[INTERVIEW] "IT'S ALL PLANNED, BUT..."

In week 3 of TLC Malaysia Playoff, iSg KTHXBAI faced off against Nothing to Lose in a Bo5 series. Despite a close 3-2 prediction by Vyprex, it is shocking to see iSg KTHXBAI to thrive over Nothing to Lose after a very close first game. 

I had the pleasure to be able to troll Ashdragon, the manager of iSg KTHXBAI into a lame interview 

Congratulations on the 3-0 win. How are you feeling after the commanding win against NtL 

Well, I had mixed feelings after winning yesterday game [Laughs]. I am definitely happy that my team was able to proceed to the Quarter-finals in the Winner's Bracket. Despite the team making a few mistakes in the games, we were able to come back and keep a sense of consistency in the game. 

On another note, I felt really bad that I pressured my teammate, Mashiro, just a day before the games on 22nd March 2014 despite being warned by Vyprex that it will be disastrous to the team if I pressure them too hard. Somehow it came true as I pressured Solomen "Mashiro" Cheah so much that he almost wanted to quit the team and skip the matches on 22nd March 2014. 

After being advised by Daniel "Stance" Ha and Darryl "He-who-shall-not-be-named" Lim aka Voldemort, I was thinking whether or not I took things to an extreme level and pressure him till his breaking point. Fortunately, on the 22nd, he came to Kampar and I was so happy. Most importantly, he became a different person and and played literally like a GOD! Yup, this is the mixed feelings I had yesterday. Sure glad it's over!

You guys started the match rather safe and scared in Game 1. However going into Game 2, the “on” switch was somehow hit and iSg KTHXBAI went into a state of overdrive. Can I say that it was attributed to iSg.KTB getting comfortable after the first win ? 

First, I was nervous by myself cause this is the first time the team actually got together and play as a group. Their games were always played online. To my surprise, they somehow performed better when they were together rather than online scrims and matches. I was watching the draft and I thought that we were gonna lose Game 1. In fact, I never expected them to win with that composition 

Nothing to Lose played really well in game one, constantly picking off 3-4 members with the Unstoppable force from Malphite. Fortunately, the calls made by Xare was solid and everyone in the team actually cooperated and listened to his calls despite being behind. Of course, Nothing to Lose made some questionable calls in the Baron as well as the initiation at the bottom lane towards the end. 

After that, I guess the team drafting was wiser. The team decided to stop the Wombo-Combo team from being picked again by NtL. They had a confidence boost from the 1st game and they maintained their pace throughout the series. We experimented a team composition based on our scrims with Toushi in our third game and we were glad that it worked out well too!

I was with NtL before the match and their preparations were really great. That makes me curious as to what was the game plan of KTB as preparation to the NtL match? 

To be honest, we actually did not prepare much for the games as TLC games always fall on the exam period of Xare and Ribena. (We only used like of 3 days of training before the matches started). As for our game plan, Xare (The captain) would usually be the one making decisions and choosing the champs for our players to play with other members suggesting their picks to him.

  

You were the Support player for KTB in the past and now, the manager. How was the transition like? 

I MISS PLAYING TOURNAMENTS!!! [Rolls on the floor and laugh] Being a player is in my opinion easier. You just have to focus on your role and learn how to master them well enough to make plays. (P/S: I always make plays for Ribena at the Bot lane) 

As for being a manager, it was really tough because there were no sponsors to help us maintain in the competitive scene in Malaysia. It took quite some time to search for a sponsor and finally, I found Insidious Gaming and contacted them after being introduced by Patrick "Valerie" Keane. Being a manager is all about handling each of your members well, managing them and give them suggestion or advice if they do badly in games. However, after the recent incident with Mashiro, I guess I would need to reflect upon it and improvise on my actions to prevent such things from happening to my team members ever again. Simply saying, I guess I am still learning to communicate with my teammates in a better way.

So, will there be a surprise comeback by Ashdragon in the future? 

