Mind Sports South Africa names its League of Legends National Squad.

Donovan De Klerk (League of Legends Senior Team Captain)

On 12 July 2018 in 'All hail the Chief: Donovan is appointed as Team Captain for League of Legends' Mind Sports South Africa (MSSA) announced Donovan De Klerk (Good Gaming LOL) as the Team Captain for MSSA's National League of Legends squad.

Certainly MSSA has a lot of faith in its captain,, and believes that his squad is the finest yet to be produced by South Africa.

It should be noted that the National Team/s for League of Legends for any international championships in which south Africa competes is drawn from the National Squad. The current squad for 2018/2019 consists of the following people:

Amoné Bekker

Amoné 'CheriCheriLady' Bekker (Valhalla) first started playing league of Legends in season 2 not knowing anything about the game.

However, season 4 was the start of her League of Legends career when she joined an all-girls team as ADC. Amoné admits that then it took 'guts' to be in an all-female team due to unwarranted pressures.

In 2016 Amoné found myself in an all females team again. Team Valkyrie was not the easiest team to be in as one had to work very hard as a player and as a person to fit in with the girls.

Everything changed once Valhalla came into the picture in 2017. It was the most comforting and reassuring haven that came into my life. It was a place of learning and teaching, no one judges you and your team becomes life family. In 2017 Amoné also received her Protea Colours for competing against Tunisia.

Team Valkyrie (Valhalla) is my family and I never want to let them down, so I will work very hard for them no matter where they want me, I will be there. My ambitions for the year are to stay as the top all female team we have worked so hard on creating and to be able to represent our country in the long run.

Personally, doesn’t matter what rank I am, if I have friends to play the game with, what else matters?

Lounay Fraser

Although Lounay Fraser (Valhalla) started out in the more traditional sports of field hockey and action netball, Lounay was introduced to the competitive esports scene by Angelique Ramos and never quite thought that she would have what it takes to become a national esports athlete. Since then Lournay has not only grown as a player but has also come to realise that she wants the esports scene to grow - especially for the female players.

Lounay is determined to help esports to grow to become as well known, if not better known as the more traditional sports like football. She too wishes to show females that it is possible to be a gamer and achieve success.

Cassidy Heiberg

Cassidy "CassieKiwi" Heiberg (Valhalla) started gaming at the tender age of thirteen, and that's exactly when she was introduced to League of Legends, with its fast pace strategy format.

Whilst growing into the beautiful woman she is today, her focus on culture, painting and sketching gave her a well rounded approach to life, allowing her to add PC gaming to her repertoire. After her brother introduced the game to her, sitting up for hours watching him play, once he handed over the keyboard, there was no looking back. Cassie has exceeded most expectations she had placed on herself.

She then got approached by club Valhalla, where she became conscious about esports in South Africa, and was quite surprised how big the community is. Her fate was then forever sealed in this area. Her focus and passion for the game intensified even further, always eager to improve.

Her friends and family have been a huge support, always encouraging her to take the next step. Her family are in awe at how fast she's grown and will continue to assist where they can.

Cassie's future plans are to make herself the best she can be, improve and make new friends along the way, as well as always being good enough for herself and her team.

Stephen Pretorius

Stephen "GG MrKnott" Pretorius (Good Gaming LOL) started dabbling in gaming, beginning with Sonic, Age of Empires, then DotA and many others to speak of a few. He finally moved to League of Legends when DotA he felt that the game did not suit his vibrant attitude.

He's been constant with all his achievements, keeping him in the top three teams for every tournament in which he has participated. 2013 - Silver - DGL

• 2014 - Silver - DGL
• 2015 - Gold - DGL
• 2016 - Silver - DGL 
• 2017 - Bronze - DGL

Stephen has currently just picked up mid lane in 2018 and is pushing hard to achieve master tier in the games' ranking system. Streaming has also been on the cards therefore he'd like to focus on this in the up coming months. He's extremely proud to uphold his tournament 'stats' and is determined to get South Africa to place within the top 6 at IESF's 10th World Championships - Kaohsuing in 2018.

