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Michelle Lojo - Philstar.com
March 20, 2025 | 3:51pm
MANILA, Philippines — As a student, Jon Arvinn Tenoria, known to most Filipino gamers as “Fuego Gaming”, would find himself sleeping at 7 p.m. every night to be able wake up early in the morning to play Mobile Legends Bang Bang. He juggles playing the game with his studies as well as his position as a student assistant.
"Natuto po ako mag-ML (Mobile Legends) noong 2017. Wala akong phone actually. Hiniram ko lang yung phone ng mother ko. Ang problema, wala yung wifi, walang data. Nagtatrabaho ako as student assistant sa school noong nag-aaral pa lang ako. Tapos ang lifestyle ko para makapag-ML, tutulog ako ng maaga like 7 p.m. and then gising ng around 2 a.m. para maglaro sa office ng church namin sa [school]. So madaling araw, nilalamok-lamok pa ako doon. Nag-ML na ako hanggang umaga. Ganun katindi yung passion ko," Tenoria told Philstar.com in an exclusive interview.
Graduating with a degree in Secondary Education, Major in Music, Arts, Physical and Health (MAPHE) Education, Tenoria found immediate employment as a teacher but still found time to play the game he loves.
However, 2020 saw a shift in the country's education system, making it difficult to teach MAPEH as school began adapting an online setup.
"Nagkaroon ng pandemic. Yun yung one of the catalysts, one of the changing points ng buhay ko," said Tenoria, and thus Fuego Gaming was born.
He added, "Nung nag-pandemic, nagtry ako mag-stream, pero hindi siya naging madali. For one and a half to two years, nagtry ako ng streaming pero wala talaga yung nanonood sa akin."
From following local trends and introducing comedy and variety to his content, nothing helped to increase his views. He eventually contemplated abandoning his stream and going back to teaching, but he gave himself an ultimatum.
"Nag-usap na kami ng wife ko na sabi niya na try ko na kayang bumalik sa pagtuturo. Kasi sayang din naman, pinaghihirapan ko din yung pagtuturo. Sabi ko sa kanya, bigyan mo pa ako ng isang taon pa na itatry ko pa yung best ko. Tapos, ang nangyari nun, dito ko lang siya actually na start ma-integrate: yung passion ko sa pagtuturo sa passion ko sa gaming," said Tenoria.
This is where he realized that he didn't need to follow any trends to make his content and just be himself, the teacher who loved to play Mobile Legends.
He explained, "Doon ko narealize na kailangan pala ang maging concept ko, na matagal ko na yung hinahanap, ay yung kung sino ako. Kasi nung una, nakikisabay ako sa trend, di nagwowork. Ang kailangan ko lang pala ay magiging ako."
With a new concept, Fuego Gaming became a much-loved streamer for learning about Mobile Legends, from understanding new heroes to maximizing the current meta and even helping struggling players with building the hero they want to play.
Though it's not easy to come up with educational videos for gaming, Tenoria is fueled by the fact that he can be part of the two things he loves: teaching and gaming.
"Medyo nakakapagod lang din kasi sabihin natin, hindi laging merong idea. Unlike sa school, may book kasi eh, may learning plan, may syllabus. Ngayon kailangan mong hanapin yung ituturo mo. Yun yung naging struggles, yung pag-iisip ng laging kakaiba, laging bago. Pero na-enjoy ko naman kasi na-enjoy ko talaga din mag-turo," admitted Tenoria.
Looking back at his journey from a student scraping to find time to play to streaming with no viewers and eventually gaining an audience that finds value in his content, even passing the licensure exam for teaching in 2022, Tenoria is grateful that he found it in himself to continue despite the struggles.
"Yung mga hardships sa pag-work habang nag-aaral, yung pagtulog ng maaga para magising ng maaga, nag pay off din in the future. I tried my very best and buti di ako sumuko," said Tenoria.
And why Fuego?
“Fuego means fire. Mana ako sa tatay ko, mainit ulo so laging nag-aapoy ulo. Pero buti na lang yung panngalan naretain pero yung attitude nag-improve,” joked Tenoria.