NOOOOO 

I really do not want answer this but well, I will focus on handling my teammates and my career in real life first as I will be graduating soon from my university. Honestly, I would prefer to train new blood into the team so that they can carry on the legacy to bring e-Sports glory into the Malaysian and Singaporean Scene. However, I have to say that there is always a possibility for everything. Who knows? I might retire as a manager sooner than you can expect.

Fun Fact

When I was talking to Ashdragon on the 4 man Malphite ult onto KTB by Jarlax in the first game, Ashdragon mentioned that “it was all part of the plan”. However the plan did not work out as Ribena was busy drinking Ribena at the baron pit

The win put NtL into the losers bracket against Team Passby. What do you think of that match up? 

I will be a biased fan boy here Without a single doubt, I will support Nothing To Lose because among the 8 teams in TLC, I only support 2  teams which is iSg KTHXBAI and Nothing to Lose.

As for team KTHXBAI, you will be facing either Mirrors or Kuala Lumpur Hunters. Any preference in matchups? Who do you think will come out on top 

Kuala Lumpur Hunter is as strong as ever after the roster changes. I would say that at the moment, Kuala Lumpur Hunters is a little better than iSg KTHXBAI as they are trained professionally while we can only train during our free time. 

Team Mirrors actually beat us two times during the TLC League Series despite them using a player they are not supposed to. However, after the suspension of both their Junglers, I feel that they would have a hard time finding a good replacement. Then again, I believe that they will be a strong team and will be playing solid games as what they've done all along. I wish them all the best in their game next week and may the best team win! 

That being said, I guess I am looking forward to playing against KLH more as it always feels better playing against a professional team. Also, I expect them to come up on top against Mirrors

KTB these days are under fire in solo queue due to the BM’s in game (notably by the public post by Manner (Solo, the former member of Team KTHXBAI). Do you want to comment on that? 

Yup, I am aware of this issue and have repetitively advised them to control themselves in games. They justified themselves. telling me that many of their problems exist when they get flamed, raged or BM-ed for playing bad at champions they are new at, which is basically what we need them to do to expand their champion pool. I guess being human, we would just try to respond to it, sometimes a little to aggressive. That being said, I hope they can maintain their professionalism in games. 

At the end of the day, I guess everyone is learning and growing as a player and a person. While I cannot control the players, I believe that they would know what's best for the team and for themselves

Any shout outs from you?

Yes, shout outs to my team mates for being united as one team and an apology to Mashiro for being so mean towards him at times. On top of that, I would like to thank Team Toushi SG, and the other Insidious Gaming teams for being our regular scrim partners to improve our game plays as well as mechanics. Last but not least, I would like to thank our sponsor, Insidious Gaming for supporting us from far away

It's a very long (and lame) interview but that would be all. Thanks to Ashdragon, the manager of iSg KTHXBAI.

Any other people you want interviewed? Send it to us at our Facebook page and we will get them interviewed! 

[TLC] ALL IS FAIR IN LOVE AND WAR

One of the most anticipated match in The Legends Circuit 2014 Spring is about to take place; the match between the Malaysian 1^st place team, iSg KTHXBAI and the 4^th placed team, Nothing to Lose. 

This might be one of the most hyped up game for the entire season as being regular scrim partner, both teams know each other very well in terms of picks as well as play styles.

Both teams had undergo major role swaps and also roster changes compared to last season. 

Despite, iSg KTHXBAI maintaining their dominance in TLC Malaysia’s Qualifiers and League Series with a score of 13-1, the team seemed shaky. iSg KTHXBAI lost 3 games, one against the Kuala Lumpur Hunter, and another 2 against Mirrors (although the match was given to iSg KTHXBAI in the end due to a controversial issue).

However, the role swap and roster changes did not go too well for Nothing to Lose. After scrapping through the qualifiers with a 2-3 score in Group A, Nothing to Lose obtained a considerably mediocre performance during The Legends Circuit League Series with a score of 7-7 despite the team picking up Top laner, Jarlax as well as a new Support player, Camouuu.

The mediocre performance is attributed to Gloria being recently shift back into the Jungle as well as Poro Vu shifting to the Mid Lane as both of them are unfamiliar with their new role and was under performing. 

