Photo: Helena Kristiansson
Johan "Naniwa" Lucchesi was sent off the IEM stage with the loud disapproval from the Katowice crowd after forfeiting his Ro16 match after just one game. Naniwa cites "lack of soundproofing" as the reason for his forfeiture.
No stranger to controversial tournament behavior, Naniwa was bathed in boos after forfeiting IEM Katowice. The Swedish Protoss, who was the only foreigner in the $100,000 tournament, entered the booth for his Ro16 match against two-times WCS America champion Polt but the series lasted for only a couple of minutes.
After attempting to proxy gate and getting scouted, Naniwa typed "xD so fun to play without soundproofing" before GG'ing out of the game and subsequently tweeting there's "no point in playing".
no soundproofing at IEM, dont see any point in playing this but wahtever, im done with this after these games xD
— Johan Lucchesi (@NaNiwaSC2) March 14, 2014
Naniwa's problem was discussed with an IEM admin but a decision was not reached and so the Swede gifted a 3-0 walkover to Polt who automatically advanced to the Ro8 after playing the shortest Bo5 in his televised career.
ESL crew and established community figures were quick to comment on the forfeiture. IEM product director Kennigit tweeted that no other SC2 players has had soundproofing issues and that the same was true with the tangibly larger LoL crowd. TotalBiscuit and ex-EG player Stephano also condemned Naniwa's behavior.
I asked the LoL producers if they have a soundproof issue with a 6x bigger crowd: ''No''. No complaints from other SC2 players
— James Lampkin (@Kennigit) March 14, 2014
I was pretty friendly with Naniwa, I liked him a lot IRL, but I hope he retires now for good after this shameful display
— TotalBiscuit (@Totalbiscuit) March 14, 2014
I hope people finally understand why Naniwa is pure evil and just a massive shit and will share my hatred for him from now on.
— Stephano (@EG_Stephano) March 14, 2014
Naniwa's forfeiture comes mere days after the Alliance Protoss expressed his intention to take an indefinite break from StarCraft 2, having lost the motivation to play.
