[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! 

[TEAM COVERAGE] NOTHING TO LOSE

What we will be covering in this week's "Team Coverage" is the love-hate relationship in between Paradox Gaming and Nothing to Lose. As we have already covered Paradox Gaming a month ago, read on to see what we have to say about Nothing to Lose.

AN INSPIRATION FOR GREAT BEGINNINGS
Nothing to Lose (NtL) was founded on November 2012 after the Season 2 World Championships, inspired by the Taipei Assassins (TPA) who managed to win the World Championships. 

The founding members were: TeddyTibbers, Kyoz (Ex-NSEW team), and Vyox (Ex-NSEW team).

After scouting for a while, NtL took in Gustaguy (aka Déjà vu), ESP Prestigious as well as OneEyeSleepy (aka Calvin Harris). The team’s performance in scrims was quite acceptable, and everyone was getting along. However, by mid-December, ESP Presitigious and Vyox left because of commitment issues, while OneEyeSleepy left to join Team UnorthodoX MY (UoX MY). 

Replenishing the players wasn’t an easy task but Gloria and DeathlyScythe was brought into the team. However, tension was built up between TeddyTibbers and Kyoz, leading to the latter leaving due to differences in ideals and direction.

At the time, NtL had already accepted an invitation from Garena to participate in the Invitational Match at the Garena Carnival 2013. In order to play, 3 Ex-KLH members joined in to assist the team in this tournament; the members being Jaeyoong, Hagane and Monkeyz.

The final line-up for the Invitational was: Gloria, Gustaguy, Jaeyoong, Hagane and Monkeyz.

The result from the tournament was not great as the players were not able to practice together, bringing forth only 1 win, and 3 losses. As it was simply just a show match, things were not as serious yet - In fact it became a source of their inside joke!

TeddyTibbers: There is this inside joke around this tournament where Gustaguy’s stage fright was too prominent, paralysing him throughout the tournament, and thus resulting in him underperforming. 

SPRING SEASON

For Spring Season, TeddyTibbers was planning to resign in order to join the competitive scene that year (2013). However, he lacked the motivation to play when the founding members of the team left.

Therefore, he chose to focus on managing and coaching.  During this time, he approached a friend – whom he had initially known by the in-game name of Support – to help out by becoming the team’s analyst, and to help out with administrative tasks.

After Garena Carnival, NtL managed to recruit several members to strengthen the team namely: Legacy.Jarlaxle (PaX Jarlax), Legacy.WeeWaa (PaX WeeWaa), Camouflauge (PaX Camou) and HuiHui.

NtL prepared for the Rookie League 2013, Stage 1 (2nd February 2013) with the following line-up:

  

           Top Lane: Legacy Jarlaxle 

 Jungle: Gloria

               Mid Lane: Legacy.WeeWaa 

Marksman: Gustaguy 

             Support: DeathlyScythe 

                   Substitutes: HuiHui / Camouflauge

The aim for participation was to warm up, train, and get 3rd place for this tournament as the team wanted to get experience by joining as many tournaments as possible (thus not getting qualified early was a choice). 

After that tournament, things seemed to start moving smoothly as the team was able to work well together. However, things did not last, as a cursed blessing plagued the team due to a decision made by TeddyTibbers (Manager and Coach of NtL)

THE CURSED BLESSING
The decision made at that time was to absorb UoX MY into NtL, and create a sister team that would be almost equal in strength. 

TeddyTibbers: This decision was made in order to help both teams improve faster as they could provide feedback and scrim with one another frequently. 

Although this seemed like a solid plan on paper, the different personalities and clashing views of the players were not taken into account. In other words, there was a huge flaw in this plan from the get-go.

Everything seemed fine and both teams were working to perform in their respective participated tournaments. NtL prepared for the Dell Invitational Online Tournament with the following line-up:

                       Top Lane: KuroiHoshi (XIII Ghost) 

Jungle: Gloria 

                               Mid Lane: Ozora Veki (PaX Ozora Veki)

              Marksman: Gustaguy (Déjà vu) 

           Support: DeathlyScythe 

                             Subs: HuiHui /Legacy.Jarlaxle

The result for this tournament was just acceptable for a new team. They lost mainly due to lack of strategy/counter-plays instead of personal skill.

As for EtW (the sister team), they travelled to Kampar to participate in the King of the Hill North Region competition, to qualify for the Spring Season Finals, as well as gain experience as a new team.

