Team Secret CEO John Yao Talks About How His Team Achieved Victory at PMPL MYSG

Team Secret CEO John Yao Talks About How His Team Achieved Victory at PMPL MYSG

Shounak Sengupta
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Cover, thumbnail and images via @Team Secret

  • Team Secret's CEO John Yao discusses his team's win at PMPL MYSG. 
  • John brings up several key factors contributing to the team's win.
  • Legendary Dota 2 captain, Puppey was brought in to help the team's mental preparation. 

The recently concluded PMPL MYSG, saw Team Secret claim the trophy and with it, they secured a spot not just in the SEA Finals, but also in the World League. While the team were consistent across the league stage, finishing in second place, the finals saw them come into their own as they finished with a comfortable 58 point lead. In a recent post on Linkedin, Team Secret’s CEO, John Yao shared some of the secret’s behind how they found success as a team. 

In the post, John talks about some key features of Team Secret’s win. He attributed the win to three key factors. They are: 

“Be patient – Rome was not built in a day”

Team Secret have been in the Malaysian PUBG MOBILE scene since last year. They’ve played 2 full seasons already and found some successes and some failures. However, throughout the course, they have always been ready to adapt and change, be it with things like letting go of players or even looking overseas for a good player. 

Fun fact: John Yao's brother, Jorge Yao was one of the first top players in Clash of Clans and has multiple records in the game. He's also a part of Team Secret. 

“Recruit great people, not just great players”

Having players who are talented and highly skilled is great, but another important aspect that makes a player good is how they are as people. “One thing has always been clear to us as a defining success factor across all of our teams globally – having selfless, positive players that can work together and help each other as people trumps pure skill any day of the week. Our captain, JJ “BiuBiu” Kow, despite having an incredible social media influence (over 700k Youtube followers), and being the sole player remaining from our original PUBG Mobile squad, has nonetheless been the pinnacle of humbleness – always reflecting on his own performance first during team discussions, and even stepping aside as IGL (in game lead) for the more experienced Madtoi this season.  It’s players like him that are not just great players, but great people in their own right, that will always put the team in Championship contention.”

Team Secret CEO John Yao Talks About How His Team Achieved Victory at PMPL MYSG

John Yao and Puppey

“Hands on Management”

John appreciated the fact that the team’s manager Parti Parthiban was a crucial part of the team’s win. He talked about his management style and how he and the squad had a “in this together” approach when it came to the tournaments. Team Secret even got their legendary Dota 2 captain, Clement ‘Puppey’ Ivanov to help the team with their mental preparation before the competition. For those who are unaware, Puppey is considered one of the best players in the game and has led his teams to countless trophies across his long and successful career. 

You can read the full post here.


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Shounak has been one of AFK Gaming’s longest-serving esports journalists. From Dota, to Counter Strike and now Mobile Titles, you can rely on him to bring you the latest scoop and news from the world of esports.

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