Home Gaming Team RiZe is no more

Team RiZe is no more

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You may recognise the name Team RiZe as we spoke about them quite extensively earlier this year when they stole the local Call of Duty World Championship spot by including 2 UK based players and then ended up in LA with only a single South African representing our country.

Needless to say that we didn’t take this well and the general gaming community in South Africa were also hugely negative against the team and the members there of so it’s not overly surprising that Team RiZe has been razed to the ground.  In a 5 minute monologue posted to YouTube the previous captain of Team RiZe explains why he’s shutting the team down and how he feels about Call of Duty gaming in general.

In the end I’m just glad he has done the right thing and shutting the team down. They turned our country into a joke and there was absolutely no way the larger local gaming community would have ever forgotten about what they did.

So how do you feel, has he done the right thing here or did we help create an Internet mob that has unfairly killed one of his passions?

Last Updated: May 5, 2014

85 Comments

  1. Umar Returns

    May 5, 2014 at 10:02

    Pubsky was pretty pissed on Zoe’s thread. LG, pissing people since 2007

    Reply

    • Wincethis

      May 5, 2014 at 10:06

      Pissing people? Think you need an OFF or ON there?

      Reply

      • Umar Returns

        May 5, 2014 at 10:08

        On

        Reply

        • Wincethis

          May 5, 2014 at 10:12

          LOL

          Reply

        • Hammersteyn

          May 5, 2014 at 10:14

          Dave FTW

          Reply

        • HvR - THE Average GAmer

          May 5, 2014 at 10:16

          LOL, picking up Avo’s slack I see.

          Reply

  2. Ultimo_Cleric N7

    May 5, 2014 at 10:07

    They should never have existed in the first place, its a bit late to do this now. To be honest I think the only reason he shut them down was that nobody in SA would be willing to play against them with all the negative publicity. Just a ‘save face’ tactic.

    In my opinion, if he really meant what he said, the team should have been disbanded, or at least changed, before the initial SA qualifiers took place.

    Sorry to be negative, but too little, too late…..

    Reply

    • Sir Rants A Lot Llew. Jelly!!!

      May 5, 2014 at 10:17

      The thing is Team RiZe had a golden opportunity to come back and prove that they wanted to properly represent SA. If they’d stepped forward and said they made a mistake by not having SA players etc; and said that they would policies in place to ensure that they properly represent SA and how they will fix their mistakes it could have been far better and could have made them look like they want to be professional and actually care.

      Reply

      • HvR - THE Average GAmer

        May 5, 2014 at 10:19

        Maybe after the initial qualifying incident but after their FU attitudes, the pictures and dropping another SA player for UK player they burned to many bridges.

        Reply

        • Sir Rants A Lot Llew. Jelly!!!

          May 5, 2014 at 10:21

          yeah as I said somewhere else here they had a golden opportunity to show that they cared about eSports in SA in general by fixing it up and doing it the right way but they didn’t. So there is multiple points of blame here.

          Just sad that it got to this point.

          Best would have been a public apology with a promise to move forward with SA eSports and the image of our country in mind. Then move on and stick to the promise

          Reply

  3. Hammersteyn

    May 5, 2014 at 10:08

    So Team RiZe ragequits?

    Reply

    • MakeItLegal

      May 5, 2014 at 10:10

      lol made my day

      Reply

    • InsanityFlea

      May 5, 2014 at 10:18

      whahahaha have a +1.

      Reply

      • InsanityFlea

        May 5, 2014 at 10:43

        Hey LG, featured comment? (hammersteyn’s) :p

        Reply

    • Admiral Chief in Space

      May 5, 2014 at 10:24

      Spot on

      Reply

    • Johan du Preez

      May 5, 2014 at 12:45

      ROFL comment of the week contender

      Reply

  4. Wincethis

    May 5, 2014 at 10:09

    Doesn’t really mean much when they have already had their fare paid, hotels, sponsorships etc all laid out. Nah, they were in it for themselves and now they realise no one likes them any more.