This was of no issue to them, as they knew how to win with their strengths. Unfortunately, EtW only managed to attain 3rd place due to mistakes made in the game against Team KTHXBAI (Where Xare's Singed just destroyed the whole team)

This led to the 'better' players of the team feeling dissatisfied with the results as they should have been able to achieve more with the 'better' players. Their impatience with the 'weaker' members forced the decision to reshuffle - to put all the 'good' players into one team 

Thus, the reshuffled roster for NtL was:

Top Lane: Jarlaxle 

  Jungle: Gloria 

  Mid Lane: Weewaa 

        Marksman: OneEyeSleepy 

Support: HuiHui

DeathlyScythe remained as a sub to help out for both teams, and later on focusing as a sub solely for NtL.

THE 'BETTER' TEAM
The new NtL team seemed to be performing well, and managed to win Rookie League 2013, Stage 2. However, their next large hurdle arrived shortly after the King of the Hill Central Region tournament. 

On that fateful day, NtL lost on the first match itself against 4Mod, a team which they frequently scrimmed against, which NtL perceived to not have any problems winning against (4Mod were one of the teams that they managed to beat during Rookie League).

This loss was the prelude to the team breaking up; led by an internal feud and the dissatisfaction to one another’s personality having reared its ugly head again. 

Thus, Weewaa and Jarlaxle joined Paradox Gaming, and OneEyeSleepy is benched due to him being hounded by his parents to focus solely on his studies for the SPM examinations.

THE HUNT FOR NEW BLOOD
This led to NTL having only 2 main members remaining – Gloria and HuiHui and the hunt for new members began.

After searching high and low, and performing player testing in-between, Gloria managed to pull in his long-time friend from the FPS genre – whom also happened to be a veteran MOBA player – to join. 

His in-game name at that time was 'DO YOU EVEN LIFT', all other players know him as Stray.

Also, with the recommendation of Shine.Walker, NtL managed to find a hidden diamond in the rough; a Malaysian player who spammed Ranked games in the Taiwanese server, CloudBurst (Taiwan IGN) 

Up until this point, NtL still lacked a competent Mid Laner. However, NtL participated in the 'Challenge the Hunters' event with a temporary roster:

Top Lane: Stray 

      Jungle: Gloria 

                                  Mid Lane: TGG Sanguine (Temporary) 

                                Marksman: HaseoHamasaki (ZeYoung) 

     Support: HuiHui

The results were not satisfactory but it was good practice for the core members in preparation for the Rookie Finals, to qualify for Spring Season Finals.

Fun fact: NTL wanted to participate in the King of the Hill South Region tournament, but did not make it. The player that we found to join the team temporarily ended up pulling out on the day itself because he feared that JaeYoong was going to participate.  

Although Exquinox was supposed to be released from PaX to NtL, it did not happen in the end as Exquinox decided to leave and join his friend’s team Thus, Déjà Vu decided to rejoin NtL as the Marksman.

Finally, after struggling to search for a suitable Mid Laner. NtL decided to put Gloria into Mid and the final line-up for the Spring Season was finally decided:

Top Lane: Stray 

                                              Jungle: HaseoHamasaki (aka ZeYoung) 

 Mid Lane: Gloria 

  Marksman: Déjà vu 

     Support: HuiHui 

             Substitute: DeathlyScythe

The performance was just acceptable at the time, as Gloria was getting used to his new main role, while Stray was getting his “mojo” back into the game as he had stopped playing League of Legends for an extended period of time.

NtL managed to attain 2nd place in the Rookie League Finals and qualify for the Spring Season Finals. But NtL, was forever plagued by random twists of fate where ZeYoung could not make it for the Spring Season Finals because his family had a pre-planned vacation to Japan.

With that, the final line-up was:

Top Lane: Stray 

       Jungle: Gloria 

   Mid Lane: HuiHui 

   Marksman: Déjà Vu 

                Support: DeathlyScythe

The Group Stage score was 1-2, having lost to Team Secret and Kuala Lumpur Hunters, thus being unable to qualify for the Spring Season Finals Top 4.

TeddyTibbers: The loss was harsh on us because the possibility of winning and qualifying was higher than losing in the group stage.

Thus, NtL was only able to clinch 5th place in the Spring Season Finals; an achievement for a new team, although it was generally unsatisfactory for the players.

After that Spring Season, HuiHui retired from the competitive scene.

SUMMER SEASON

For the Summer Season though, KuroiHoshi (XIII Ghost) had just finished National Service and rejoined NtL. Things started looking up for us as we managed to settle with our main active roster.

