EPThttps://esic.gg/sanction-outcome/esic-issues-lifetime-ban-to-starcraft-ii-player-xue-firefly-tao-following-match-fixing-investigation/
Jim claims he and Firefly were involved in match-fixing -…
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CynicalDeath
Italy3629 Posts
https://esic.gg/sanction-outcome/esic-issues-lifetime-ban-to-starcraft-ii-player-xue-firefly-tao-following-match-fixing-investigation/ | ||
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CicadaSC
United States1892 Posts
On July 08 2025 22:10 CynicalDeath wrote: https://twitter.com/ESIC_Official/status/1942556085069701479 https://esic.gg/sanction-outcome/esic-issues-lifetime-ban-to-starcraft-ii-player-xue-firefly-tao-following-match-fixing-investigation/ who are these guys? what does a life time esic ban mean? can he play in tournaments like dreamhack? | ||
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jelo_o
1 Post
I'm trying to post the translated text by chatgpt. "Hello everyone, I’m Jim. I will no longer be participating in StarCraft II tournaments or matches. I’m posting this as a farewell. First, I’ll come clean: I’ve been involved in match-fixing. I’ve gambled. I’ve borrowed a lot of money and haven’t repaid it. I’ve been a StarCraft II pro for over a decade, but truthfully, I was only truly professional during the first four years, when I won many domestic tournaments and reached semifinals in some international ones. But everything changed in 2014 when I met “Leifeng” (雷锋). He introduced me to gambling, and from then on, I barely practiced and lost all focus on the game. My results plummeted, and I was surpassed by players like iA and TIME. For instance, I didn’t practice at all for the Legacy of the Void Invitational. I let down 91 and XiaoSe, who had nurtured me then. I know all of this is my own fault—I brought it upon myself. If I had continued training seriously back then, I would have had no real domestic competition. My Korean ladder rank gave me confidence that I could beat any player in China. But gambling ruined everything. My life would have been so much better had I never touched it. In early 2014, I met Leifeng, and from that point on, my life changed completely. I not only lost all my own savings and my parents’ money, but also borrowed heavily from relatives and friends. I still owe many people money. I feel deeply sorry to all those who ever helped me. Now, to get to the main point. I returned to StarCraft II in March of last year. In early April, there was a qualifier, which I participated in and advanced to the main event. When I came back, Firefly (夜蝶, XUE TAO) messaged me every day to practice and chat. I considered him a good friend. In the Asia qualifiers, we met in the first round. I called him and asked if I could lose the match and let him take one game off me, in exchange for him repaying me the 3,000 RMB he borrowed from me a couple years back. I also mentioned he’d get a cut of the match-fixing profits. He agreed. In the first game, I followed the script and won. After the match, I happily gave him the money, and he gladly accepted. In the second match, he played against XY. I didn’t ask him to throw that one. He told me he couldn’t rig that match because he didn’t want to risk accidentally knocking XY out. I didn’t push him. At that time, if he wanted to stop cooperating, I wouldn’t have forced him. But it was him who kept coming back to me, which forced me to borrow even more money to bankroll his matches. Starting in the third match, he was up 2-0 with three lives remaining, and he came to me asking if we could rig his match against Lemon. I agreed, though I didn’t tell him I was already getting scammed by betting websites. I kept quiet because I didn’t want to lose the chance to make more money with him. In the fourth match against Coffee, we rigged it and made over 30,000 RMB. Later, in October, I exposed Firefly because he refused to reimburse me for a 10,000 RMB loss. I was being chased by creditors and my life was a mess. I gave him several months, but he never responded seriously and never paid me back. When I saw he was kicked out of his team, I felt sorry for him and didn’t release any evidence of match-fixing or push further. This year, when I saw he qualified for EWC, I tried again to get that money back. He still ignored me and blocked me. So now I’m done trying. I don’t want the money anymore—but I believe he shouldn’t be allowed to participate in StarCraft II tournaments. If organizers are fine with match-fixers competing, then I have nothing more to say. Let me explain why he owes me this money. All the profits from match-fixing came from me. I never let him