Angelique Ramos ( Vice Captain)

Angelique Ramos (Valhalla) has become and inspiration by working hard and ranking herself up to become a noticeable player among her fellow teammates in the South African community and also serves as the 2017 chairperson of MSSA's Esports Board of Control.

Angelique started playing League of Legends 5 years ago and she has accumulated invaluable experience while playing for previously notable League of Legends’ teams such as AxE Gaming and VnR.LoL, albeit only a short period of time for the latter. Her experiences over the years now see her spearheading team Valkyrie as their captain.

In playing the Marksman role, Scarlet has created quite a name for herself in the community as the highest ranked SA female player and as one of the highest ranked players overall. She finds Kog’Maw and Xayah among her favourite champions, despite favouring Jinx over the years, both of which are champions that allow her prowess to shine through.

Her dream  is to one day play internationally and to make a career out of gaming.  

Angelique also works alongside her teammate Jade to continue growing the female community in South Africa.

Maalik Rawoot

Maalik “YoloPete” Rawoot (White Rabbit Gaming) has been playing League of Legends since season 2 (2011) and is currently the Top laner for White Rabbit Gaming. Maalik feels that he ultimately owes his esports career to a close friend of his who recognized my potential and afforded me the opportunity to join my first competitive team.

From thereon out Maalik has been a top contender, constantly improving on his gameplay and making a name for himself each year. Besides competing in various competitions Maalik has coached multiple teams and individual players with the goal of growing the South African gaming scene and its gaming culture.

Thus when Maalik first heard of my selection I was ecstatic, and at the same time grateful for the opportunity to further my growth in League of Legends and the South African gaming community, as well as to represent my country and bring it the international exposure it currently lacks.

Kyle Taylor

Kyle Taylor (White Rabbit Gaming) has been playing League of Legends for 6 years, and over this time has developed a great passion for the game.

At first Kyle played just for fun with a bunch of friends from school, but once he started improving he developed a taste for more.

Kyle quickly climbed the ranking system and then made a team with a few high 'elo' players with whom he was friends. As they quickly climbed the ladder to the premier division but were blown away by the skill difference once they played against the top teams in SA.

Undeterred, Kyle continued to work hard and found himself playing for some of the best League of Legends teams in the country.

Kyle now have a broad knowledge of the game and brings key 'shotcalling' to the table for the teams for which he plays. Not affected by the pressure that comes with playing at LAN competitions, Kyle has a proven track record of doing well and giving it his all.

In 2017 Kyle was a member of the South African Protea League of Legends Team at IeSF's 9th World Championships - Busan.

Jade Thomas Jade “Jadai 789” Thomas (Valhalla) found her passion for gaming at an early age, enjoying the old Sega cartridge games and then got introduced to PC gaming in her 3rd year of schooling. She fell in love with gaming as it was a way to take a break off the field, being quite an athlete during that period. Being completely different to Sonic, Age of Empires and Aliens vs Predators, she started playing League of legends in the first year the game was released, then found the competitive side of it a few years later, receiving her Protea Colours in 2017 after competing against Switzerland. Amongst her many talents, she is exceptional at working with her team and using her encouraging abilities to nurture and support her them. She loves sharing her research and always makes sure she’s on top of her game at all times.   Her support system varies from non-gaming friends, team mates, members of Valhalla, the gaming community and her husband who has always been there to cheer her along from the side-lines, supporting her many travels to compete at the MSSA championships and selection trials. Though her support is wide spread, she draws most of her motivation from her tenacious orientation. She is currently the president and a founding member of Valhalla, which presently boasts seven all female teams forming part of the club. Valhalla has given her much focus to keep reinforcing and enhancing the female esports community using her special holistic approach, to keep opening doors and opportunities for more females to feature in local tournaments.  Her unique talents were also brought to bear in MSSA when in 2017 Jade was co-opted into the position of Western Cape Provincial Director. Her future ambitions are to compete on an international stage with her all female team and the ten man squad. To keep pushing and training hard and to always zone her focus on inspiring, encouraging and introducing females to the esport universe. Brett Whitehead Brett Whitehead (White Rabbit Gaming) originally started playing in DotA at a very young age, and found that he was more than able to transfer the time and skills to League of Legends. Brett is a very competitive and hardworking player, as such the 'ADC' role fits him perfectly as he always wants to be the best that he can be, and can put that effort into carrying the game with the support of his team. Brett has been playing League of Legends for about 6 or so years now, with the main goal of improving and defending the title of the best team in South Africa, as well as performing better internationally. In 2017, Brett was selected for the National Squad, and played in the National Team in test matches against Switzerland, as well as being in the team that went to IeSF's 9th World Championships - Busan.

