Teddy unfazed by critics as Team Liquid eyes rare MPL Philippines four-peat

After Team Liquid’s unexpected early exit from the 2026 Mid-Season Cup, gold laner Dave “Teddy” Viaña took the brunt of the online criticism as the Cavalry’s title defense came to an unceremonious end.

But at just 20, Teddy has already learned that the best response to the noise is to let his game do the talking as Team Liquid chases a historic four-peat in MPL Philippines Season 18.

Teddy shared that ever since debuting in the MPL last season, he has already mastered the art of listening only to the voices that matter, especially by staying away from social media after a loss.

"I don't do social media after losses because I feel like it won't help anything if I give time to reading that," Teddy told GMA News Online in Filipino.

"I just learned that eventually in the MPL. Totally, nothing. No social media. I distract myself with other things instead of social media."

But Teddy admitted that their early MSC exit still stung.

Team Liquid opened its title defense bid with a stunning 0-2 loss to Aurora Turkiye, which caught the Filipinos off guard with its Rafaela pick in Game 1 before dominating Game 2 to complete the sweep.

That loss sent Team Liquid to the lower bracket, where the Cavalry eventually bowed to Entity7 to bring their MSC campaign to an early end.

Their defeat---and Team Falcons’ eventual loss—-also saw the Philippines’ MSC finals streak halted.

"When we lost, it was really sad and we laid low from each other a bit but eventually we bonded and we accepted it quickly," Teddy added.

"Afterwards, we held a team meeting but at first, individually. Afer we lost, our team manager and coach met with us one by one to get some insight from us."

Unbothered by the online criticism, Teddy is determined to help Team Liquid accomplish a feat never before achieved in the league: a historic four-peat.

To do so, Team Liquid kept its core intact led by jungler Karl "KarlTzy" Nepomuceno, midlaner Alston "Sanji" Pabico, exp laner Sanford "Sanford" Vinuya, roamer Jaypee "Jaypee" Dela Cruz, and Teddy.

"We'll try to bounce back here in the MPL and hopefully, we can get back there again in the MSC."

—JMB, GMA News