Stepping away from the conventional path is rarely an easy choice. In the world of esports, where the stakes are high, the norm is to stick with what works.
Yet, Caisam Yvez “Wolf” Nopueto has made a habit of challenging the status quo.
When he joined MPL Philippines, he knew he didn’t have the linguistic flair that usually begets applause from the crowd. But what he did have is a gift for numbers and an extraordinary eye for the game.
Now, he is considered as one of the trailblazers in Philippine esports and a pioneer in analytic shoutcasting in the country.
His keen understanding of the game and analytics-driven approach makes him a key figure in local MLBB esports and a mainstay in the international broadcasts of M World Championships.
His battle with Lupus did not stop Wolf from going beyond shoutcasting. He has made his mark as a coach, guiding Dota 2 and MLBB teams.
Most notably, Wolf served as Cignal Ultra’s team analyst and later contributed to ONIC Philippines from MPL Season 6 to Season 8 during the off-season.
Stepping away from the shoutcasting desk this Season 14, the newly-minted coach of TNC Pro Team is once again defying convention. His unique roster-building approach, he reveals, was inspired by one of his favorite sports movies of all time.
In an exclusive interview with ONE Esports, Wolf shares how he turned the concepts of an award-winning movie into a blueprint to build a solid team.
Wolf built TNC’s roster using concepts from six-time Academy-award nominated Moneyball movie
Wolf’s journey to assemble this roster is as compelling as it is unconventional.
“We went through a lot to bring this team together,” he told ONE Esports. “I was given the privilege to handpick the members with the management. While I wanted to build some sort of dream team, I knew it would cost a lot and no team in the right mind would afford it, let alone allow it.”
Faced with this reality, he turned to an unlikely source of inspiration — a film called Moneyball.
This movie depicts the real-life story of the Oakland Athletics baseball team and their unconventional, data-driven approach to building a competitive roster on a limited budget.
“Imagine the draft and scouting of the team, it’s really like Moneyball,” he explained. “We listed all the available players. Imagine their names on a sheet, then one by one we analyzed who we want to go for.”
In Moneyball, Oakland A’s general manager Billy Beane focused on two key statistics in selecting players— on-base percentage (OBP) and slugging percentage. These combined to create a new metric called on-base plus slugging (OPS).
When asked what statistics he and his team looked at in the selection process, Wolf grinned. “Our roster reveals much about it. It’s right there,” he said.
Shemaiah “SDzyz” Chu and Jomarie “Escalera” Santos are making a comeback this MPL PH Season 14, joining returning players Christian “HEADS” Morada and Jaylord “Hate” Gonzales.
Additionally, the team bolstered its roster by signing former Minana EVOS stars Ken “Kzen” Pile, Lance “LanceCy” Cunanan, and Salvick “Kouzen” Tolarba.
Supporting Wolf in his coaching duties are former MPL PH pros Patrick “E2MAX” Caidic and Jetson “Goyo” Ignacio.
The new MPL PH head coach admitted that building the roster didn’t go without hurdles.
“I didn’t get the pieces I intended initially. There was a phase when we had a lot of issues when we were trying out these pieces. Then all of a sudden, for some miracle, we got our team,” he said.
As for the expectations this season, the esports veteran is optimistic that all the preparations and numbers-crunching will pay off.
“Hopefully, we make it to the playoffs. More than a realistic expectation, it’s a necessity,” said Wolf.
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