    Reply

    • Hammersteyn

      May 5, 2014 at 10:13

      Everyone dislikes them for the way they qualified. Then the twitter pics with all the middle fingers (representing SA no less) and finally doing so poorly in the US.

      Reply

      • Wincethis

        May 5, 2014 at 10:14

        Yeah. Real ‘reps’ of SA hey?

        Reply

  5. Sir Rants A Lot Llew. Jelly!!!

    May 5, 2014 at 10:10

    Look, quitting wasn’t perhaps the answer. I can understand why he decided to quit and the pressure is immense.

    But that’s just the kicker. To represent your country in ANY sport is immensely stressful and you will always be under pressure to perform.

    You have to worry about what doing things will do to your image and the image of the country you are representing. You have to make sure you are representing your country (having only 1 SA player in your team for the league is not representing your country for example)

    You have to be the kind of leader which will stand up and go “We made a mistake and this is how we are going to fix it”.

    I’m sorry to hear that he’s decided to possibly step back from professional gaming, he is clearly good at it. But if you aren’t going to forge forward to represent your country even when it’s tough doing it then perhaps it is the better choice?

    Reply

  6. Gerhard Davids

    May 5, 2014 at 10:11

    Reply

    • Admiral Chief in Space

      May 5, 2014 at 10:24

      Hahaha, I see we had the same idea (see my post above)

      Reply

      • Gerhard Davids

        May 5, 2014 at 10:33

        Great minds man…

        Reply

        • Sir Rants A Lot Llew. Jelly!!!

          May 5, 2014 at 10:33

          Yet fools never differ….

          Reply

          • Gerhard Davids

            May 5, 2014 at 10:35

            I agree with you.

          • Sir Rants A Lot Llew. Jelly!!!

            May 5, 2014 at 10:36

            Darnit.. walked in to that one

          • Admiral Chief in Space

            May 5, 2014 at 10:37

            lol

          • Gerhard Davids

            May 5, 2014 at 10:41

            <3

          • Admiral Chief in Space

            May 5, 2014 at 10:37

            BOOOM

  7. HvR - THE Average GAmer

    May 5, 2014 at 10:15

    Criticism against them was deserved; best is probably to disband the team due to the bad reputation. They knew they were going to piss off the majority of the community and was pretty brazen about it and continue to do it anyway.

    Hope he isn’t shunned in future from the gaming community as that will be taking it to far.

    My biggest problem with the whole affair has been that the rules allowed for this to happen and it seemed that if the organizers couldn’t care less. Hope this changes in the future with any similar country based championships.

    Reply

    • Sir Rants A Lot Llew. Jelly!!!

      May 5, 2014 at 10:19

      This is also a very good point. If the rules allowed it then we really should all be pissed at the events organisers and our wonderful eSports official reps who couldn’t see this as a problem

      Reply

  8. string_slinger

    May 5, 2014 at 10:15

    Wow, a 5min monologue. Didnt know enough people were interested to warrant that. Not really saying a lot in those 2min either. How about ‘Hey guys, we’re ending team Rize. For various and varied reasons, the teams just not viable anymore. Thanks for your support during our time.’ The end. P.S. If you don’t want to get into the foreign players thing, then don’t go into it – suggestion, prolly to late now…:).

    Reply

    • string_sling

      May 5, 2014 at 10:16

      Sorry, said 2min cause that’s all I listened to….

      Reply

  9. Kensei Seraph

    May 5, 2014 at 10:16

    I’m wondering if the team will reform with the same players but under a different name?

    Reply

  10. Her Highness the Hipster

    May 5, 2014 at 10:17

    I’m intrigued by the whole “he wasn’t online when the Champs thing happened” part of his rant/vlog. Also really strange how he doesn’t mention Pupsky as a core player… wonder if they’re trying to pin the whole Champs issue on him.

    Reply

    • Hammersteyn

      May 5, 2014 at 10:19

      I still blame the organizers but also Team RiZe for taking advantage of the loop hole.

      Reply

      • Wincethis

        May 5, 2014 at 10:19

        Agreed. If you were offered a trip there you wouldn’t say no!

