Flash Wolves never die. They just disappear when you blink.
First and foremost, I will say that the day I joined yoe Flash Wolves was the happiest day of my life. Secondly, I will always love Starcraft II. I felt like I had finally joined one of the most critical and visible teams on the planet. I really won't say anything in this blog that I haven't said in my previous blog post regarding my team here except for this one key detail: The only caster that is salaried to be a part of his team (at least for the SC2 environment) is EG.iNControL. I just got to wear a cool uniform for a year and say "I am yoeFWBreAKer" for a year. If I was in master's league on Taiwan and Korea, I would seriously consider becoming a pro gamer on their roster by entering Taiwan eSports League. I also wrote that blog because I was a bit concerned that I might have to leave the roster in an untimely manner and I didn't want them to think anything bad of me in the event that I was forced to announce this so suddenly.
My main reasons for joining yoe Flash Wolves are the following:
- Increasing my visibility and the visibility of my mission in the Taiwan eSports ecosystem.
- Increasing the visibility of yoe Flash Wolves in the western scene. Now that parting and San are both on the same team, they don't need me for that.
- Moral guidance for when I entered Taiwan. Confucian societies have a different way of doing things from the west. Whenever I made "social transgressions" in both the western SC2 scene and behind the scenes here in Taiwan, they put me back on the right path. Now I have TeSL and their staff to guide me.
Now that I have been in Taiwan for the better part of a year, all people relative to Blizzard eSports titles know who I am and what my mission is here. I cast world of tanks and SC2 now for Taiwan eSports League.
Let me go over my blessings for my team for you all one more time.
Ian - I knew ever since 2013 you wanted to really really go far. You did damn good at the Taiwan Open 2014. The moment you beat Jaedong, I wanted to shed tears of joy but I was about to get on stage and I couldn't go up there crying. You said it yourself on stage, "I just beat this tournament's most fearsome competitor." Your performance at Taiwan Open 2014 contributed to making it not only my first ever offline event as both a spectator and a stage host / caster, but also the best offline event I have seen with my own eyes to date. I will also never forget the day you nearly all-killed team ColDig in the last ATC.
He's doin' his superman thing.
Has - When I look at you, I see the spirit of a young man with the potential to be the next pride of Taiwan. I must say that the day you advanced to premier league of WCS Season 1 2013 by beating ROOTSage, I knew you would never disappoint your fans again. And what a follow-up with your 2-1 victory over Jaedong in premier league. Your upsets will continue to be the source of your reputation.
The first time I ever saw both of them in real life.
Slam - GM Top 70 on TW/KR. I remember seeing your name on screen for TeSL since 2012 when I came here to study abroad and when you were still GamaniaSlam. Your performance has been consistent and strong, and you proved yourself to the whole world when you made it in to WCS America Premier League Season 3 2014.
Me and Slam playing some SC2 Jenga. Don't ask
I'm not overlooking our Korean players in this post. The fact of the matter is I know so little of them personally because my Korean is awful compared to my Mandarin. But with Parting joining the team, I want to say him winning HSC 10 is definitely a good way to remember him and yoeFW, and I know now with no doubt in my mind that the next big team league is one they will go far in. Parting winning HSC 10 is the best going away present I could ever have.
Took this just before he entered the booth for the Grand Finals of MSI Beat It. Though he didn't win first prize, I was damn proud of him at that moment.
I was a Leenock fan since the Wings of Liberty days. I never even thought for a minute that I would have the chance to meet him in real life and when I first found out he was joining the team, I was still casting from my family's garage in America.
Crowning achievement since joining: Dreamhack Valencia - 4th prize. Before that? Championship at Dreamhack Open: Stockholm, beating Naniwa 3:2.
Come on guys, do I really need to talk about San? IEM Singapore 2013 2nd prize winner, ASUS ROG 2014 Winter Champion, countless WCS EU Quarterfinalist, WCS World Finals 2014...
When I went to the yoe Flash Wolves training house in Taichung, I slept in the bed of this god while he was out of the country.
It's been one extremely wild ride with the entire team. The reason why I am leaving is because I feel it is time for me to seek opportunities to sell my brand name. I have previously gotten offers from other organizations, but they required me to leave my team. TeSL is NOT an organization that did approach me with such an offer. And the organizations that approached me before made offers that were not worth my time, therefore I did not leave my team.
I was merely an insect among the gods. A fat insect. Maybe I was a beatle?
I also feel like it's time to revamp what I am doing in eSports and change it just a little bit more for the better. I'm also dappling in other parts of the entertainment industry like modeling for commercials / advertisements (not to be confused with runway modeling, I'm not tall enough for that, nor is my face made of enough plastic), and applying to be put on variety shows here in Taiwan. I went from 80 Kilograms, in many of the photos you see here, to 72 kilograms, like below:
EDIT: Also, more relative - I am considering getting in to twitch.tv podcasts.