IeSF Finalizes the Entry for 9th Esports World Championship Busan 2017

International e-Sports Federation (IeSF) has announced the “Final Entry” for the 9^th Esports World Championship. 

Of course South Africa's national federation, Mind Sports South Africa, will be represented with its Protea Esports Team as sponsored by BOO! Surprising Media Solutions. A total of 36 countries, consisting of 328 athletes will travel to Busan, to compete in 3 official events. The events are League of Legends(LOL), Counter Strike : Global Offensive (CS:GO), and Tekken 7.

The 9^th Esports World Championship Busan 2017, which will be held on 8^th to 12^th  November 2017. 

All athletes and delegations will be present at the tournament venue on the 8^th for the group drawing session, and the actual tournament begins on the 9^th November 2017. 

With 147 of the teams coming from Europe, and 134 from Asia, there is no doubt that the few African teams have got their work cut out for them as  they take on the juggernauts. Details of participating athletes in each event can be found on the official website of IeSF (www.ie-sf.org).

IeSF's Esports World Championship is the only international esports competition based on nationality. 

The host city is chosen each year through the official “Host City Bidding Process” where the bid documents is distributed and open to all cities willing to host the event. As the official signatory of WADA, IeSF has been practicing doping tests in all its events, while also promoting and acknowledge clean sports.

The previous Esport World Championship hosted in Jakarta, Indonesia, was more competitive than ever before. Each title was won by a different nation. 

In 2016, Austria won Hearthstone, Finland won CS:GO, and South Korea won LOL. 

With more nations participating in 2017 at IeSF's 9^th Esports World Championships in Busan, the level of competition is expected to be even higher.

More information about this World Championship can be found in the last article of IeSF:

http://www.ie-sf.org/news/iesf-finalized-the-official-titles-of-9th-esports-wc/

IeSF's 9th World Championships

Sweden's team for IeSF's 9th World Championships - Busan

The Swedish CounterStrike: GO team.

Sweden, like South Africa, has sent a team to IeSF's World Championships every year since the inception of such world championships in 2009. 

The Swedish team shall consist of all three esports titles being, Tekken 7, CS:GO and League of Legends.

Team Sweden that will proudly participate at IeSF's 9th Esports World Championships - Busan consists of the following athletes:

Captain: Alexander Ferm

League of Legends: Samuel Persson, Jens Edvinsson, Calle Dargren, Stass Skopin, Ivan Klingberg

CSGO: Pontus Perlborn, Hugo Cortes Lopez, Kevin Nilsson, Kalle Persson, Alexander Carlsson

Tekken 7: Adam Ayachi

IeSF's 9th Esports World Championships.

On the 8th of November 2017, IeSF shall be holding its 9th Esports World Championships - Busan.

South Africa has participated in each and every IeSF Esports World Championships, and shall do less this year.

The team to represent South Africa at IeSF's 9th Esports World Championships - Busan is the 18th team that Mind Sports South Africa is sending out to represent South Africa in international competition, and is the 24th Protea Esports Team selected to officially represent South Africa.

Although the team has, as yet not been officially announced, MSSA (South Africa's recognised national federation) is hard at work in ensuring that all the logistics are in place to ensure that the team will have the best possible results.

The 24th Protea Esports Team shall compete in the following:

• CounterStrike: GO, and
• League of Legends, and
• Tekken 7.

Mind Sports South Africa will announce the team shortly.
 

Simply the best. Better than all the rest.

Goon Squad - simply the best League of Legends team in South Africa.

Goon Squad has already proved their point in official MSSA championships by winning the Online Provincial Championships, and by shooting up the official South African rankings.