However, with 3 weeks of intensive practise schedule for Gloria and with NtL picking up new player in the likes of Atup such doge joining in the Mid Lane of NtL, they are looking to take back what they have lost.

MATCHUP ANALYSIS

Top Lane (Demon vs Jarlax)

Contested Picks: Shyvana and Renekton

Demon is currently known as one of the few strongest Top Laners in Malaysia. Picked up by iSg.KTHXBAI from his Shyvana play, Demon is an adept in playing Shyvana and has been carrying iSg KTHXBAI to victory in many occasions with her. If there is a word to describe Demon, it would be consistent. He would usually either win, or go even in his lanes – constantly pressuring the lanes. You would not usually see Demon loses his lane.

Jarlax on the other hand is a veteran in the Malaysian League of Legends scene. Jarlax got picked up by Nothing to Lose after the disbandment Paradox Gaming. While Demon plays a more traditional tanky top lane champions, Jarlax is known for his unorthodox champion pool with the likes of Lulu, which was picked 5 times in the League Series. However, Jarlax is also perfectly fine with playing traditional champion such as Shyvana and Renekton.

For this top lane match up, the key would be on whether or not Demon can manage to adapt to whatever Jarlax pulls off his sleeves. However, if the match up is played in a standard way, Demon would have a small advantage over Jarlax.

 Jungle (Ribena vs Gloria)

Contested Picks: Elise, Lee Sin and Kha’Zix

Ever since switching to the Jungle from the Marksman due to the departure of his support Ashdragon as well as Vyprex the former jungler of KTHXBAI, Ribena had been a solid jungler in every aspects. Ribena plays a very balanced style of jungle in terms of farm and gank pressure. His go-to champion, Elise and Vi usually helps the Mid Laner, Xare to pick players off for execution, snowballing the lanes in their favour. Due to the recent role swap from being the Marksman, Ribena is rather inexperienced in the jungle and might face trouble when he falls behind. However, with superior in-game mechanics from his time playing as Marksman, there should not be any chance of him falling behind unless some very unfortunate events happen.

Although Ribena is considered inexperienced, Gloria was shifted to the jungle even later than Ribena – only few days before the League Series. Gloria’s inability to adapt to the jungle is shown in most of the games as he went over-aggressive in most of the games, giving out unneeded kills for the enemy and costing the team their lanes. He plays a very carry-centric jungle champions such as Khazix, Pantheon and Elise who focuses on early lane pressures in order to snowball the game to victory. It is also worth to note that Gloria was once known (or self proclaimed) to be “Best Lee Sin MY” so it would be a pleasure to be able to see him playthe blind monk in any of the games.

Gloria plays are high risk, high reward style of jungler while Ribena is well-balanced in his play. The key factor to this match up is that Gloria needs to make great plays while taking a note of not getting caught out due to over-aggression. Ribena on the other hand needs to be able to control Gloria’s movement and to catch him out when he makes a play.

If Gloria manages to keep his cool, perhaps this is the beginning of the return of Jungle-ria.

Mid (Xare vs Atup such doge)

Contested Picks: Leblanc, Zed and Gragas

Xare is basically one of the best Mid Laner in Malaysia. Being at the top of the Challenger for a noticeable period of time, he excels in playing high burst assassins and mages to catch enemies off guard, deleting them from the map in matters of seconds. Xare have a very large champion pool and is impossible to ban out (Xare played a total of 6 champions in the League Series). While he is known to be great in Leblanc, he also plays farm heavy champions such as Gragas and Orianna. Being in the Mid Lane, Xare is usually the one being singled out and targeted by the enemy jungler. Thus, it is important for Xare to play smart, as well as his twin brother, Ribena to be there to back him up whenever he needs him.

While Xare is one of the most popular Mid Lane players in Malaysia, Atup such doge is literally an unknown player in the Mid Lane. Atup was previously known as 4moD Average, the Top Laner of 4moD and is known for his Jax, also hailed as one of the best Jax players in the server. He then shifted to the Marksman position, playing champions such as Vayne. After being picked up by Nothing to Lose, he plays the Mid Lane position for the team and his potential is yet to be seen. However, expect Atup to play hyper carries as he is always the main carry for the past teams that he played for.