Fun fact: NtL approached Tofu.Alex/Solo to join us as Team Secret was going to disband after Spring Season Finals. However, Solo being a “So Lou” gave his original reasoning that he wanted to retire and focus on studies, and so rejected our offer. Tofu.Alex/Solo however, joined KTHXBAI in the end - Editors note: HAHAHAHA

For the Summer Season, the main 5 players were: Stray, Gloria, Déjà Vu, XIII Ghost and ZeYoung.

During TLC Qualifiers 2013, NtL managed to score 3-1 in the group stage, losing only to Team KTHXBAI, which was a great start for the season.

The line-up at this time was:

Top Lane: Stray 

            Jungle: ZeYoung 

  Mid Lane: Gloria 

      Marksman: XIIIGhost 

       Support: Deja Vu

After the competition, NtL acquired ZenSlayer and Tracy from Team Broski as substitutes, since they did not qualify for TLC to increase the depth of the team player pool.

After more training and discussions, the final line-up for the TLC 2013 Summer Season became:

                         Top Lane: XIII Ghost / ZenSlayer 

    Jungle: Stray 

Mid Lane: Gloria 

                      Marksman: ZeYoung / XIII Ghost 

                             Support: Déjà vu / TeddyTibbers

NtL started off the TLC Summer Season on the wrong foot, having lost to Paradox Gaming; our ex-sister team; as Gloria’s performance in the Mid Lane was still sub-par in comparison to most Mid Laners in MY. 

However, the momentum of the team in Week 2 increased greatly, showing that they were quite capable of almost toppling KLH in their first match up - which they ended up losing due to the lack of experience and poor execution of strategy.

The next loss was against KtB due to bad planning. However, NtL managed to best Paradox Gaming, in the 2nd encounter during week 5, which was a great boost to their morale.

NtL thought that they would have a shot on qualifying for the TLC Grand Finals, but it was crushed when KtB managed to pull off a miracle play that led into defeating KLH - Which eventually sealed the deal of NtL being at 3rd place for the TLC Series.

TeddyTibbers: This demotivated us all-round, as it was crucial for KLH to have beaten KtB, then have NtL to win our 2nd match against them - thus leading to a tie-breaker match between NtL and KtB. But as this did not happen, it pretty much sealed the deal for us.

NtL managed to attain only 3rd place for the TLC Summer Season 2013; a great achievement for a team that went through so many struggles and changes, yet a disappointment for not being able to make it to the Finals once again.

The manager of the team (TeddyTibbers) however, felt that it was a great achievement as it is quoted here:

"In retrospect, we started off with an almost completely team of players whom were new the tournament scene, and we managed to make the best of it. Now leading into the new year of 2014, many changes will be coming in as some of the members have different commitments and ideals. Hopefully, there will be less trials and tribulations this year, and smoother sail - internally. *laughs*

To close this off, I would say that although we did not get our so-called fairy tale ending, at the least we have the consolation in that we made it that far from scratch. We clawed our way out of the proverbial bottom of the barrel, and made something not just for ourselves, but also for everyone that was involved with us."

The tentative roster for Nothing to Lose is as below:

Top Lane: Jarlax

     Jungle: Tracy 

Mid Lane: Gloria 

        Marksman: Poromancer  

    Support: Camouuu

Like the team name itself, they have Nothing to Lose. We will see what comes up for NtL in this Season of The Legends Circuit.

Edited by: Gates 'Poromancer' Tan

[INTERVIEW] SUPPORTS MESSAGE TO NTL SUPPORTERS

Nothing to Lose is back in the Malaysian TLC scene. However, with a less-than-stellar record of 2-3, dropping games against the likes of KTHXBAI and Mirrors. I had the opportunity to interview Support - the Analyst and Manager of Nothing to Lose. What does he have to say?

Hi Support, it has been quite a long time since the last TLC game. How does it feel getting back into the game getting a 2-3 record in the group stage?

Quite honestly, it’s a bitter sweet feeling. On one hand, we finally made a full team to train with again, and it feels great to be back in the scene after a relatively long break since the end of last season. On the other hand, it sucks that we have to climb up the proverbial steep cliff again; so getting 2-3 on our first run wasn’t too bad. 

There is actually a major reshuffling of members in NtL due to Stray and 13Ghost leaving for Kuala Lumpur Hunters. Maybe you could go through the changes for us? 