Needless to say, that it is therefore, not unexpected that the team 'waltzed' through their opposition at rAge (8 October 2017) to demonstrate their total mastery over all other League of Legends teams.

Goon Squad (VexxedPhoenix) is currently captained by Brandon “Brafester” Fester, who has also been selected by Mind Sports South Africa to captain the Protea League of Legends Team at IeSF's 9th World Championships - Busan.

The rest of the team is yet to be announced.

MSSA's fees for 1 November 2017 to 31 October 2018

'Time waits for no man', and as time marches on - as usual - Mind Sports South Africa (MSSA) finds itself having to do all the necessary administration required of it at this time of the year.

The usual administration adds an additional burden to the already hard-working Management Board which is busy tying up all the loose-ends in order to ensure that the 2017 Protea Esports Team has a safe and pleasant journey to IeSF's 9th World Esports Championships - Busan.

However, MSSA would not be able to achieve much without its members.

The annual affiliation and registration fees are a vital ingredient to MSSA's ability to deliver its development programmes and even getting its national team overseas.

Every member counts, and every member helps assist MSSA in its core functions.

Thus, MSSA ensures as much as possible, that the fees not be a burden to the membership, but instead, just a contribution to enable MSSA meet its obligations.

Thus, the fees for 1 November 2017 to 31 October 2018 are as follows:
Affiliation fees:

The Affiliation fee needed to be paid by every member club on an annual basis remains at the amount of R100,00.

Registration fees:

Registration fees are divided into two categories, being:

• Registered Players who are affiliated to a school club - R6,00 per player per annum.
• Registered Players who are affiliated to a club other than a school club - R101.00 per player per annum.

However, in keeping with Mind Sport South Africa's policies apropos development programmes, MSSA may waive the fees from registered players who are unable to afford such, should the member club make such request in terms of MSSA's rules.

It's all go, go, go...

Few understand the amount of work required by a national federation to get an official team overseas.

In esports, only one organisation has consistently sent teams overseas.

Such organisation is Mind Sports South Africa (MSSA), South Africa's largest membership based gaming organisation in South Africa.

MSSA has sent teams for esports overseas since 2005. Only in 2008, MSSA did  not send a team overseas. Instead in 2008, MSSA brought out SK Gaming to participate in the African Continental Championships that were held at Wits University in 2008.

Thus MSSA's  MANCOM is hard at work organising, sourcing, and tying up all the loose ends that will see the 2017 Protea Esports Team head off for IeSF's 9th World Championships - Busan.

Registration of South Africans Abroad - ROSA

What is ROSA?

ROSA is the acronym for the ‘Registration of South Africans Abroad’, a software programme developed by the Department of International Relations and Cooperation allowing travellers to register on-line.

The information travellers register on ROSA allows the Department of International Relations and Cooperation to assist South African citizens in event of an emergency.  The registration is a free, voluntary service provided by Government (through the Department of International Relations and Cooperation).  ROSA is only available to South African citizens who are travelling, living or working abroad.

ROSA is an initiative that is endorsed and supported by the Association of South African Travel Agents (ASATA). 

Why should I register?

Vast numbers of our people who travel abroad every day do not encounter any difficulties.  However, through our missions abroad, we have assisted a growing number of South Africans who have become victims of crime, accident/s, illness, death, natural/man-made disasters, civil unrest, or whose family and/or next-of-kin needed to contact them in an emergency.

Registration through this website is NOT considered proof of South African citizenship.  If you apply for any service from an Embassy, High Commission or Consulate General (mission) while abroad, you will be asked by staff to provide proof of South African citizenship, such as a passport or bar coded ID book / ID Smart card.

By registering your trip on-line with ROSA you assist the Department of International Relations and Cooperation to locate you during an emergency, verifying your status and liaising with your next-of-kin.  Information on ROSA is not continuously monitored and will only be accessed during a declared consular emergency.

Registration is voluntary and free of charge.  We encourage you to consider registration as an integral part of your travel planning and security.

How do I register?

The ROSA software is an on-line registration process available on the Department of International Relations and Cooperation website.  The address is http://www.dfa.gov.za/consular/index.html

The ROSA software is unique as it allows for a traveller to:

• register as an Individual Traveller
• register as Group Travellers
• register multiple destinations
• update their profiles (Individual or Group)
• de-register their profile from the system.  

