SlayerS Drama Placed on CranK’s Shoulders
By now, you’ve probably heard about the famed StarCraft II team SlayerS breaking up. If not, well, spoiler alert and all that.
SlayerS announced last week that it will be disbanding in November of this year. The announcement came in the wake of player disputes and confrontations that shook the team to its core. There’s plenty of drama to go around, such as the supposed heated clashes between SlayerS’ co-founder Lim “Boxer” Yo Hwan and Mun “MMA” Seong Won, but much of this drama is unfolding around the unsuspecting Choi Jae Won, also known as “CranK.”
You’ve probably heard of CranK. Yes, he’s the skilled SC2 player that joined the newly formed Axiom Gaming, a North America eSports team headed up by Genna Bain and her husband, John “Totalbiscuit” Bain. CranK made headlines earlier this month when Axiom had to pull him out of the MLG MvP tournament due to issues regarding his neck. Now, the progamer is steeped in controversy, and his alliance with Axiom may have something to do with it.
You may have heard about a phone call that CranK had with the owners of SlayerS and his screaming match with Ka-Yeon “Jessica” Kim. If not, here is a translated transcript of the call, published by Esfiworld. The transcript is full of back-and-forth between CranK and Jessica. After some time and angst, Boxer steps into the call, at which point CranK breaks into literal tears of frustration.
For those of you that don’t know, CranK is relatively new to the eSports scene, having finished up his service in the South Korean military over a year ago. He is 24 years of age and, according to the transcript, is highly concerned with the accomplishments he has made thus far. Part of the reason he joined Axiom was to pursue a new opportunity that would get him out of his parent’s home and help him make ends meet, this is also why he began streaming regularly. He is now being accused of lying to SlayerS and being a large part of the reason why the team is breaking up.
Axiom Gaming
CranK’s spat with Jessica aside, his conversation with Boxer provides some personal insight on the matter. The transcript suggests that Boxer and the other team members of SlayerS were often at odds, with Boxer going so far as to call players MMA, Alicia, and Ryung “thugs.” According to the transcript, CranK often claims that he had approached both Boxer and Cella regarding his unhappiness in the team, but both Boxer and Jessica cast blame on the player, largely because they had no one else to blame. Throughout the transcript, it is suggested that CranK left SlayerS due to his neck pain, but Jessica and Boxer say that he used a fake excuse to grab a more lucrative position with Axiom.
Axiom has released a statement regarding the matter, which includes the translated perspective from CranK himself.
To his credit, Boxer shows eagerness to meet with CranK and end the issue on good terms throughout the transcript. Regardless, SlayerS is still steeped in controversy and has more bad blood to deal with from slighted players like MMA and Alicia. The drama is only just beginning to unfold, so grab popcorn or whatever and prepare for a bumpy ride.
The End is Nigh for SC2 Casting, Maybe
In other news, the SC2 community seems to be convinced that the sky is falling, especially now that Nick “Tasteless” Plott is beginning to cast League of Legends games. South Korea’s GOMTV made an announcement last week concerning the upcoming IGN ProLeague Season 5 (It’s in Korean, FYI), showing that the broadcaster will be establishing its presence in the League of Legends scene. Much to the chagrin of SC2 fanatics, Tasteless was seen casting LoL games on GOMTV just a few days ago, showing off his impeccable fashion sense while he was at it.
Needless to say, the SC2 community is mourning the loss of one of their most favored casters ever, despite the fact Tasteless has not said anything about giving up on SC2. Also, if you didn’t know, DJWheat has been casting League of Legends games too.
Bye, Voyboy
Voyboy has been benched by CLG, being replaced by Yoonsup “Locodoco” Choi. “Benched” may be a loose term, as Voyboy’s Twitter suggests he is actually looking for a new team to play with for LoL’s Season 3. Voyboy took the time to organize an AMA on Reddit to provide some insight regarding his expulsion from the team:
“Long story short: Chauster’s jungling, Jiji’s staying mid, Hotshots relearning top and Locodoco is gonna play support for Doublelift.
The root cause of the roster swaps were basically the fact that the team felt Hotshot was under performing in the jungle and he had to be moved and to fix that problem I was selected as the person to get benched. I don’t agree at all with the decision that was reached. There are so many things that can be fixed and improved on this team as most people can tell, however this is the solution that they chose. The best possible solution in my opinion would have been to have Hotshot be our manager/coach.”
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