Bren Esports coach Francis "Duckey" Glindro said he is just trolling around when he made his amusing picks in the live draft of the $100,000-ONE Esports Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Pro League Invitational (MPLI) on Wednesday night.
Duckey, whose MPL-Philippines Season 6 champion Bren is drawn in Bracket B, drew hilarious reactions and memes when he selected Aura PH and Onic PH to go up against their Indonesian mother clubs Aura Fire and Onic ID.
"No rationale behind the picks really. Just wanted to troll and let them face each other early on," said Duckey in a brief message to the Manila Bulletin.
The M1 World Championship-winning tactician said he wanted to choose Indonesian powerhouse Alter Ego but coach James Chen of Indonesian champ RRQ Hoshi grabbed them for Bracket A.
"I was to pick Alter Ego but James picked them. So if you're reading this James, I just wanted to let you know I hate you," he joked.
The three other Filipino teams were spread across the four brackets, boosting the country's chances to rule the first MPLI which is arguably the biggest international MLBB tournament after the M1 last year.
MPL-PH runner-up Smart Omega is set to tackle Indonesian side Genflix Aerowolf in Bracket A, with the winner taking on the victor between Alter Ego and M1 winner EVOS Legends.
Third-place finisher Execration, which recently acquired two new players, is slated to battle Burmese runner-up Ronin Esports in Bracket D. Malaysia's Orange Louvre and Singapore's Evos SG will also tangle for a chance to face Myanmar's titlist Burmese Ghouls.
Blacklist International, now powered by the feared duo of Danerie James "Wise" Del Rosario and Johnmar "OhMyV33nus" Villaluna, will square off with Singapore's RSG in Bracket C which has MYSG winner Todak.
Indonesian teams Geek Fam and Bigetron Alpha will clash on the other side.
Established by ONE Esports in collaboration with ML developer Moonton, the 20-team invitational tourney is slated on November 27 to December 6 and will be streamed via the Facebook, Twitter, Twitch and Youtube accounts of ONE Esports.