How can the Embassy or Consulate assist me while I am abroad?

The Chief Directorate: Consular Services in the Department of International Relations and Cooperation, in close collaboration with the Consular Sections of South African Representatives abroad, provides consular services to South African citizens who work, live and travel abroad.

Consular Services operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  On weekends and after hours, assistance is rendered in co-operation with the Department's Operations Room in Pretoria.  The Operations Room supports our 121 Representatives in 105 countries affording services that cover the entire world.

A detailed list of services is available at http://www.dfa.gov.za/consular/services.htm

How will my information be used?

ROSA will be utilised by Consular Officers at Head Office or at a South African Mission abroad in the event of a disaster, emergency or other crisis as outlined above.

Only authorised officers of the Department of International Relations and Cooperation have access to the information which will only be used in the event of an emergency.  This will enable the Department of International Relations and Cooperation to e.g. react by contacting the next-of-kin to verify the status of the South Africans travelling abroad that might have been affected by the emergency. 
 Registration and Privacy

The Department of International Relations and Cooperation is committed to ensuring that any personal information received through the ROSA on-line registration process is safeguarded against unauthorised disclosure.

The Department will not disclose the information you provide through the registration application to any third parties (this includes family members) unless you have first given it written authorisation to do so.  In the event that family members make enquiries about your whereabouts, such requests will be forwarded to you.  You may choose to inform the mission of your decision to respond or not.

This internet site uses secure encryption to safeguard your privacy and therefore any unauthorised interception by third parties of the information you send via the internet is unlikely.  The Department does not accept responsibility for any such interception.
Important Notification

The responsibility remains with the individual traveller to-

• act responsibly and be aware of the risks
• consider and purchase full travel insurance or an overseas health plan
• respect the culture and customs of the countries visited.

The consular assistance provided by the Department of International Relations and Cooperation, in the case of an emergency, is usually of a non-financial nature, and the Department will not be responsible for payment of legal, medical, travelling expenses or any other expenses on behalf of the traveller.

It is reiterated that information on ROSA is only accessed by the Department during a declared consular emergency.

Review of SA's test match held against Tunisia.

MSSA's Team: (back row l -r): Angelique Ramos, Brandon Fester (Captain), Connor Cryans,
(front row l - r) Leana Jackson, Amone Bekker

Under the watchful eye of MSSA's Vice-President (James Evans) MSSA took to the field against Africa's premier League of Legends esports team - Tunisia on Saturday, 16 September 2017 at MWEB's MCAVE.

The test match was  also streamed on TULUNTULU.

The Tunisians were always going to be a hard nut to crack.

Nevertheless, MSSA continued with its policy of  'wetting the spears' of all its members of its national squad. Thus the remaining three members of the  national League of Legends squad, were selected to engage Tunisia in an  exciting test match.

The officially accredited test match is part of South Africa's preparations for IeSF's 9th World Championships - Busan. However, there is more at stake than just that... MSSA has a number of plans for 2018, and it is  trying to ensure that its entire squad is on the same standard.

The Protea team selected to play against Switzerland consisted of the following players:

• Brandon Fester (Captain), 
• Amone Bekker
• Leana Jackson
• Angelique Ramos
• Connor Cryans

There  is no doubt that the South African team rose to the challenge. Faced by Africa's top team, the Proteas fought long and hard. The brave South African team made the Tunisians pay for every victory.  Even viewers at the Asian Esports Confederation's General Assembly Meeting were impressed with the 'never say die' attitude of the Protea esports team as they attempted comeback-after-comeback.

At the end of the day, the objectives had been reached. Although South Africa lost 2 - 0 to Tunisia, many important lessons  had been learnt. Tunisia too has shown its hand prior to IeSF's 9th World Championships - Busan whereas South Africa remains a 'dark horse'.

The entire national South African squad for the esports game of League of Legends are now the proud recipients of Protea Colours, and team training sessions have increased in intensity in order to uplift the entire squad's standard.

MSSA could not be prouder of its League of Legends squad.