take any risk. Even when I got scammed or he lost on his own without giving me the promised result, I still paid him. One example: last April, Firefly played against Nanami. He was super confident and told me he’d win easily, so I bet heavily on him. As a safeguard, he had to lose the first game so we could manipulate the odds. But the site refunded that first map’s bets. He ended up losing the whole match 1–3, and I took a real financial hit. I didn’t ask him for money—on the contrary, I gave him money after that. Check the date for yourself. I wasn’t trying to bribe or flatter him—I just didn’t want to lose him as a partner, thinking we could still make money together. Fast forward to early July, the EWC qualifiers: he played against RNK on Day 1. Odds were bad, so no profit. But he played well and advanced to Day 2 against Bunny. I personally hoped he’d compete seriously since a few wins would secure a big prize. But he told me he didn’t feel confident and didn’t want to play properly. After we manipulated that match, I still gave him his cut. Later in July, I asked him to throw a match in a team tournament, since his team couldn’t qualify anyway. I wanted to recover losses. But he refused, citing it was a major domestic broadcast. He went on to crush YoungYakov 2–0. That’s when I broke ties with him. He only agreed to pay me back a bit over 40,000 RMB and kept saying that he pitied me, and I was threatening/extorting him. Let’s be clear: I was the one constantly transferring money to him. He never gave me a cent. I borrowed money to set everything up, and still paid him. When I bet on him losing to Lemon, I got scammed by the site again. I only want my losses back—the ones I incurred because of him. If he had simply paid me back, I wouldn’t have kept bothering him or been blocked endlessly. He forced my hand. So now I’m quitting. I won’t participate in any more tournaments, and I’m exposing this incident. Finally, I hope everyone can stay far away from gambling and gamblers. Lending them money might seem helpful, but it only pulls them deeper into the abyss. That was my experience. Please never mix money with gambling friends. My story is a tragedy. If I hadn’t gambled, I’d be living a great life. And Firefly, how could you treat me like this in my darkest hour? You knew I was a desperate gambler, yet still refused to give me that 10,000 RMB, which could’ve saved me. So I’m exposing you—not out of revenge, but just to vent. I don’t want to see match-fixers competing internationally. What shocked me is that you’re still so shamelessly playing in tournaments, refusing to talk to me or admit you owe me money. If you had come to me, I’d have tried to settle things. I hope forum members can help forward this to the EWC organizers for investigation. As for your claim that I’m threatening or extorting you—go ahead and call the police. I’m sorry to all the people I’ve let down. But to you, Firefly, I have no regrets. You looked down on me and refused to even negotiate over a small sum. I’ve already accepted the consequences of posting this—I have nothing left to lose. Just one life. If you want to report me, I’ll provide my real name and address. I dare you to act on it. The evidence below may not be in order, but it’s all real. If I have slandered you, Xue Tao (Firefly), I am willing to bear any legal responsibility." ----------------------------------------------------------------------- You knew I was a desperate gambler, yet still refused to give me that 10,000 RMB, which could’ve saved me. talk about denial. yes, you, the desperate gambler would have given it all up and started living a clean life had he only given you that LAST 10k to make it so. when he refused, thats when things took a dark turn, but he had the chance to save you and didn't. he is fucking delusional. he is pissed off that the guy he used to fix games with was likely going to find himself making serious cash, regardless of his finish. 10k is around 1300 USD and even last place gets 5x that amount. with any lucky, firefly finishes in the 9-12 13-16 he'd make 15 times what he "owed." | ||
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FataLe
New Zealand4529 Posts
100%. Such a sad, sad situation. | ||
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jimminy_kriket
Canada5529 Posts
No, you fucking wouldn't. You were so stupid you did one of the most dishonest and disloyal, lazy, fucking cash grabs that there are. You 100% would have fucked it up in some other equally, tremendously dumb manner. Get fucked Jim and Firefly. Accept responsibility for your shit life. | ||
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