For Habil Azhari Akbar, better known as Kuroky, reaching the MPL was never the end of the journey.
If anything, it was where the real learning began.
Kuroky first drew wider attention as one of RRQ Hoshi’s young talents in MPL Indonesia Season 17. Now, he returns for MPL ID Season 18 after enduring one of the most difficult seasons in RRQ’s Mobile Legends history.
Before stepping onto the MPL stage, however, Kuroky had already spent years working his way through tier-two and tier-three competition. His name began gaining momentum during his time with VL Team in Liga Esports Nasional 2025, before an unexpected trial with RRQ Hoshi opened the door to Indonesia’s highest level of competition.
His first MPL season would demand much more than simply playing against stronger opponents.
In a matter of months, Kuroky had to adjust to a higher competitive standard, refine his unconventional hero pool, handle the pressure of representing RRQ, and even switch from Gold Lane to EXP Lane in the middle of the season.
It became a journey defined by one word: adaptation.
A Journey That Started in Mobile Legends Season 7
Kuroky has been playing Mobile Legends since Season 7, although becoming a professional player was not immediately part of the plan.
That ambition began to feel real after he won MICC Season 1, a result that earned him a slot in MDL.
“I started playing Mobile Legends in Season 7. I began seriously thinking about becoming a pro player when I won MICC Season 1 and earned a slot in MDL,” Kuroky recalled.
That moment became the first major turning point in his career.
MDL introduced Kuroky to a more structured and demanding competitive environment. He would eventually spend two seasons in the league, gaining experience and learning what it truly meant to compete beyond ranked games and smaller tournaments.
After those two seasons, however, Kuroky was considering a break from competition. Instead, another opportunity arrived.
A Planned Break That Never Happened
Kuroky originally intended to step away for a while after completing two MDL seasons.
Then came an offer from VL Team owner Koh Jeff.
“At first, I wanted to take a break after playing two seasons in MDL. But suddenly, Koh Jeff, the owner of VL, offered me a place on the team, which at the beginning was basically just made up of players doing boosting jobs,” he explained.
That unexpected offer changed the direction of his career.
VL Team became an important chapter in Kuroky’s development. Playing alongside a mixture of experienced competitors and young talent, he competed in Liga Esports Nasional 2025 and began establishing himself as one of the more unpredictable players in the competition.
His hero pool was part of what made him stand out.
Rather than relying exclusively on traditional Marksman picks in the Gold Lane, Kuroky was willing to experiment with Fighters and other unconventional heroes whenever the matchup allowed it.
That flexibility would eventually become one of the qualities that attracted attention beyond the tier-two scene.
An Undefeated Regular Season to Remember
One of Kuroky’s strongest memories from Liga Esports Nasional came during the regular season, when VL Team finished at the top of the standings.
More impressively, they did it with a 100 percent win rate.
“Probably winning the regular season, because our win rate was still 100 percent,” Kuroky said.
For Kuroky, the achievement was more than a strong result.
It was proof that VL Team could compete at the highest level available to them at the time, while giving him a platform to demonstrate the flexible and difficult-to-predict style that had become part of his identity.
VL Team eventually continued into the playoffs and finished the competition in third place.
They may not have lifted the championship trophy, but Kuroky had already done enough to attract attention from MPL organizations.
Soon after, one of those opportunities arrived from RRQ Hoshi.
A Three-Day Trial That Became Five
After Liga Esports Nasional concluded, Kuroky learned that RRQ Hoshi wanted him to attend a trial. Originally, the process was expected to last three days.
Then it was extended to five.
“After the league ended, I was told that I had been offered a three-day trial with Hoshi. I really did not expect it, and then the trial itself was extended to five days,” he recalled.
Once the trial was finished, Kuroky returned to VL Team’s gaming house and waited.
Even being invited to trial for an MPL team already felt beyond his expectations. Receiving the final confirmation was something else entirely.
“After that, I went back to the VL gaming house while waiting for RRQ Hoshi’s decision. At first, I really couldn’t believe I had even received an MPL trial, but I was extremely excited when I found out that I had passed and would get the opportunity to play in MPL.”