Selections of the SA Squad Captains: CounterStrike: GO

Ryan van Schalkwyk

In the past Mind Sports South Africa (MSSA) would only select the actual esports team required for the event for which the team is required.
2017 sees a change to the method of selecting teams as now MSSA has decided to increase the number of Registered Players selected to form the national esports squad. Selecting a squad has a number of benefits as it allows MSSA to experiment with different combinations in order to ensure that South Africa can proudly field the best possible team from the Registered Players that had participated at MSSA's National Team Trials.

Without doubt the most important, and central figure, of the squad is the Team Captain.

The Team Captain is the esports athlete who shall lead the official South African CounterStrike: GO Team to IeSF's 9th World Championships - Busan.

Much thus falls on the shoulders of the Team Captain. The Team Captain is responsible for morale, discipline, roster, leadership, and so forth. 

MSSA has at last reached a  decision on the Team Captain who is to lead South Africa's Protea CpunterStrike: GO team.

The team captain selected is none other than Ryan van Schalkwyk.
Ryan nan Schalkwyk is only 21 and is a software developer.

Along with CounterStrike, Ryan enjoys playing my guitar and making music. 

Ryan quickly admits that he enjoys pushing himself hard and bettering himself. The competitive aspect of CounterStrike: GO enthralls Ryan. It is through such hard work and competitive spirit that has allowed Ryan to earn the achievement of being selected as Team Captain, an achievement of which Ryan admits that he has always dreamed.

As Ryan says, " I'm really looking forward to pushing myself and my team as far as we can go at the world championships".

Mind Sports South Africa responds to the challenge from Tunisia.

Tunisia - birthplace of Hannibal Barca

On 28 August 2017 Mind Sports South Africa (MSSA) reported that the Tunisian Association of Gamers (TAG), in preparation for IeSF's 9th World Championship, Busan, had challenged South Africa to an online test match.

Mind Sports South Africa (MSSA) has accepted such challenge and the Team Manager, Ryan Boyes, has begun getting the team ready to take on the African juggernauts that are Tunisia.

Tunisia, of course has an advantage much envied by all South Africans. With tunisia being so close to Europe, Tunisian esports athletes do not experience the problems with latency that South African esports athletes do.

Nevertheless, MSSA is  always keen to compete against other African states and sees the test match against Tunisia as vital in terms of creating a better culture of esports in Africa as a whole.

The date for the online test match has been set for 16 September 2017. In such test match, both countries shall pit their national League of Legends teams against each other.

Tunisia was the birthplace of Hannibal Barca, South Africa the birthplace of Shaka. Both great generals favoured similar tactics on the battlefield, will the tactics of the League of Legends national teams also be similar?

When other details have been confirmed, such shall be released.

Mind Sports South Africa receives a challenge from Tunisia.

On 28 August 2017 Mind Sports South Africa (MSSA) reported that the Swiss e-Sports Federation (SESF), in preparation for IeSF's 9th World Championship, Busan, had challenged South Africa to an online test match.

The way in which the national teams get to practice against their peers is through IeSF's online test match system.

Shortly after MSSA received the challenge from SESF, a challenge was received from the Tunisian National Federation for esports.

MSSA is  always keen to compete against other African states. However, South Africa cannot be complacent about about Tunisia as the standard of play in Tunisia is very high indeed.

The date for the online test match is still under negotiation.

When final details have been confirmed, such shall be released.

Swiss e-Sports federation (SESF) throws down the gauntlet.

With International e-Sports Federation's (IeSF) 9th World Championship, Busan, fast approaching, member federations are taking their national teams out for a little practice.

The way in which  the national teams get to practice against their peers is through IeSF's online test match system.

Thus so it is that SESF has challenged South Africa (through SA's national federation - Mind Sports South Africa).

The online test match has been scheduled to be played on 9 September 2017 when MSSA shall also show off the team in its 2017 livery.

While final details are still to be confirmed, already there is a great deal of excitement in both camps as the teams ready themselves for an very interesting online test match.

The online test match will involve the players for the CounterStrike: GO, League of Legends, and Tekken 7 esports periods.

As more details become available, such shall be released.

