Andy Ta · @Smoothie
27th Jul 2018 from TwitLonger
My transition to Echo Fox and what's next
I wanted to clarify some things regarding the decision to trade me from C9 to Echofox. There's a lot of backlash from the community blaming Jack and Reapered for this decision, but I wanted to say that it was ultimately my choice in the end. It was speculated from the first benching that I seemed unmotivated, along with my shotcalling not being good enough. Nobody really knows the truth except for those who were actually involved so I just want to share my perspective and shed some light on the situation.
The most important message I want to get across is that I was NEVER unmotivated. I still very much love playing the game and my drive and passion to compete never stopped. It hurt a lot to not be competing with my teammates who I've played with almost everyday for two years. One of the primary reasons to why I was benched was because I spoke a lot during games, and I'm unsure if it was completely my fault or if it was just incompatibility between me and the team's communication. C9 wanted the other players to have their own shot calling voice over how we used to do it in the past in that everyone gave their conditions and input and usually I'd be the one who makes the final call. At the beginning of the split when all these new champions were implemented along with the drastic changes to the bot lane meta, I wasn't aware of the limits of certain champions or how to fight with the champions we had to work with. I became a lot less decisive than I ever was in the past, and my lack of confidence definitely affected my shotcalling for the team which, in my point of view, was the reason for my benching.
League of Legends is where my drive and passion is. I usually never play any other games, and my main priority is to stay consistent with my performances and whether it means going to the gym everyday or playing solo queue. I always work my hardest to produce the best results and to do what I can to win. Whether I'm scrimming against high or low quality scrim partners, I put my 100% effort into improving myself and getting better, and because I couldn't earn my spot back despite all the hard work I was putting in, it took a large toll on my mental.
I don't think there's anybody to blame for the situation. Things change and happen all the time, and the most important priority to me is to work hard and adapt to the changes. I really do understand how unfair it must feel to you guys, the community, but both C9 and I had my future in our best interests and thought this was the right decision for me. This was the hardest decision I've ever made during my career and the second I left the house it felt like there was just an empty void and I couldn't help but cry even though I saw it coming. C9 was my home for so long and I didn't see myself ever leaving but I guess life comes at you hard. It was difficult at first to accept this emotionally since I was a part of C9 for so long, but I'm ready to move on and work harder than I ever did before and get to worlds again.
I just want to end this by saying thank you so much Jack and Reapered for being so accommodating with the transfer process. Jack has been almost like a father figure to me for the last 2 years and I never regret once being on, or playing with Cloud9. Thank you to all the fans who supported me these past 2 years and I hope you still follow me through my career with Echo Fox.
Big shoutout to all my past teammates on C9, especially Sneaky, Jensen and Reapered who I've played with for so long. Will miss u guys and I'll see u all at LCS. Best of luck guys.