        Reply

  11. Umar Returns

    May 5, 2014 at 10:18

    Thing is right, what pisses me off more than the whole Rize issue was the way the community (not confined to any one community). I get it’s upsetting, but sometimes, myself included, we go too far, we throw names and insults galore at them. Slander like it’s going out of fashion. Some even take the time to personally go out and attack these people. Wonder when we learn to be upset in a respectable manner

    Now…I’m off my high horse. Damn this stupid ass team to hell!

    Reply

    • Hammersteyn

      May 5, 2014 at 10:22

      Their whole attitude stunk. Especially those photos from the plane. Plus Zoe mentioned how the just sat and moped during the break while other teams had a strategy discussion. They were in it for the free trip not giving a damn that they were representing South Africa even though most of them were from overseas and why would they?

      Reply

      • Umar Returns

        May 5, 2014 at 10:25

        Yeah, don’t get me wrong, I don’t condone a SINGLE thing though, I’m not fond of them either

        Reply

  12. Sageville

    May 5, 2014 at 10:20

    Ag, Online gaming team members chop and change so often, the fact that Rize is deservedly being canned just means that there will be some new amalgamation of a team in the future.

    I’m sure they will becry victim, but really they didn’t deserve an SA spot for those UK players and that whole middle finger thing just means they are twats, I feel nothing for this booohoo video.

    Reply

  13. Admiral Chief in Space

    May 5, 2014 at 10:23

  14. InsanityFlea

    May 5, 2014 at 10:24

    Oops, someone tripped over their own ego. It’s everyone else’s fault, love the blame game.

    Reply

  15. Alien Emperor Trevor

    May 5, 2014 at 10:25

    All out of cares.

    Reply

  16. Jedi JJ

    May 5, 2014 at 10:27

    Still better than Risen 2

    Reply

    • Sir Rants A Lot Llew. Jelly!!!

      May 5, 2014 at 10:28

      Still a beter love story than Twilight….. Too soon?

      Reply

      • Kensei Seraph

        May 5, 2014 at 10:28

        Twilight was a comedy not a love story.

        Reply

        • Sir Rants A Lot Llew. Jelly!!!

          May 5, 2014 at 10:29

          I wouldn’t even label it as that. Disgrace to comedy all over.

          Twilight has no genre as it shouldn’t exist

          Reply

          • Kensei Seraph

            May 5, 2014 at 10:30

            Other than the 2nd book and it’s depressing “Oh he left me so now I must repeatedly nearly kill myself” I found the books to be hilarious.
            I laughed myself to tears on every page.

          • Sir Rants A Lot Llew. Jelly!!!

            May 5, 2014 at 10:32

            you read the books????

            Man badge.. Hand it over…

          • Jedi JJ

            May 5, 2014 at 10:34

            Hey, personally I think that’s better than watching the movies. If you watched the movies it means you stared at dudes without shirts for at least a third of the time.

          • Sir Rants A Lot Llew. Jelly!!!

            May 5, 2014 at 10:38

            That’s terribad man

          • Dutch Matrix

            May 5, 2014 at 11:12

            And uhm… gamers are doing what exactly? (refresh your browser for Kratos sake!)

          • Jedi JJ

            May 5, 2014 at 11:14

            I prefer mine with armour on though. 🙂

          • Kensei Seraph

            May 5, 2014 at 10:34

            You’ll have to pry it from me with your cold dead frozen hand!

            The books are funny as long as you don’t take them to seriously.
            That’s where people seem to go wrong, they expect a love story and they get a comedy.

          • Sir Rants A Lot Llew. Jelly!!!

            May 5, 2014 at 10:37

            Will those cold dead hands be sparkling by any chance? Coz I get this distinct feeling it will

          • Admiral Chief in Space

            May 5, 2014 at 10:38

            Sparkly Seraph

          • Sir Rants A Lot Llew. Jelly!!!

            May 5, 2014 at 10:43

            Hahahahaha. UPVOTE

          • Kensei Seraph

            May 5, 2014 at 10:45

            No thanks.