Armoured Brothers and Aziz Kallel will represent Tunisia in the IeSF WC 2017

The 4th edition of the e-Sports Tunisian Cup (ETC 2017) took place at the Carthage Game Show (CGS 2017) on the 5^th and 6^th August at the UTICA. Carthage Game Show is an event that gathers multiple activities related to video games: game development conferences, game development and artistic competitions, cosplays, retro gaming and YouTube. The event had more than 1.500 visitors, 20.000 watched the 16 hours of live streaming on Gamers Arena’s channel, and more than 350.000 viewers heard of the event on TV channels Nessma TV and Hannibal TV.

43 teams participated in the ETC 2017 – League of Legends and the grand winner was Armoured Brothers. They convincingly won against Geekerz 3-0: team captain Ali Gaaloul and his teammates were in top condition and won every single game during the whole tournament. Armoured Brothers have been training very hard for the qualifiers and for the IeSF WC, their current roster is the following : Ali Gaaloul, Sami Sliti, Ayoub Chargui, Samih Massaoudi and Selim Zaouali.

34 players participated in the ETC 2017 – Tekken 7 and the grand winner was Aziz Kallel. His solid execution and patience were too difficult for his opponents to deal with.

The winners will have the chance to represent Tunisia during the e-Sports world championship – IeSF World Championship which will take place from November 9th to November 12th, 2017, in Busan, Korea.

We interviewed Armoured Brothers’ team leader – Ali Gaaloul, a regular player of the IeSF World Championships.

Interview with Ali Gaaloul – Armoured Brothers captain(By Mary Stambouli and Raft_k – August 2017)

Hello Ali,  firstly we would like to congratulate you for your amazing performance during the national IeSF qualifiers, wishing you all the best in your participation at the IeSF World Championship Busan 2017.

Answer : Thank you very much, it truly is a pleasure to be able to represent Tunisia internationally once again, we have sacrificed a lot and we are going to put in a lot of effort in order to be able to succeed internationally in Korea.

Q : Do you remember your first experiences of playing league of legends and did you think – back then – that you’ll become the undisputed best Tunisian League of Legends player?

Answer:  I would not call myself the best Tunisian League of Legends player, I think however with the right amount of resources in game which my team is able to give me, I know how to carry the game and I also have good knowledge on what makes a team successful through my previous experiences.

My first ever team experience was with a team named “Godslike gaming” in Tunisia, I was around 13 years old and I was diamond 1 in season 3 and I had uploaded a screenshot of my achievement in a Tunisian LoL group, I had then received a message from someone named “Amine Abidi” (Godlike King) who had offered me a spot in their team which I ended up accepting.
I always did strive to be the best however and I was never satisfied with coming 2nd place, for me, coming 2nd was the same as coming last, so every time I would lose, a tournament, I would analyze what went wrong and what I should not do again and how I can improve the team atmosphere, etc.

Q : Being a successful player, how can you manage your time between your studies/work and gaming? (if applicable)

Answer: Time management and setting up a timetable with discipline is very important, I do not think that it is necessary nor is it productive to play for more than 5 hours a day, so I would wake up, eat etc, workout a bit, play, but in between every win/loss I would take a 10-30 minute break analyzing the game i had just played/doing other activities such as school work etc, but time management and knowing how to discipline yourself is very important for both LoL and real life matters if you wish to succeed in both categories.

Q: What are the qualities needed to be a successful League of Legends player?

Answer:  I believe that discipline, self-criticism and motivation are the 3 most important factors when it comes to doing well in League, most players tend to blame their team mates in soloq when in reality, most of their games would’ve been winnable if they were simply better at the game, but they are unable to view it; also it is important to know how to improve, and to have the patience to admit that you are bad and to admit that you need to improve, and to also know how to do it through watching your own replays and better players play.

Q: What do you think of  the League of Legends scene in Tunisia?

Answer: My honest answer would be that I do not believe that it is getting enough media attention and players are not treated very well. 
Players in Tunisia who DO have the potential to go pro even at an LCS level would be ignored or looked down upon or even laughed at, I have seen players who have the potential to go pro, but people who are actually high up and do have the power to help them would simply laugh at them or mock them saying they are not “pro players” nor are they “semi-pro” and that they will never get anywhere etc, which ends up ruining their self-esteem.