From Liga Esports Nasional, Kuroky suddenly found himself preparing for his debut at the highest level of competitive Mobile Legends in Indonesia.
But getting there was only the beginning.
MPL Forced Him to Rethink His Unusual Hero Pool
One of Kuroky’s trademarks before joining MPL was his willingness to use unconventional heroes in the Gold Lane.
He had experimented with picks such as Joy, Sun, Chou, and Guinevere—heroes that most players would not normally associate with the position.
At lower competitive levels, those choices helped make him difficult to predict.
MPL was different.
“It is clearly different. In MPL, you cannot just casually use unusual picks like Joy Gold, Sun Gold, Chou Gold, or Guinevere Gold,” Kuroky said.
That does not mean he abandoned experimentation entirely.
For Kuroky, unusual picks were never about being different simply for the sake of it. They still had to make sense within the draft.
“You could say that I like experimenting, but I never pick something randomly. I only use those heroes when the matchup is suitable,” he explained.
That distinction matters.
Creativity can be a weapon in professional competition, but only when supported by preparation, matchup understanding, and the right situation.
MPL taught Kuroky that being unpredictable was valuable—but discipline had to come first.
Starting Over in the EXP Lane
Kuroky began MPL ID Season 17 as RRQ Hoshi’s Gold Laner. Then circumstances forced another major adjustment.
When SuperDann had to return home due to family circumstances, Kuroky was entrusted with the EXP Lane position. On paper, both roles occupy a side lane. In practice, they demand very different habits.
“It was definitely very difficult at first when I moved to EXP Lane. There were habits from Gold Lane that I carried over into EXP, and that made laning difficult,” Kuroky admitted.
Even something as basic as last-hitting minions required adjustment.
As a Gold Laner, securing every possible last hit to maximize gold income had become instinctive. In EXP Lane, however, there are moments when managing positioning, wave control, and damage trades matters more than immediately securing a minion.
Old habits could create new problems.
“For example, I would last-hit minions in EXP when I actually shouldn’t. Then I would end up taking too much damage first,” he explained.
It sounds like a small detail. But that small detail illustrates how difficult a role change can actually be at the professional level.
Kuroky was not simply learning new heroes. He had to rebuild habits, change his understanding of laning, rethink positioning, and make different decisions under pressure—all while the MPL season was still happening around him.
There was no reset button. No preseason. He had to learn while competing. And despite the difficulty, Kuroky was able to show encouraging performances in his new role.
The Importance of Chemistry and Discipline
MPL ID Season 17 became a demanding introduction to top-level competition.
Kuroky arrived from the tier-two scene, faced some of the best players in Indonesia, carried the expectations that come with wearing an RRQ jersey, and then changed roles in the middle of his debut season.
Yet the biggest lesson he took away was not simply about mechanics or hero pools. It was about the team around him.
“The importance of bonding and chemistry within the team has to be built both in-game and outside the game. Discipline is also important, both in-game and outside the game,” Kuroky said.
At the highest level, individual talent can only take a player so far.
Chemistry allows teammates to understand each other’s tendencies and decisions without needing every detail to be explained. Relationships outside the game can create the trust needed when matches become difficult. And discipline connects everything together.
It matters during scrims, official matches, preparation, communication, and even the everyday routines required of a professional player. For Kuroky, Season 17 became an education in all of those things at once.
The Learning Never Stops
Kuroky enters MPL ID Season 18 with far more experience than the player who first walked into RRQ Hoshi’s trial room.
He now understands the difference between competing in the tier-two scene and competing under the lights of the MPL. He has felt the pressure of representing RRQ. He has played two different roles within a single season and learned how quickly professional competition can force a player to reinvent himself.
Most importantly, he has learned that reaching MPL does not mean a player has finished developing.
At the highest level, the opposite is true. Every opponent exposes another weakness. Every role demands new habits. Every difficult season asks another question about how quickly a player can adapt.
Kuroky’s journey has never followed a perfectly straight line—from Mobile Legends Season 7, to MDL, to VL Team, to an unexpected RRQ trial, and finally to the MPL stage.
Perhaps that is exactly what has prepared him for what comes next. Because for Kuroky, competing has always meant learning. And in Season 18, that journey continues with the King.