            Although… I would bring back the age of the Samurai!
            Nothing sparkles while wearing this http://th03.deviantart.net/fs71/PRE/i/2009/358/5/b/Real_Samurai_Gusoku_Armor_03_by_ShotaKotake.jpg

          • Sir Rants A Lot Llew. Jelly!!!

            May 5, 2014 at 10:45

            Except your man badge. That would glint and gleen in the pure awesomeness of that Samurai armour

          • Admiral Chief in Space

            May 5, 2014 at 10:51

            Sparkly Seraph it is then

          • Kensei Seraph

            May 5, 2014 at 10:42

            Haha.

        • Jedi JJ

          May 5, 2014 at 10:29

          “story” *

          Reply

      • Dutch Matrix

        May 5, 2014 at 10:40

        I think the Bat-Minion protests too much about Twilight. Why don’t you come out of the closet and admit to the world you are not a Twi-Hard, but THE Twi-Hard

        Reply

        • Sir Rants A Lot Llew. Jelly!!!

          May 5, 2014 at 10:43

          naaaah. Already been hated on enough today when I said on Twitter that I think Adventure Time is stupid….

          Reply

          • Admiral Chief in Space

            May 5, 2014 at 10:51

            And you should feel bad

          • Sir Rants A Lot Llew. Jelly!!!

            May 5, 2014 at 10:54

            It’s my birthday and I can say what I want to.. say what I want to….

          • Admiral Chief in Space

            May 5, 2014 at 10:55

            Fine, but tomorrow you shall be CHASTISED!

          • Sir Rants A Lot Llew. Jelly!!!

            May 5, 2014 at 11:06

            lol

          • Kensei Seraph

            May 5, 2014 at 10:52

            Well if you troll in such an obvious manner then that is what you deserve.

          • Sir Rants A Lot Llew. Jelly!!!

            May 5, 2014 at 10:55

            I wasn’t trolling….

          • Kensei Seraph, Sparkly Samurai

            May 5, 2014 at 11:00

            Obviously.
            You’re more subtle than that.

          • Sir Rants A Lot Llew. Jelly!!!

            May 5, 2014 at 11:06

            Far more subtle yeah

          • Admiral Chief in Space

            May 5, 2014 at 10:56

            He has yet to see the light on that one Sparkles

    • Kensei Seraph

      May 5, 2014 at 10:28

      Is it really that bad?
      I’ve got it in my backlog and have been putting it off.

      Reply

      • Jedi JJ

        May 5, 2014 at 10:29

        Had it in my backlog. Decided to finally try it.
        Go watch Angry Joe’s review on it. Pretty much sums up the experience.

        Reply

  17. Rags

    May 5, 2014 at 10:29

    They play COD on a console. That should be haram.

    Reply

  18. Johan du Preez

    May 5, 2014 at 10:29

    So they ended team UK

    Reply

    • Sir Rants A Lot Llew. Jelly!!!

      May 5, 2014 at 10:30

      oooo ouch….

      Reply

    • Kensei Seraph

      May 5, 2014 at 10:31

      Nice.

      Reply

  19. InsanityFlea

    May 5, 2014 at 12:45

  20. Shady Shariest

    May 5, 2014 at 13:02

    Bah, don’t worry about the nationality… Even “Euro”gamer is 100% British. Nationality doesn’t matter in the internet age.

    Reply

  21. Tidycpc

    May 5, 2014 at 15:03

  22. MichaelMatusowsky

    May 5, 2014 at 19:38

    Reading the comments in the comments section. I’m ashamed to be apart of the SA Gaming Community because of the community and not what RiZe did. Considering the community is slating them for playing within the rules but maybe not within the spirit of the tournament. There was nothing wrong with the team from start to finish, just a pointless pitchforked mob crying foul against a team instead of an organisations rules that allowed them to do what they did.

    Reply

  23. Tjopper

    May 6, 2014 at 08:10

    OMW… Dbag alert !!!!

    Reply

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