Xare is one of the most prominent players in the Malaysia League of Legend scene in the Mid Lane, while Atup is generally new to the role. This match up can be related to the story of David vs Goliath. Will David (Atup) triumph over the giant Goliath (Xare)? Only time will tell!

Marksman (Mashiro/Stance vs Poromancer)

Contested Picks: Lucian, Jinx and Sivir

Mashiro, despite being relatively young, has been impressive during the course of TLC Spring - not dropping a single game in TLC. Despite being a hit or miss as mentioned by Ribena in his recent interview, it is yet to be seen how Mashiro would do in future games. If there is any problems for Mashiro, it would be his high risk, high return play that might turn things around badly if there any misplays happen. Stance however is the total opposite of Mashiro. While Mashiro makes risky but rewarding plays, Stance plays the lane safe and solidly. Stance also plays team fights well and it is proven during Game 2 against Kuala Lumpur Hunters as Vayne, coming back into the game despite a costly mistake early game that allowed JaeYoong to dominate the entire early to late game

Poromancer is deemed as one of the rising Marksman in the Malaysian League of Legends scene. In fact, in Camouuu’s vlog, he mentioned that a specific player in Kuala Lumpur Hunters hailed the Nothing to Lose bot lane duo as one of the strongest in Malaysia. Poromancer is also one of the veteran in the scene where he played as the support in Paradox Gaming for Qaspiel, who is ironically the current support of Kuala Lumpur Hunters. While Qaspiel moved to the support, Poromancer took the leap and decided to be the carry for Nothing to Lose. In terms of champion picks, Poromancer is a fan of Sivir as he picked Sivir for 6 games during the League Series followed by the traditional Lucian, Jinx and Caitlyn.

Poromancer will have to adapt in this match up as there is no telling who would be playing on that day. While he is definitely going into the game confidently, the suspense of who is playing (Mashiro or Stance) would be crazy. Poromancer would have to adapt well to different situation and play style if he is to win the matchup. However, the odds are definitely in Poromancer’s favour

Support (Fappy vs Camouuu)

Contested Picks: Morgana and Thresh

Fappy plays a very aggressive style of support at the Bot Lane together with Mashiro and Stance. While aggression usually helps to win lanes, the risk is huge. iSg KTHXBAI’s Bot Lane is always commented as a hit-or-miss because Fappy is able snowball leads very well with his aggression. However, when they fall behind, things tend to get bad as their inability to come back into the game. Fappy is an adept in champions that can hard-engage such as Morgana and Leona. This is very much opposed to what the old KTHXBAI prefer, in which Ashdragon would constantly lock in Thresh as his main support champion to pick people off.

As opposed to Fappy, Camouuu is an old guard of the Malaysian League of Legends scene. Camouuu heavily favours Morgana as his support pick, and will usually revert to the usual Thresh if it is picked or banned. Camouuu plays a very well balanced style of support with a little mix of aggression and also control. However, what is notably good in Camouuu is his understanding of the game. As a shout caster for the past TLC Finals, he have a very deep knowledge of the game and this will definitely be an additional factor to consider of what Camouuu brings into the match

While iSg KTHXBAI’s bot lane is relatively new, the Nothing to Lose bot lane much more experienced and well synergized in game experience and play style. Despite Fappy’s hyper-aggressive play style, Camouuu have a higher possibility to actually control Fappy’s aggression and punish him when he has the chance. In this matchup, I felt that Camouuu would have the advantage.

GAME PREDICTION

Match Score 3 - 2 

iSg KTHXBAI strength lies on their personal mechanics as well as the ability to snowball leads, read games and also close out the game. While the team do not necessary have the best team fight mechanics that they used to have, iSg KTHXBAI will usually come up on top during the laning phase and transition it slowly into objectives and finally snowballing the game to victory.

