THE rapid rise of the streaming industry in the Philippines last year means that when it comes to streamers to follow, you’re definitely spoiled for choice. They may have different personalities and takes, but they’ve all got a burning passion for gaming that makes for compelling content.
Here are nine of the most promising content creators that you should definitely give a follow this 2020.
When not living the dream as Queso, WilaBaliW, and Armalite’s vocalist, Ian Tayao spends most of his nights live streaming. This underground music icon has been making a name for himself in the local gaming industry with his rather unorthodox choice for video games.
You see, while most content creators would opt for more popular titles like Mobile Legends: Bang Bang or Rules of Survival, the go-to games of Tito Twalya, as he refers to himself during his livestreams, are timeless classics: Super Mario Bros., Contra, Spartan X, Road Fighter, Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!, and many more 8-bit games that will surely take you to a trip down the memory lane.
If any of these titles ring a bell for you, this means that you probably had an awesome childhood and you’ll absolutely enjoy Ian Tayao’s streams.
ChooxTv achieved internet celebrity status after his successful “Stars For A Cause” project for the affected families of the earthquake that struck Mindanao late in 2019. The Mindanao-based creator raised nearly PHP 70,000-worth of “Stars”, a Facebook currency given away by viewers to streamers. (He later did the same for evacuees affected by the Taal Volcano eruption.)
“Stars” are also the second reason why Choox was able to easily set himself apart from other streamers. In a ranked game of Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, stars are what you get after winning, and Choox is popular for giving them away. But he’s not purposely losing his games… he’s actually trying to challenge the conventional way of playing heroes!
You’ll usually catch him jumping into the Land of Dawn sporting a Tank emblem and item build on a squishy Marksman like Layla or a Fighter emblem and an Assassin build for Mages like Vale. Though most of his experiments lead to expected defeats, the thrill of knowing what works or doesn’t makes his shows definitely entertaining.
A vlogger, entrepreneur, model, and aspiring chef, Kristine’s venture into gaming has been well-received by her fast-growing fan base because of her honest playstyle. You know for sure during her streams that she’s into Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, and not just merely riding the hype of the gaming/streaming industry. She has a vast hero pool, and is always excited to try new heroes (her Wanwan is a beast!). This multi-hyphenate also goes the extra mile by organizing events and giveaways for her fans.
Just like Choox, Kristine also initiated a fund-raising drive for the families affected by the Taal Volcano eruption.
Dota 2 can be a pretty complicated game because of its ever-changing meta and major patch releases, but Coach BYB’s streams will definitely help guide you through the ins and outs of this MOBA.
Mark Adrian “BYB” Gavin has had a roller coaster ride of a career in esports. Before being recognized for his insights and analyses as a caster/streamer, Coach BYB was a talented offlaner who led Execration in several championships, including the MPGL Southeast Asian Championship. Although his promising professional career was cut short by a regrettable decision, this did not stop him from redeeming himself as the brains behind his team’s recent successes.
Coach BYB is usually present to cast Dota Pro Circuit games, as well as other tournaments featuring Filipino teams. You can also catch him grinding some MMR himself!
Rain is not your typical Dota 2 girl. Known in the local Dota 2 community as the “stat girl”, Rain is undeniably good at the game both in theory and in practice. She can digest drafts and chaotic team fights then translate it for everyone’s consumption.
If you’re a struggling Dota 2 player who’s never made it past the Legend bracket, go catch Rain’s stream and pick up some pointers.
Josette Swan is a Malaysian-Chinese cosplayer-slash-streamer who earned the love of Filipinos through her charming antics and innate love for gaming. She’s recently spending most of her streaming sessions playing Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, but Le Josette enjoys a myriad of titles such as Dota 2, Pokémon, Grand Theft Auto V, and many more!
Signed under the Philippine-based talent agency Tier One, Le Josette usually visits the Philippines to attend gaming and esports events. If you happen to catch her cosplaying your favorite gaming characters, she’ll surely appreciate it if you’ll say hi!
Yup, the lone female competitor in the 30th Southeast Asian Games’ esports category and the undisputed, two-time World Showdown of Esports Hearthstone champion has finally put up an official Facebook fan page, exclusively housing content about everything Hearthstone.
But it seems like a series of educational Hearthstone videos isn’t the only thing Jia Dee is cooking up for her rapidly increasing fan base. Last month, she hosted a livestream session playing Legends of Runeterra, Riot Games’ take on the digital collectible card game genre!
Though she has yet to announce if she’ll be doing this regularly, Jia hasn’t totally closed her doors on streaming either. Until then, we can only hope for more!
Mika Daime has all the things that you’re looking for in a streamer. Looks? Check. Skills? Check. Entertainment value? Check. Trust me when we say that this streamer-slash-cosplayer can slay on and off the Summoner’s Rift.
When not casting into the ether, Mika Daime also doubles as the team captain for AMPLFY LoL, a professional, all-girl squad that represented the Philippines in the 2019 Female Esports League’s League of Legends tournament.
You can catch her playing Riot Games titles such as, you guessed it, League of Legends and Teamfight Tactics. She also sometimes organizes online mini-tournaments, so be sure to check her out!
Tekken 7 is one of the simpler games that you can tune into if you’re looking for a chill stream. It’s easy to understand — two characters fight each other until someone’s life bar gets down to zero — compared to MOBAs like Dota 2 or Mobile LEgends, but extremely difficult to master. Tingmats Gaming knows this, and this is what makes him your ideal Tekken 7 streamer.
Tingmats Gaming stands on the fine line between a casual and competitive gamer. He has a wide arsenal of characters and you can both learn some combos together by simply watching him play some good-ass Tekken.
Another thing about this up-and-coming streamer is that the local fighting game community has already recognized his efforts. And if there’s one thing you should learn about the local, they’re pretty tight-knit and honest — they’ll easily give you love if you deserve it. Their approval of Tingmats Gaming and his streaming efforts shows that he’s the real deal.
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