Kairi pays respect to KarlTzy as Onic ends Echo's MSC bid

PHNOM PENH - Kairi "Kairi" Rayosdelsol has nothing but respect for fellow Filipino Karl "KarlTzy" Nepomuceno as his Onic Esports swept KarlTzy's Echo Philippines during their Mobile Legends Southeast Asia Cup 2023 semifinals affair on Saturday.

Kairi and KarlTzy have been in a rivalry as two of the best junglers in the world for quite some time now, but only the latter has seen team success in the biggest international stages with Echo being crowned the M4 world champions earlier this year.

Kairi, meanwhile, has two MPL Indonesia crowns in his collection but an international title has remained elusive for him.

He, however, has been to a number of international tournaments, including the M3 world championship, where Onic Philippines fell to Blacklist International in the grand finals.

"Para kay Karl, ang dami naman niyang trophy e, ako wala pa akong international tsaka congrats pa rin kila Karl tsaka sa Blacklist sa pagdating sa grand finals," Kairi told GMA Integrated News.

("For Karl, he already has many trophies, I don't have any international trophies. But congrats still to Karl and to Blacklist also for reaching the grand finals.")

Kairi to KarlTzy: “Ang dami niya namang trophy, ako wala pang international e.” ???? @gmasportsph pic.twitter.com/a0ISjTHltg

— Bea Micaller (@beamicallerrr) June 17, 2023

Kairi shared that he felt bad for his rival as KarlTzy would, for now, miss out on what could have been a big personal milestone of completing all major MLBB titles. Currently, KarlTzy has titles in the MPL Philippines, SEA Games, and the world championship, but none in the MSC.

"Siguro nafi-feel bad ako for Karl pero para sa sarili ko, masaya ako kasi pinaghirapan din namin 'to e tapos may laban pa kami sa Blacklist so hindi pa namin alam kung anong mangyayari pero kung sino 'yung deserving, 'yun 'yung mananalo," KarlTzy said.

"Sinabi ko sa kanya na good game tapos sabi ko ang lakas nila and nirerespeto ko sila tapos sabi ni Karl sa akin na kunin ko daw 'yung MSC. So dagdag motivation lang."

("I guess I feel bad for Karl but for myself, I'm happy because we worked hard for this. And we still have a match against Blacklist so we don't know what will happen, but whoever is deserving will win... I told Karl good game and I told him they are really strong and I respect them, and Karl told me to go get the MSC title. So that's extra motivation.")

—JMB, GMA Integrated News