the long adjustment period to daily life and local food, as well as a significant language barrier, which led to a peculiar incident. The player recalled a moment during a match when he was vigorously waving his arm at his teammates. When footage of the match appeared online, the community assumed he was hitting his teammates. Kzen explained his actions as a result of communication issues: since he couldn’t communicate in English, he was trying to give at least some kind of clear visual signal and was urging the team to keep pushing forward.

Because the Chinese client of Mobile Legends: Bang Bang had a fairly limited hero pool at the time, the local scene developed in isolation. It was precisely this feature that led to the popularity of unconventional strategies, such as picking heroes like Freya or Sana for the gold lane. Pyle clarified that such strategies emerged as a result of the limited number of available marksman heroes, against whom fighters performed very well.

The esports players recalled how, in the early stages of MLBB Super League Thailand Season 1, the community and analysts paid virtually no attention to King of Gamers Club, considering the team to be outsiders and underdogs. All the attention was focused on the well-known Thai clubs—Bacon Time and Buriram United Esports—which were clear favorites to win the competition. After the favorites were eliminated from the tournament, KOG’s streamer Framezy addressed the viewers and asked for their support in the grand final, declaring that they were all one family. Thanks to the player’s speech, fans of Buriram United Esports and Bacon Time united and cheered for King of Gamers Club in the tournament’s final match.

Coach Justine discussed the transition of former team captain Hiwko to the role of assistant coach. The player’s in-game skills had been declining, while his knowledge of MLBB mechanics continued to grow. The coach recognized Hiwko’s strong understanding of macro gameplay and, after a team discussion, appointed the esports player as his assistant. Kanoi admitted that his help is truly beneficial.

In the previous episode of the 8G podcast, Aurora Gaming coach Neil “Midnight” De Guzman and commentator Remnar “Reptar” Santa Cruz discussed Pakito’s high power level and expressed admiration for the coaching work of Team Liquid PH’s Aeon and SN4P.

Photo by Louis Bermudez “Kzen” Pyle.