MiSTakE Now Supporting Garena Casters
Riot·7/2/2014, 9:03:23 PM·0 votes·1,387 views
Two years ago, Chen "MiSTakE" Hui Chung blazed his name into the record books. He captained the Taipei Assassins through a miraculous year: they started as Team For The Win, a cohort of obscure names with only mild success in the World Cyber Games, joined and tyrannically dominated the GPL as the Assassins, and ended it on top of the world as the Season 2 World Champions. Since then, though he's left the roster, MiSTakE's remained a prominent figure within the Taiwanese League of Legends community – his stewardship of sister team Taipei Snipers might have been less explosively successful, but still led to one of the top three teams on the island, coming within a single game of taking the GPL crown from his old team.
His retirement from pro play, at the end of the spring split, wasn't just the loss of a veteran community figure, but that of one of the most successful talents in the global scene. It was not, however, a retirement from the scene itself.
Unlike Sung, MiSTakE left under his own volition. The Snipers might not have secured the GPL title last split, but second place against their own sibling team was hardly a bad showing. But it wasn't enough, and his decision to leave the pro gaming spotlight had been formulating for a while. "When I was still a pro gamer, I had been thinking about the options I might have after retirement," said Chen. "I took a long vacation after the formal announcement, and I did consider whether to stay in the gaming field. After talking to some of my friends, who encouraged me to stay and bring my analytical skills into full play, I decided to come back and become a commentator."
For now, he's still adjusting to his new duties. "I'm new in this field, and there are still a lot of things that I have to learn. Therefore, it's not adequate for me to comment on other casters' strengths and weaknesses. However, I do believe that I will be able to share some different viewpoints due to my experience as a pro gamer."
Even during his pro gaming career, he'd built a reputation for analytical insight – a talent he plans to leverage in his casts. "I think good casters should be able to predict what the gamers are going to do next," said Chen. "For example, they need to explain why a gamer makes a certain judgment at a certain point in the game."
The recently announced Worlds circuit might provide a bit of extra help. "I'm glad the participate in this great event in Taiwan. Home advantage will certainly benefit the teams involved, since there is no need to overcome the problems caused by time differences and acclimatization."
But before then, MiSTakE acknowledges that there's a lot keeping his old team back, and a lot more for them to improve on before they can shine again. "First, the GPL desperately needs an offline tournament, which is the biggest difference between it and other leagues. Whether games are able to adapt to the atmosphere and get prepared for upcoming competitions has a strong influence over their performance. It's a pity that, most of the time, GPL teams failed to adapt themselves to the tension on the stage, thus unable to play to their usual standards. Besides, high-intensity training and adjustment of gamers' attitudes are both essential. In my opinion, GPL teams have become too undisciplined, and they need to spare no effort on training."
MiSTakE can be found casting on the Garena Taiwan channel, or streaming on Twitch.
MIC CHECK
"I don't consider becoming a commentator to be a natural retirement plan for pro gamers," said Chen. "It's just that Lilballz and I both have a gift in commentating." The Taipei Assassins story after their world championship win was infamously crash-and-burn. Rumors of strife within the team tailed their slow dissolution over Season 3 – their members left one by one, or were forced to retire after getting caught and banned for account-sharing, as was in Alex "Lilballz" Sung's case.
Unlike Sung, MiSTakE left under his own volition. The Snipers might not have secured the GPL title last split, but second place against their own sibling team was hardly a bad showing. But it wasn't enough, and his decision to leave the pro gaming spotlight had been formulating for a while. "When I was still a pro gamer, I had been thinking about the options I might have after retirement," said Chen. "I took a long vacation after the formal announcement, and I did consider whether to stay in the gaming field. After talking to some of my friends, who encouraged me to stay and bring my analytical skills into full play, I decided to come back and become a commentator."
For now, he's still adjusting to his new duties. "I'm new in this field, and there are still a lot of things that I have to learn. Therefore, it's not adequate for me to comment on other casters' strengths and weaknesses. However, I do believe that I will be able to share some different viewpoints due to my experience as a pro gamer."
Even during his pro gaming career, he'd built a reputation for analytical insight – a talent he plans to leverage in his casts. "I think good casters should be able to predict what the gamers are going to do next," said Chen. "For example, they need to explain why a gamer makes a certain judgment at a certain point in the game."
PLAY BY PLAY
The Assassins have undergone a revival under the leadership of MiSTakE's former partner, AD carry Chen "bebe" Bo Wei, once again dominating the Garena Premier League with back-to-back titles in winter and spring. But their return to the international scene was greeted with an ice-cold dash of reality – even the kings of SEA ended up losing solidly to everybody else's representatives. But MiSTakE is holding out hope that his old team can capture that Season 2 magic, even without his direct help. "After All-Star, TPA became quite different from other GPL teams, including their attitude toward the game and their performance on stage," said MiSTakE when asked about his opinions of the Taiwanese and Southeast Asian scene as a whole. "I hope they will be able to adjust the state of the team and go for the S4 championship, representing Taiwan."
The recently announced Worlds circuit might provide a bit of extra help. "I'm glad the participate in this great event in Taiwan. Home advantage will certainly benefit the teams involved, since there is no need to overcome the problems caused by time differences and acclimatization."
But before then, MiSTakE acknowledges that there's a lot keeping his old team back, and a lot more for them to improve on before they can shine again. "First, the GPL desperately needs an offline tournament, which is the biggest difference between it and other leagues. Whether games are able to adapt to the atmosphere and get prepared for upcoming competitions has a strong influence over their performance. It's a pity that, most of the time, GPL teams failed to adapt themselves to the tension on the stage, thus unable to play to their usual standards. Besides, high-intensity training and adjustment of gamers' attitudes are both essential. In my opinion, GPL teams have become too undisciplined, and they need to spare no effort on training."
MiSTakE can be found casting on the Garena Taiwan channel, or streaming on Twitch.