This is opposed to Nothing to Lose. While Nothing to Lose do not have a mechanical level as good as plays of iSg KTHXBAI, they have a very strong and knowledgeable team member in the likes of Support, TeddyTibbers and Camouuu. With the ample 3 weeks period for Nothing to Lose to prepare for the match, it is pretty obvious that Nothing to Lose would be very well prepared to break down their opponents with detailed analysis as well as game plan. Expect a very dominant early game from Nothing to Lose

My thoughts on the match would be summarized in two sentences:-

Nothing to Lose will have to come in with a well-prepared game plan to take down iSg KTHXBAI, while iSg KTXHBAI on the other hand needs to be able to adapt to whatever Nothing to Lose brings to the table. If iSg KTHXBAI manages to adapt to whatever Nothing to Lose place on the table, the game would be pretty much in their favour but if iSg KTHXBAI goes on tilt, it will be the end.

I predict a 3-2 match score with Nothing to Lose taking the first game, followed by iSg KTHXBAI taking the match due to their prowess in mechanics and play calling.

Disclaimer: All images are obtained from The Legends Circuit Official Website. All thoughts and opinion is 100% from Vyprex and does not represent any other organisations but himself

[INTERVIEW] SPLIT PUSH KNOCK OUT

Last Saturday, Team Passby and Fluffy Gaming clashed in the losers bracket of The Legends Circuit Malaysia 2014 Spring. After a long and arduous 4 hour battle , Team Passby emerged as the winner, knocking out Fluffy Gaming with a convincing 3-1 score.

I managed to get hold of eko from Team Passby for a short interview after the win. Let us see what he has to say.

First of all, congratulations on the win against Fluffy Gaming! How do you feel after the incredible comeback victory after losing game 1 and being behind in the other 2 games? 

Well, I felt really awesome because we could actually trust each other so well in the match.However, I did feel frustrated because we were asked to keep quiet during the game by the cyber cafe. This cost us a lot of problems when we wanted to communicate with each other. Also, it affected me in a way because I did not get the feeling of actually playing in a tournament as we were bounded by so many rules.

Moving on, players would usually lose their momentum after losing games and it would definitely affect the next game. How did Team Passby adapt and move on, playing better game after game and finally winning the match 3-1?

Well, it's just a matter of the mind. Deep inside, we knew we could handle the situation. The first match was a totally unplanned game and full of mistakes, yet we tried hard to win the game which instead boosted our morale instead of killing it.

In game 2 and 3, Team Passby was constantly losing out in gold and objectives due to poor lane control and mechanics. What was in your mind when you were playing from the back ALL the time and finally forcing back a win?

To be honest, I never felt as though we are losing. Although we were down in lanes, we won most of the teamfights. We managed to turtle well enough to the point where Fluffy Gaming could not find a way to end the game. Slowly but surely, we reduced the gold gap and eventually won the game through split pushing and good decision making

You went against Koalaxy in the mid lane and it was always a dead-even matchup, perhaps even a farm fest. What are your thoughts on that?

My thoughts on the matchup? To be honest, I felt very rusty after not playing hardcore mode for quite some time. However, I must admit that Koalaxy's mid is really solid. The pressure from his lane is considerably high and I think we've learnt from each other quite a lot.

Although many people claimed that it is considerably hard to carry from the top lane, it is of my opininon that the main carry of Team Passby in the matches was from the top lane. Was this the team's mindset all along? - allow the top laner to be the monster and split push all day to win?

Actually, we did not have any pre-planned strategy. Most of the time, we would play standard during the early game and come up with game plans depending on how the lanes played out. Since XXF has been well trained in doing so from his past experience in KLH, I guess that was the most efficient way to play the game!

Now that you've moved into the top 6 of TLC.MY, where would Team Passby move on from here?

We actually hope to be the Top 4 in Malaysia, that's all. [Laughs]

To be top 4, you will have to win your next matchup and it would be either Nothing to Lose or iSg.KTHXBAI after this, any preferences & comments on both teams?

No offence to any party but I guess we will prefer to face NtL due to the simple fact that everyone believes that iSg.KTHXBAI is a much stronger team.

Anything else you would like say to the readers for today? Any shoutouts?

Sorry I played like a noob. Although I guess not many people would even care about that [Laughs non-stop like a noob]. Also, I hope Team Passby can show Malaysian players that sometimes, gold lead do not mean anything - Do not surrender when you are not having the gold lead because you may turn things around anytime!

