South.GG Exclusives: Chillin’ with Chuplak

Sometimes, talent is innate. Sometimes, it is created. But every once in a while, talent surfaces by accident, rising under the most unexpected of circumstances. Today, we sit down with one of the people struck with one such instance.

Ariel Beltran, or most commonly known by his online persona Chuplak, is one of the streaming personalities under the management of South.gg. He lives a normal life just like the rest of the world: happily married to his wife of nine years, a father of a lovely 9-year old daughter, an alpha to a small pack of dogs, and a true-blue gamer by heart and soul. He started playing games as early as when he was just five years old, when his father gave him a Nintendo Famicom (NES) as a gift.

You would think that an iconic and catchy name like Chuplak would be well thought out, but it too was accidental. Chuplak was not also entirely a word he made up by himself, it was what he and his high school friends would say when they got “dibs” on a girl they liked. It was also the name of his dog that passed away three years ago.

“Wala man jud ko’y gibarogan nga in-game name. So, mao to, katong giinvite ko nila Chibiby na magduwa og PUBG, akoa unta’ng ibutang kay General Milling. Pero taken na man daw, mao to Chuplak nalang akong gibutang (I never really had a permanent in-game name. So, when Chibiby and the others invited me to play PUBG, my plan was to use General Milling as my in-game name. Sadly, it was already taken, so I wrote down Chuplak instead),” said Beltran.

Chuplak is known for his distinct way of casting games — colorful, flavorful, and lively Bisaya shoutcasting. He’s called by others as the ODPixel of Cebu, with his “bars” and rap-like rapid-casting.

The discovery of this talent was, like his personality name, also spontaneous. His very first casting experience was during the second season of Voyager’s Supernova tournament. His first few shoutcasts were not as lively as he does it today, but it’s still the same trademarked pure-blooded Chuplak casting style, mixing flavor casting and situation information into one big, beautiful, and noisy symphony. This distinct and fast-paced-yet-enjoyable style of shoutcasting helped him find his way onto the videos of ex-professional Dota player and now YouTube content creator, Dominik “hex0r” Buhmann. He was among Buhmann’s personal top 10 Dota 2 casters, ranking 6th overall.

Not only is his casting distinct and original, but so is his content in his streaming page on Facebook.

“Ang akoang dream jud sa stream kay usbon ang style or scope sa content. So ako gibuhat kay kanang stream na pang masa, kanang bisa’g dili ka tig duwa aning duwaa kay maka relate gihapon ka (My dreams for my stream was to change the scope or style of content that gaming streamers usually do. I wanted to do streams that catered to the general public, where even if you didn’t play the game, you could still relate to the content),” Beltran said, when he discussed his streaming roots way back 2018. He also said that he wants his stream content to be like those of noontime shows, where despite the seemingly repetitive segments, a lot of variety is still present.

Beltran dreams in an esports community, especially the Bisaya community, to be proud of thier own culture. “Ang akoang pangandoy jud kay kanang ma proud gani ang mga Bisaya sa ilahang culture. Kanang dili ka mahiubos nga tawgon ka ug Bisaya, dapat kanang something to be proud of  na ang pagka Bisaya nimo (I really want the Bisaya to be proud of our own culture. I want them to be proud of themselves, where they won’t feel bad being called a Bisaya. I dream to make being a Bisaya [in esports] something to be proud of).”

Even with that said, Beltran says that the Cebuano/Bisaya esports scene is still young and unstable; it springs to life, dies down, and springs to life again. It’s young, but definitely full of potential. “Mura siya’g kanang gamay nga tanom nga kailangan pa ug kahayag sa adlaw para mudako (It’s like a small plant needing the light of the sun to grow),” Beltran stated.

He admits that the esports community in Cebu, despite being quite large, needs proper guidance and direction in order for it to grow and become a stable industry that not only helps it grow and become a foundation for people’s careers, but also to become an industry large enough to clap back at people complaining that this is all a waste of time.

Beltran also left a message for all those who aspire to be streamers and esports personalities:

“Be yourself, ayaw’g aim for fame. Ayaw mo’g aim for gold and power. Dapat tinud-anay imong passion jud. Don’t forget your responsibilities. Ayaw pag dali, just enjoy yourself (Be yourself. Don’t do it for the fame or fortune. Be truly passionate in what you do. Don’t forget your responsibilities. Be patient and enjoy yourself).”