Last Sunday marked the conclusion of the first week of the PUBG Mobile Pro League Indonesia (PMPL ID) Spring 2023 competition. Teams that excelled in the middle of last season, such as Boom Esports and Aura, maintained their strong play and finished in the top four of the PMPL ID Spring 2023 standings.
The dominance display shown by these two are certainly a big surprise, considering that Boom Esports and Aura had let go their key players earlier this month. Hexa left Boom Esports and is now playing for Morph Team, while Jeixy is taking a break from the competitive scene and is now a talent for Aura. But it looks like there was another big surprise in Week 1 that caught people’s attention. And that was the emergence of star-studded Persija Evos, also known as Persijavos, who’s on their PMPL debut.
Touted as the first major esports collaboration project in Indonesia, this team is the joint project between one of the biggest football clubs in Indonesia, Persija, and the Evos Reborn division, which has been participating in major PUBGM competitions in Indonesia and Southeast Asia for a long time.
Given their large financial backing and popularity, it took no times for Persijavos to build their A-team ahead of PMPL ID Spring 2023. They pulled in twin duos from Bigetron RA, Luxxy and Zuxxy, who are reported to be the most expensive players in PUBGM SEA esports. In addition, they recruited Misery from Ion, who won PMPL ID Spring last season.
The addition of these A-listers gave diehard fans of Persija high hopes for the upcoming Spring 2023 season. However, the Kemayoran Tiger’s lacklustre play at the outset of this opening week caught them by surprise.
There was no sign of struggle. Teams like Voin, Boom, and Bigetron took turns beating Persijavos in each round. Their rotation was dismal and they seemed to only rely on individual mechanics, not as a team.
Their reunion with their former world champion mate at Persijavos, Microboy, didn’t really do much. Even though they managed to scrap some points on day 2 week 1, the trio of world champions looked completely clueless as the other teams adapted and surrounded them in every compound battle.
This shambolic performance put them on #15 in PMPL ID Spring 2023 standings. With a new, shorter tournament structure, this so-called “super team” has only a week left to improve their performance if they want to achieve their goal to participate in the PMPL SEA Spring 2023 in March. Even worse, they may be demoted from PMPL ID league with these results.
Strong responses from players
Persijavos’ poor performance has become the target of harsh criticism by some veteran analysts and casters at the moment, especially in Indonesia. And one of them is Agus “Junior” Suharwan, a former PUBGM pro player who is now a filling in as regular caster/analyst for PMPL ID.
Known for his outspoken and harsh commentary, Junior has become the subject of rage from the most devoted fans of every team he has ever criticised in PMPL ID. Yet, this is the first occasion this year that the players have taken out their frustrations on Junior.
Following the final game of week 1 yesterday, Junior uploaded an instastory that made a direct reference to Persijavos. “The trio – Zuxxy, Luxxy, and Redface – are still strong. But the problem is they have a good-for-nothing coach who doesn’t have a clue to make it works as a team,” he wrote on Instagram.
Persijavos hardcore fans are reacted angrily to his words, as expected. Some thought Junior’s comments was overblown and too harsh. In addition, few Persijavos players also expressed their dismay with Junior and pushed back against him.
In a post-interview with PMPL Spring ID 2023 yesterday, Zuxxy stated that “Agus (Junior) commentaries are bullshit, no one should take his words.” He also questioned Junior’s capability as analyst in the PMPL.
In addition, Zuxxy then asked Junior to prove that he’s not all bark by giving him the challenge to coach Nkins, the bottom rank team, and lead them to a top-three finish in PMPL. He boasted that he would pay the trainer fee of 60 million Rupiah ($4,000 USD) and dared Junior to resign if he failed.
Following Zuxxy’s challenge, his twin brother Luxxy and teammate Misery responded in the comments section of the official PUBGM Indonesia account. The two added more numbers for the challenge and raised the total amount to nearly 100 million Rupiah (6700 USD).
Junior has not yet replied to the harsh remarks from Persijavos supporters and players. Nonetheless, if he decides to accept that challenge, he will set a record for the highest paid PUBGM Coach in Southeast Asia for just one season.