That would be all for the interview with eko, the mid laner of Team Passby.

Any other people you want interviewed? Send it to us at our Facebook page and we will get them interviewed! 

[PUBLIC OPINION] CLOSING A WIDE-OPENED EYE

David vs Goliath

After several intense and gruelling matches on the 1st day, the TLC round robin tournament was back again in full flow the following day. 

I had been following the matches closely despite there being no official stream available to view them from. 

As I watched Mirrors beat KTB for the 2nd time I could not stop myself from grinning. 

KTB in my opinion were the team to beat and I expected them to come out on top with minimal setbacks. 

Everyone loves to see the underdog come out on top and this time it was no different. 

It was David vs Goliath and David had come out on top. 

Then the news began to break out. Mirrors had used a spoof account for their games. 

As a result, the respect gained from their victories vanished almost as quickly as it had appeared. 

Nothing to Lose and Insidious Gaming MY in particular were affected and the day ended in chaos and confusion.

The Silence

As the days have gone by, Mirrors have defiantly refused to comment on the incident. 

Their silence however has incited the wrath of the community and many people have come out and provided their opinion of what should be/could be done to rectify the matter. 

Outcries of disqualification and other penalties were thrown into the air.

Make no mistake, Mirrors are completely at fault here and several of the suggested punishments seem only fitting for what they have done.

Yet with everything said and done, the only people who could do anything about it seem to be closing an eye.

Garena has yet to release an official statement on the matter and I can bet you 100 Garena shells they probably never will.

The Tribunal

A while ago, Riot introduce the Tribunal and I, like most of my other friends were overjoyed.

We knew that the Tribunal wasn’t going to completely cleanse the server from the players that misbehaved but we knew that by at least eradicating a few of the trouble makers we could send out a message to the rest of the community and make them realize that we were serious about E-Sports and wanted a clean community.

2 years and 10 months have gone by and there hasn’t been the slightest indication that our server will so receive the Tribunal.

Now you may be wondering how this relates, to the whole fiasco that occurred a few days ago.

Closing a Wide-Opened Eye

Think of it this way. Riot listened to the cries of the community and provided them with the Tribunal and now justice is done on a regular basis to those who do not abide by the rules.

In our case, I once had an inside source tell me that Garena had decided from the get to not release the Tribunal at all due to our small player pool.

Putting all of this into context I think ask everyone this.

Will Garena even bother to take action against Mirrors because tournaments in SEA aren’t as big as those held in NA or Korea and we don’t attract as much viewership?

Will they actually listen to the cries of the community after turning a deaf ear to them for so long?

Will Mirrors receive a punishment that justifies their actions or will Garena close an eye?

Once thing’s for sure, Mirrors have certainly put the cat amongst the pigeons and there is nowhere to hide.



If you have any thoughts on the Malaysian League of Legends Scene, we welcome all guest posts and articles. You may send in your articles to our Official Facebook Page or E-mail us. Be assured that you and your name will be kept confidential and as per requested, it you would be anonymous when the articles are up

[TLC] STATEMENT FROM NOTHING TO LOSE

Regarding the “Spoofing” event during TLC round robin, the Garena Management could have done a better job in handling the situation.

The Legend Circuit is meant to be a premier league for MY/SG that is made to be on par with LCS as it progresses. 

The rules and regulations and tournament seeks to improve every season to improve e-sports in general and to teach players to respect and obey it.

In the previous season of TLC Summer Season 2013, it was found out that a team violated the rules by using a Singaporean player but he did not travel down to Malaysia to play at the designated venue at all. 

Therefore, the team had to forfeit all the matches which they use the said player. 

It was just an adjustment of the score 

There was no strict punishment that fell upon the team

There was no official statement by Garena, but all the teams were informed of the changes

For this year though, since the round robin is an online tournament a team decided to increase their chances at victory by “spoofing” a player. 

This messed up the picks and bans and flow for some teams.

The whole fiasco caused some problems as the marshall found out a bit too late. 

Despite knowing that the consequences of spoofing had, in fact, given us at NtL a second chance to keep up in the top 4, we feel that this issue has been blown out of proportion. 