The Tunisian LoL platform brings players down rather than helping them succeed due to its horrible infrastructure and the fact that players are not treated like the e-Sports superstars that they should be.

I believe that if players were treated the way that they should be treated, and if Tunisian Associations/organisations had actually paid enough media attention to e-Sports in Tunisia, then we would have at least 3+ players who would already be in the LCS because Tunisians are actually good at League but they do not get enough support nor do people care about them enough in order to help them succeed.

A player who could potentially be the next Deft may be ignored or disqualified in a tournament or he could have his spot taken by players who are around bronze level which although organizers believe that doing this is “fair”, it seriously does harm the e-Sports scene, I was the winner of the IeSF qualifiers for 3 years in a row which I believe is a pretty big accomplishment, and I have received 0 media attention and me and my team are not present in any of the aftermovies, this makes it impossible for spectators to know that there is a scene in Tunisia and it makes our accomplishments void and invisible, I have tried to change this myself through Youtube/Live Streaming and media, however I am not able to change much without the support of organisations, and it seems like my voice has gone in vain and I have simply been ignored, which is why I have decided to go to Turkey/UK as I believe that i can help out Tunisia more through playing on their platform rather than playing in Tunisia.

Q: Do you have any recommendations for the aspiring young players who dream of making a professional  career in playing League of Legends ?

Answer:  Focus on self-improvement and do not flame, younger players usually do not understand how bad it is to flame in LoL and how badly it reduces your chances of winning, you need to be disciplined, also, if you wish to join a team and you are diamond +, I recommend posting your achievements in Tunisian LoL groups so that team owners may actually find you and recruit you, if you never post your achievements then team owners will simply not know where to look to find you.

Q: About the CGS qualifiers, what was the most memorable moment? Maybe the 3-0 sweep in the finals?

Answer: Most memorable in game moment was probably when Ayzou said that I was going to 1v9 which had actually motivated me and hyped me up to go for riskier plays such as 1v2ing or getting a 2v5 pentakill. However my team performed very very well, all 5 of us played very well as a team, especially Ayoub  (Imjustpro).

Q:  We followed your recent trainings through your vlogs, and knowing that you are leading a new roster, how did you manage to create such a good cohesion in your team?

Answer:  I think the fact that we had sacrificed so much as a team was able to help us bond a lot, all 5 of us had sacrificed together and we would sleep in poor conditions and we sacrificed food and comfort just to be able to practice together as a team, so when we were playing we would be thinking about all the sacrifices that we had made together as a team which had seriously helped us out a lot, I think it is important for a team to bond together and to get to know the other members personally as it builds trust which would then translate into the game, it is also important for all 5 members to understand each other’s tempers and also how to help each other calm down so that the team does not give up.

Q:  Have you guys scheduled any special preparations for the world championship?

Answer:  Yes, we have, we plan on practicing together as a team however we do not think that we can unless we are able to find sponsors, our main priority right now is to find sponsors and once we do so we will go back to practicing as a team, as we unfortunately are not able to practice in the same place that we were practicing in before as it is a school and school has started again for them, so we are looking for sponsors who may possibly aid us as me myself, I personally am unable to play from home due to poor Internet conditions so we hope that we find aid as soon as possible so that we can actually practice and win.

Q:  If you had to change a few things in your team, what would that be?

Answer:  I do not think that I would change anything, all of the players with me are extremely motivated and we all strive to win.

Q:  What are your goals in Busan, South Korea?

Answer:  We honestly wish to place top 3, I know that it is possible for us to win the whole tournament if we could miraculously find a sponsor who would help us practice in Korea, but since that is very unlikely, top 3 would be achievable if we are able to receive the required aid in Tunisia.

Q:  Thank you very much Ali, we wish you the very best of luck, anything to add?

Answer:  I think that it is very important for everyone to understand that we are representing Tunisia internationally, we are not representing Armoured Brothers nor am I representing myself, we are representing our country, therefore we need as much support as possible in terms of media/sponsors etc, because I know that if we win internationally, we may be able to change the gaming infrastructure in Tunisia.