On Saturday November 14th the MSSA-elected “South African” League of Legends team took on Israel in a showmatch. The match ended in a 39-25, 38 minute victory for Israel, but the question on our minds is who is this team South Africa? I have no doubt that this IS the best team fielded by the MSSA, but that’s not a question of talent, but rather a question of participation.
We’re all well aware that many top teams and organizations choose not to partake in the MSSA National Team trials (both regional and national), but is this the underlying problem here? Or do we have to go deeper?
Who is the South African LoL team?
I must preface this by stating that I have absolutely no problem with the team as a whole. A large majority of the players placed third (now second) at the DGC championships, so they may be a team worth fielding, but are by no means the best. The response from the South Africa League of Legends community seemed a bit more welcoming compared to their announcements regarding CS:GO and Dota 2 in the past. There’s also the question of how they match up internationally. The only possible way to showcase this is looking at their ranks, and the ranks of the Israeli team, but this is not a true measure of their potential, but rather a metric to discuss. The League of Legends ranks are distrubted as following:
- Unranked
- Bronze
- Silver
- Gold
- Platinum
- Diamond
- Master
- Challenger
Each division is ranked from (V – I, Lowest to highest)
- V
- IV
- III
- II
- I
For clarification, most professionals are Challenger, which places you amongst the best in the world.
Team South Africa
- Maryke ‘Ykie’ Kennard (Platinum V)
- Taylor ‘elis’ Rose (Platinum V)
- Matthew ‘Feno’ Smith (Platinum III)
- Vasudev ‘Paga’ Stringer (Diamond V)
- Cameron ‘SexyB’ Tilley (Diamond V)
Team Israel
These were the details given to us by the MSSA in their press release:
- Tal “Shockwave” Saar (Platinum V)
- Amit “Mitamut” Mizrachi (Gold I)
- Eden “MinSc V2” Ben Avi (Master I)
- Nir “Xrangel” Shemri (Diamond IV)
- Ron “Crack” Gal (Platinum I)
The lolking logs, and stream, confirm these are the players who took part in the friendly:
- xReles (Gold I)
- BiTON (Diamond IV)
- Toxic Game (Diamond V)
- Slaying Teemo (Diamond IV)
- MinnnSC (Diamond II)
The reason for this is due to the players needing to use accounts on the server which suited the South Africans, but as you can see from above the team, on paper, are a bit better than South Africa and while the game seemed to be close at times, the best team won. The VOD of the game is available if you’d like to watch.
Conclusion
The reason I put it as “South Africa” is because we’re still at a stage where a lot of our top teams are boycotting the MSSA as an organization, so while this may not be our best representation as a country, it is the best we were offered from the trials. There’s also the current situation residing between the MSSA and SASCOC, which will be an entire article in its own, but for now all we can do is congratulate the team on their efforts and wish them a bright future.
Last Updated: November 17, 2015
oVg
November 17, 2015 at 15:01
Does that kid use Tress FX?
Grand Admiral Chief SpaceNinja
November 17, 2015 at 15:20
I see you very neutrally went for the androgynous comment
oVg
November 17, 2015 at 15:27
I was talking about the hair physics in Dota. You can see he uses Timotei.
oVg
November 17, 2015 at 15:29
RinceThis
November 17, 2015 at 15:31
And now… Remember kids, this is what you have to look forward to… 0_O
oVg
November 17, 2015 at 15:32
Not bad.
RinceThis
November 17, 2015 at 15:33
Well, it looks like the expression on most peoples faces when you’ve been talking shit for hours *runs
oVg
November 17, 2015 at 15:38
Is that all you got, lame… RUN warm water to set the conditioner.
RinceThis
November 17, 2015 at 15:45
you’re lame!
Alien Emperor Trevor
November 17, 2015 at 15:52
Kids these days…
RinceThis
November 17, 2015 at 15:54
Shut up, granddad!
oVg
November 17, 2015 at 15:56
Nothing grand about it.
RinceThis
November 17, 2015 at 16:12
lol
Grand Admiral Chief SpaceNinja
November 17, 2015 at 15:41
Right over you, this comment went
oVg
November 17, 2015 at 15:43
???
Hammersteyn
November 17, 2015 at 15:07
People boycott MSSA?
http://eslgfx.net/gfx/logos/teams/8153000/8153102_medium.jpg
oVg
November 17, 2015 at 15:14
Never heard of them.
Guild
November 17, 2015 at 15:18
You don’t know the Southern Barbarians story?
Hammersteyn
November 17, 2015 at 15:21
It’s a fantastic story.
Grand Admiral Chief SpaceNinja
November 17, 2015 at 15:22
😀
oVg
November 17, 2015 at 15:31
I never got the DLC.
Hammersteyn
November 17, 2015 at 15:42
They were barred from using the SA flag and were told they can’t represent South Africa because fuck MSSA. So they name themselves The Southern Barbarians went to Europe and came first in an International competition against other European countries.
http://www.lazygamer.net/esports/southern-barbarians-make-south-africans-proud/
oVg
November 17, 2015 at 15:47
In other words there was nothing in it for the ANC.
RUNS
for president
RinceThis
November 17, 2015 at 15:47
Votes, for OvG!
oVg
November 17, 2015 at 15:48
Remember, my party comes before the Country… cause IM BOSS BITCHES…
and ill give you a free flag.
Hammersteyn
November 17, 2015 at 15:50
LOL!!!
RinceThis
November 17, 2015 at 15:47
Shhhh! Don’t start this again 😛
Hammersteyn
November 17, 2015 at 15:50
It’s history now. Sweet and Sour history
Bob of the Khundelar
November 17, 2015 at 15:23
“most professionals are Challenger” and our best (MSSA) ranked lowest division Diamond. Do people still complain about RSA representation in international competitions? Is that a thing?
RinceThis
November 17, 2015 at 15:29
That 4DTV thing starts automatically, heck is this, bandwidth Twilight Zone?!
miaau
November 17, 2015 at 16:36
Yeah,did not enjoy that, thanks.
RinceThis
November 17, 2015 at 15:50
Lol, CongoKyle must have pulled the ‘hasn’t been in shit with them yet’ straw *tehehe