Yes, our rival team did perform such actions without realizing the full extent of the consequences, but we would also like to take Garena Malaysia to task for not having performed a full check beforehand.

Had this been any other official tournament, any questions regarding integrity should have been put to rest before the tournament had officially started.

We at Nothing to Lose firmly believe that 

the case of “spoofing” should be dealt with seriously.

Regardless of how trivial it may seem, a cheating case should be viewed with the highest amount of scrutiny. 

We are in no way blaming any parties involved, but the limelight should be cast on Garena Malaysia’s efforts (or lack thereof) in order to placate and diffuse any tension.

To all our fellow competitors, we hope that none of these issues would crop up in the near future. Be fair and honourable in our matches, and we will show our respect in kind.

-Nothing to Lose

[TLC] THOUGHTS OF TLC PLAYERS

Controversies are never something people would want to experience. However, when things like this arises, it will eventually show how matured/young the scene is.

Many had understood and known what happened with the issue of Mirrors spoofing a player during TLC League Series game against Nothing to Lose (Game 2) and iSg.KTHXBAI (Game 1 and 2)

Tentatively, the decision made by Garena Malaysia to resolve the issue is as the following:-

1. Mirrors to forfeit the 3 games that they spoofed

2. iSg.MY and NtL to fight it out on another date for 4th and 5th placing

To go deeper into the thoughts of the people involved, I asked the players, managers and public on their opinion for the hoo-haa

Tracy - Free Agent

I think Mirrors is in the wrong for causing such an issue by breaking the rules by using a player as a spoof and I'd believe that up till now, Garena handled it well. However, it could be prevented if proper checking was done prior to the match every game. Although I admit it might seem that KTB was a bit of a sore loser to report the issue after losing but I felt that this would not happen if Mirrors did not break the rules. As for iSg.MY they were just victims to this issue and should have been 4th but rules are rules. As for Nothing to Lose, they just got a extra lifeline to qualify for winner bracket  

A random player of TLC League Series 

It just downright ridiculous that Mirrors whom clearly did not respect the rules still gets to play in the top 4 while others team needs to suffer from this. First of all, where can we hear of a team who admitted that they cheated in the tournament still gets to retain their original placing?. If we want to take eSports as a real sport, we must put this in context of other sports, right now Mirror consciously knew that they were bending the rules. If you compare that to sports it can be compared to a team allowing a banned player (Red Carded) on the pitch that they knew full well it wasn't allowed. The sporting committee will surely deduct points in the matches that they committed the offence but also extra points because they knew they were doing it.

Eko - Mid Laner of Team Passby 

In my opinion, it is definitely not fair and is a very non-sportmanship action. I felt that the issue is not about KTHXBAI being afraid of losing to Mirrors, but rules being rules. For example, if you are playing in a basketball tournament, asking Micheal Jordan play for you wearing your jersey is ridiculous. I am not trying to offend anyone but I felt that DQ-ing the team from the competition is actually legit at this stage, and towards the 2 players that did that, I felt that their credibility in the competitive scene had just gone down the drain 

Lylia - Shoutcaster for TLC Playoffs 2013

My view is that, as a relatively young team, Mirrors probably underestimated the value of the tournament and sportsmanship in general. As the scene develops and matures, more such incidents will surface, and it's up to all of us to help remind each other of what e-sports truly means.

Ashdragon - Manager of iSg.KTHXBAI

My thoughts? Just don't spoof an account and said you stomped a team with it. It's not something to be proud of. Instead, it's more like a shame to the team. Play in a legal manner and we will accept the defeat in open hand just  like how I actually congratulated the captain of Mirrors in the first game because I felt that they played extremely well. Half of our team was friends with them, but instead of being apologetic, Mirrors just simply made fun of the issue as if cheating is the right thing to do. Also to a certain member of the team - do not tell me that MY eSports' got no hope, because if that is the case, YOU are the one contributing to this "no hope"

An anonymous member of Fluffy Gaming 

Mirrors got a two loss penalty and in my opinion, that’s sufficient in and quite a lot actually. It’s just unfortunate that it had to impact the two teams which are on the edge of 4th and 5th place. If it was any other place other than 4th and 5th this would not have been of big matter. If we had gotten two more losses on our score, it would not have mattered as much, since we are in the loser’s brackets already. I guess you could say it is too bad that Mirrors could afford to lose two wins and stay up there. I do pass my condolence to both teams that have to play the tiebreaker match, due to these happenings and wish those teams best of luck.

