Photo: ESL
Johan "Naniwa" Luchessi has vacated his spot in the Swedish national team for the upcoming O'Gaming NationWars. The decision follows a community backlash that appeared after disagreements withing the team became publicly known.
A post on Aftonbladet.se talks about the birth of the drama which dates back when Sweden had to decide which five players will be up for voting to determine the roster for the upcoming NationWars. According to article's author Madeleine "Maddelisk" Leander, Fnatic Academy's Viktor "Miniraser" Malmberg was one of the five selected by Sweden's national team captain Wiktor "Wake" Hasselmark.
The following events saw the removal of Miniraser from the roster after Naniwa mentioned he wouldn't work well with Miniraser and it'd be better if Naniwa "didn't participate in the league if they would" (quote from Naniwa's TV6.se blog). Maddelisk's article and Naniwa's blog offer different statements as to whether or not Naniwa actually made a demand that Miniraser be removed from the poll but the end result was the same nonetheless: team's manager decided to take Naniwa's words into consideration and remove Miniraser from the team. Bischu was suggested in as substitute.
According to another renowned Swedish player - EG's Markus "Thorzain" Eklöf - he, too, has been removed on the same premise (Naniwa would not play if Thorzain's on the team) but his case has not been officially confirmed. The only places addressing Thorzain's case is Naniwa's TV6.se blog where he says Thorzain has not been responding to Wake's messages at all so he wasn't going to play either way.
Wake's comment on the situation appeared after shots were fired between Thorzain and Naniwa after the poll for the Swedish line-up was set live. Wake justifies his decision to agree with Naniwa as something every manager would do and says NationWars admins were OK with the trade (Miniraser out, Bischu in).
@FnaticMiniraser @NaNiwaSC2 Picking the best foreign player or miniraser, the choice was tough mang.
— mouzWake (@mouzWake) December 21, 2013
@FnaticMiniraser @NaNiwaSC2 I would like to hear one manager except your own that would have made a different pick.
— mouzWake (@mouzWake) December 21, 2013
Eventually, the debacle would end with Naniwa forfeiting his spot due to the negative response coming from the Swedish community combined with the fact that NationWars is not a tournament he prioritizes and is one that's not worth the stress.
"So basically as I am having contract negotiations with my team at the moment and I am practicing a lot I just didn't feel that it was worth all the stress it caused me to sit here and just receive all this crap from the Swedish community in an event I myself don't prioritize very big but the ONLY reason I did it was to help my country and play for the Swedish fans.
I am however sorry about how childish the discussion has gone and I will be more careful in the future about what I say in public."
There is no information yet as to who will replace Naniwa in the line-up. If tournament admins decide to go in order of vote percentages, it will be Bischu who'll replace the renowned Alliance Protoss.