TeddyTibbers has been around ever since the inception of this team into the tournament scene. He is, after all, the founder. But since he had other obligations previously, he could not commit his time to become an active member. However, do keep in mind that even though he wasn’t on the active roster, he was one of the brains behind the scenes, helping us to theorycraft and strategize. We would say that this season is his to prove himself. 

Tracy was picked up after we viewed his performance in Team Broski with high regards. Though he hadn’t seen much competitive play last season, he still kept himself up-to-date. Hence, for this season, we saw it fit to push him up to the active roster. He still has a couple of things to work on as far as team play goes, but he has lived up to our expectations thus far. 

Now, for Camou… where do we even begin with him? He’s been a pretty long-standing member in the NtL family; and probably one of the most well-versed players in our team, both in-game and externally. After all, most of us would still recognise him as the radiant Malaysian shoutcaster for League of Legends. To that effect, what he lacks in showmanship - he makes up for in analytical thinking (or so our analyst, Support mentions).

Ribenamania of KTHXBAI mentioned to me during a short chat about the derp Xerath pick of Gloria. Anything you want to say against that? 

We would say that it was more of an experiment than anything else, since the new reworked Xerath was pretty solid as things went. However, we would say that Gloria was not as comfortable playing the reworked Xerath thus far, hence his shallow performance. We will continue theorycrafting and testing to see whether we will keep on trucking, or possibly drop Xerath altogether. 

As far as I know,TeddyTibbers is known to be more of an analyst/manager of the NTL group, why the eventual decision of coming out to play? 

As we had mentioned earlier, he has always had the passion to be an active member. Ever since his priorities have changed, he has had more free time to focus on training and becoming an active participant. Don’t get us wrong though, this is not to say that he will no longer analyse nor manage the team.

How was the transition period like – with the Loss of several members in NTL to KLH? (Style & Synergy especially) 

It was not good at all, truth be told. Stray was always one of the more aggressive junglers out there, and nobody else on our team could match that aggression. We did have Teddy run the jungle for a bit previously, but his performance has been sub-par compared to last season. We figured that for the time being, Tracy’s consistency puts him in a much better position to jungle; and Teddy was rotated to the top lane instead. For Tracy though, he knows what he should and shouldn’t do, but we’re trying to get him to be a larger voice for the team. Once he hits that apex, we should be fine. 

As far as XIII Ghost is concerned, we can say that we’ve lost a pretty strong top laner. He may not have been the best, but he was one of the most consistent in the team (barring Stray). His perception and mechanics for top lane made him a formidable lane opponent. For Teddy though, we would say that the only thing he has going for him right now is his mastery in adapting to the season’s meta. He still needs to work on his mechanics and teamwork, so we will get him to focus more on those instead.

You guys faced KTHXBAI in the 1st match of the group qualifications. What do you think of them now that they too have undergo as big roster change. In fact, Ribenamania actually switched to jungle from the Marksman (AD Carry)

KTHXBAI has always been a strong team ever since we faced them off during the Rookie League days. Back then, we were always on par with them. This season though, we would say that they are just as good, if not better, than they were. We’re technically not in shape to make a final judgement yet. But it’s quite a surprise to see Ribenamania in the jungle, as we’ve always been accustomed to seeing him in the lane. Still, a strong presence is a good one, and he hasn’t shown any sign of weakness. Yet. 

What do you think of new teams like Mirrors, who actually pulled off a win against NTL? 

Well, we’ve had a few matches against Exquinox’s team in the past, with Mirrors being no exception. We scrimmed with them previously before coming into the TLC, and needless to say, we expected them to pull off the same result as they did in the scrim. This season, Mirrors might have just established themselves to be one of the teams to beat, alongside KTB and KLH. 

What do you think that the team can do better at the moment? 

We’re still performing role swaps to test things out. Once we finally have everything finalized, we’ll proceed with a more concrete goal. Nothing else we can add right now until we’ve sorted things out. 

So, what are your goals for this TLC.MY 

Since this season is a proof of concept experiment for our team as well, our more realistic goal would be to hit the top 4 teams during the Spring League Series. We may also bring up our former team members to assist, should we find the need to do so. And then, of course, if we’ve adapted enough and are comfortable, the top 2 slots will always be the next step. 

Anything you want to tell the supporters of NtL? 

Hide your children,

Hide your wives,

The monsters are coming,

And they’re hungry tonight.

Potato.

Any other players/managers you want us to interview? Send it to us at our Facebook page and we will try our best to get them in the near future!