Poromancer - Marksman of Nothing to Lose

To be honest, I really did not think Mirrors would do such a thing. In my mind, Mirrors was just another team who was trying their best to claim a spot in the winner's bracket. However, after all the spoofing shenanigans and whatnot, I feel like Mirrors really disrespected not only other teams, but Garena as well, as they caused a lot of trouble for Garena, NtL, as well as iSg.My. I also heard from other sources that Mirrors even treated this as a joke, like TLC is just another tournament where you can do the Malaysian style of "whatever you want". I completely disagree with this sentiment as doing this only deteriorates the state of e-Sports in our country. Also, on a more personal note, the loss to mirrors knocked me off my game a bit and thus performed a little worse in the games against Passby (Not to discredit them, they did amazing in those games), just like how KTB dropped a match to SBSP last season after getting taken out by KLH the game before

Members of the public 

Public A: Rules are rules. Mirrors should be BANNED from this season! Participants spent days and nights to try their best to get good seeding, it is very unfair to all parties concerned, one moment is joy, another moment is anger. Garena did well, but could have done better to foresee the least of this happening and setting up rules/policies so that everyone is protected.

Public B: I totally agree that Mirrors should be "punished" for their "petty crime" and being penaltied for their last 4 games is already an ample punishment and damage done. Now it is time for Mirrors to show whats their worth and iSg.KTB to defend the title. Seriously all these drama isn't really needed there are more serious matters in life in my humble opinion. Cheers!

Editors note:

I have approached a member of Mirrors to see if they have anything to say on this issue, and Mirrors decided not to comment on the issue

There are many references to such cases that happened all around the world of League of Legends eSports - most of it being team bans and individual bans.

Below are the list and links to some of the incidents that took place and what Riot did

Team Dark of OGN Disqualified from OGN Champions

Ninjas in Pyjamas's disqualification from EU.LCS Qualifiers

LemonDog's disqualification from EU.LCS Qualifiers

MLG Bans Team Dignitas and Curse.NA due to cheating

Team Absolute Legends NA Banned from LCS due to 'ghosting'

What do YOU think of the incident?

[TLC] TLC LEAGUE SERIES - STANDINGS REVISED

The weekend's TLC League Series round robins have just concluded, as the teams steadily get used to their opponents' gameplay and gear up for the next stage of the playoffs.

With a stellar win streak on Saturday and most of Sunday, iSg.KTB looked set to be the top seeded team in Malaysia ahead of the livestreamed TLC playoffs. In their final match,

However, the team lost 0-2 to Mirrors, and fell to second seed.

An hour after the playoffs concluded, the following update was posted on KTB's facebook page:

According to sources, another player had played for one of Mirrors' members using the original member's account, and the obvious difference in playstyle was detected by iSg.KTB.

A report was filed to Garena after the matches, who then ruled that Mirrors' 2-0 win against iSg.KTB had been disqualified.

Both teams involved have declined to comment on the situation.

It was later revealed that a similar ruling was handed out for the match against NTL. As a result, the revised standings are as follows:

Winner's Bracket
1) iSg.KTB: 13-1
2) KLH: 12-2
3) Mirrors: 8-6
4) iSg.MY & NtL: 7-7 (Tied with tiebreaker yet to be announced)

Loser's Bracket
6)Fluffy Gaming: 4-10
7)Team Passby: 3-11
8)FCGT: 2-12

Post-tiebreaker, the top 4 teams will play in the Upper Brackets of the TLC Playoff, while the bottom 4 teams will play in the Lower Brackets.

Do stay tuned as we continue our coverage of TLC.


Lylia is a guest writer for Lolnewsmy. All opinions are her own and do not represent official views of any of her affiliated organisations.