One Too Many Shots Fired?

by Sam "PikaPea"


At exactly 1:51 AM pst on Sep 18, 2014, TSM's Andy "Reginald " Dinh posted what I would consider to be a highly unprofessional post.

Followed by TSM's current coach Yoonsup "Locodoco" Choi posting:

Watching LCS and all the related pro scenes in League of Legends, I understand there has always been bickering and trash talk, but sometimes teams take it too far. How far can this go before they come to realize that, as professionals, they have a fan base, and their decisions and comments can reflect poorly on their organization.

League of Legends might just be an eSport, only known well by the gaming community, but for those that devote their time and make League of Legends their religion, we hear all about these things, especially the drama. As outsiders, we might not know all the details or facts, but this appears to be hate directed at MonteCristo based on his comments on a very public show.

Summoning Insight, in my opinion, was created for personal input and reviews. So many teams have been talked bad about as well as pointing out their good factors. And yes, it's obvious individuals from TSM took it to heart. Understandable, but even so, Monte (and Thorin) does this to many. This childish behavior from two individuals of TSM can make the entire team seem unprofessional, especially coming from the coaches. Why sink to someone’s level?

What Reginald and Locodoco don't seem to understand is that in NA, and even the world, TSM has a wide fan base, and when they say things like this, the fans that look up to their team might not look at them the same. Or, they might think this is okay behavior - trash talking in return for trash talking, and it shouldn't be that way. Everything has its own effect on the whole situation. I don't know who's in the right or the wrong. But it’s becoming childish, and just a mockery that needs to flame out.

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*Both Locodoco and Reginald have since issued apologies which can be read here:

Locodoco = Apology to Monte and Community 
Reginald = Apology to Community

Today, We're All Sad Hamsters.

Xpecial's Benching Rocks the LCS Community.

by Jodi "PunkLit" McClure

Community isn't just a made-up word in eSports. It's part of what drives the scene. Fans have access to players streams, feeds, and vlogs and we're able to communicate with them on a very intimate level. We see them in videos and interviews and in Riot's game day features, and we learn of their struggles and dreams. In short, we don't just casually know the pros....we are given the opportunity to love them. And when we speak of our community, it includes them. They are family to us, and that's what makes it especially hard when we hear of one being cut or benched.

The summer promotion series made this weekend tough enough - losing two entire teams from the NA LCS - but the most difficult news came after the studio lights had been turned off. Late Sunday night, during TSM Xpecial's stream, he quietly mentioned he'd been benched from the team. Fans in his chat room immediately assumed their beloved hamster was joking. TSM had just finished the season in second place after a highly successful split. There was no way this could be possible. And yet something in Xpecial's weak voice and sad eyes insisted his words were all too real.

Within minutes of his announcement, a Reddit thread was started, repeating Xpecial's announcement, and worried fans swarmed his stream looking for confirmation. Twitter started to light with speculation, questions and doubts as more information trickled in.

"They're starting scrims tomorrow and I won't be playing in them, so, head's up. It's not for performance..." Xpecial said, addressing a question in this twitch chat. "It was mainly a management decision. The team didn't have much say in it... I'm not sure what's going to happen in the future. I don't want to speak on it more now."

Towards the end of his stream, Xpecial broke his silence to give further confirmation. "I'm pretty trolly, but I'm not trolling about this. People kept asking why I was home, and I don't like having to lie about it."

Word of the benching traveled fast among the LCS community, and even Chaox made a sudden guest appearance in his ex-teammates chat. Xpecial ended his stream saying, "I got benched because of attitude. It's not something I'm completely against, I would say. I'm not 100% for it, but yeah, I just think there should be an announcement."

Anger spread quickly among TSM's legion of fans, with Reginald being their main target. Known for his occasionally antagonistic manner, posters assumed TSM's manager had to be at the heart of this problem. Twitter chat virtually exploded with an outpouring of love for Xpecial and heart felt expressions of hurt and dismay. "Bench Xpecial? More like bench my fking heart and feelings," one anguished twitter fan wrote. "Xpecial is the sole reason I'm such a huge TSM fan. He's the reason I main support & he's been my favorite pro forever," wrote another.

As the evening progressed, additional tweeters weighed in with some plausible responses. "It's not the communities interest who the team will keep and bench as players. I'm sure that Reginald has his teams interest as #1 priority," CLG's Dexter suggested, and another writer agreed, "People seem to forget that Regi is 3 for 3 on roster swaps improving the team. If he thinks Xpecial needs to go, he probably does."

By 1:00 am, the shocking news had spread throughout the eSports world. Flooded with tweets from impassioned fans, #Xpecial started trending on twitter. "Just goes to show how big TeamSoloMid and lolesports has gotten," someone posted. "When Xpecial out trends Game of Thrones you know it's been a crazy day."

Reginald addressed the community on Facebook in the wee hours of the morning, stating, "Xpecial was benched because of his attitude. After hearing feedback from the entire team, I made the decision to bench him. In this period of time, I hope that he will refocus and review his actions. League of legends is a team game; just because you have the best players on a team does not mean you have the best team. I have always made my roster decisions based on the entire team's feedback and would never make a business decision because of personal reasons."  

While he gave a rational response to a frustrating situation, it doesn't change the fact that we, as a tight knit family of fans, strongly felt the repercussions. We're involved, and we care, and these stirring micro-dramas are part of what has always made eSports so incredibly compelling. Thankfully, with social media, we have the means with which to express our emotions. Xpecial might be going through a rough patch tonight, but at least he knows he's loved. The feels. They're for real. And we're all in this one together.

*Screenshots from MachinimaVS - Chasing the Cup: Split Ends [Season Finale]