Rising up!
When things get going on a roll, momentum just carries through.
And for Team SMG, things just can’t get any better. The Malaysian-based team were nearly relegated to Divison 2 last Tour but are flying high with a 5-1 score and are a near-sure bet to nail their first Major appearance this tour.
The reason? The simple science of chemistry, according to the team’s position 4 player Tue “ah fu” Soon Chuan.
In an interview after the team won convincingly against Army Geniuses, ah fu was relaxed and joking with the analysts who interviewed him. And it was clear that he is enjoying his time with his new team set up.
After finishing in fifth place in January of last year, Team SMG undertook an extensive review and restructured the team. In the end, Marvin Salvador “Boomy” Rushton and Ryan “Raging Potato” Jay were booted out of the team in February.
Their coach, Andrii “ALWAYSWANNAFLY” Bondarenko left and the team decided to fly solo this tour. Wilson “Poloson” Koh Chin Wei, who was acquired as a loan player from the Invictus Gaming team, was the sole elite player included in their new transfer.
Good draft win the league
Asked why the team is doing better, ah fu said: “I think our draft is better now. It’s always me and midOne doing it. We have some issue outside games. This time round we have fixed our problem as teammates.”
“Dota is a game that you can play whatever you like. So I guess I can play it (Earthshaker) until they ban it, right?” said ah fu in the interview after the match against Army Geniuses.
ah fu said that it was not difficult for him to adapt to his new friends. He even joked that the team’s dynamic, which is somewhat far from ideal, has actually strengthened the ties between the teammates. He also bantered about his teammates, saying that they bully the team’s new carry, Lee “CDR” Jia He.
“We always bully him, because Chidori (CDR) is rookie. Meanwhile, Poloson is kinda close to us already. After all, we have a lot of “pok kai” (broke guys) in our team, so that’s why we fit together easily!”
Team SMG only needs one more victory to qualify for the second round of the Major competition, which will begin on April 26, 2023 in Berlin, Germany.
The Malaysian was so confident of his team’s form that he even issued a warning to his Singaporean rival, Daryl “iceiceice” Koh, who plays with Bleed Esports.
“I like Ice. I want to bully him!”
