In the first episode of 'Esports anecdotes and trivia', I explore some amusing anecdotes and interesting pieces of trivia from esports history, spanning four game titles and more than a decade.
Featured in this episode:
- Why do you need the blue buff Bjergsen? (LoL)
- Playing a champion for the first time in an offline final? No sweat for hyrqBot (LoL)
- Team Dignitas at one point stopped practicing TSM because the latter would just use their scrims to scout them (LoL)
- PuMa thought iNcontroL was an EG manager until he saw him playing SC2 at the EG team house (SC2)
- NaNiwa finished top four at an MLG he was forced to attend by his managers, despite being sick (SC2)
- Feast explained in an interview that he thought MMA would win IEM VI Kiev, only to be drawn against the Korean, seconds later, for the quarter-finals (SC2)
- naSu and contE decided to swap mice before a tournament match against an underdog, as a prank, and went on to lose that match (CS)
- solo was colour blind and couldn't see areas of de_train well enough (CS)
- The first great CS match might not have happened if the terrorist attack on September 11th had not taken place (CS)
- Cooller plays at IEM Dubai without a visa (QL)
To whet your appetite, here's the story of NaNiwa's forced MLG attendance:
NaNiwa finished top four at an MLG he was forced to attend by his managers, despite being sick (SC2)
NaNiwa is not only known for being one of the best foreign SC2 players of all time, but also for his, at times, difficult nature. The Swedish Protoss had placed poorly at Dreamhack Summer in June of 2013, finishing outside of the top 32, and wanted to return to Korea to practice heavily and regain his form. He was also suffering from the effects of a cold at the time. All of the aforementioned considered one can see why NaNiwa didn't want to attend the MLG Spring Championship two weeks later in Anaheim, California. It wasn't up to NaNiwa though, as his managers had already booked the trip for him and forced him to attend.
Despite feeling under the weather and being out of his comfort zone of regular Korean practice, NaNiwa managed to put together a strong run right to a 3rd-4th finish, finishing as the top placing foreigner in the event.
NaNiwa is not only known for being one of the best foreign SC2 players of all time, but also for his, at times, difficult nature. The Swedish Protoss had placed poorly at Dreamhack Summer in June of 2013, finishing outside of the top 32, and wanted to return to Korea to practice heavily and regain his form. He was also suffering from the effects of a cold at the time. All of the aforementioned considered one can see why NaNiwa didn't want to attend the MLG Spring Championship two weeks later in Anaheim, California. It wasn't up to NaNiwa though, as his managers had already booked the trip for him and forced him to attend.
Despite feeling under the weather and being out of his comfort zone of regular Korean practice, NaNiwa managed to put together a strong run right to a 3rd-4th finish, finishing as the top placing foreigner in the event.
The entire piece can be read at OnGamers.