Trick2G announced in his Twitch chat today that he will not be playing for his team during the Twitch Rivals tournament that he was rostered to participate in. Instead, he’ll be coaching the team while his place is taken by fellow midlaner Lee “Strompest” Seung-min.
The change, thankfully, has happy reasons behind it. Trick2G doesn’t want to dedicate himself to playing due to the upcoming birth of his child. His partner, Lilly, is scheduled to give birth on January 21st. Due to this time frame, Trick2G understandably doesn’t want to promise his time towards the tournament.
This isn’t the first change to come to Team Trick2G – although it’s decidedly for better reasons. Previously this week, we reported on Johnny “Swifte” Ngo, who took a very public and immediate exit from the tournament after being drafted by Trick2G. Other than some profanity-laced tweets that he later deleted, Swifte gave no reason for this departure other than dissatisfaction with his team, which many have linked to his laning partner being ranked lower than the average contestant was.
It doesn’t help that one of Swifte’s opponents-to-be, Yassuo, had previously chastised him on a public stream during a game that saw the two teamed up. Yassuo critiqued Swifte’s poor mentality and communication skills in a swift roast that quickly went viral in the gaming community. His exit, which saw him replaced by lolgeranimo, was inundated with the mocking jeers of the other streamers taking part in the tournament.
With two changes, some people may be wondering if Trick2G’s team is in the right mentality (or skillset) to compete in the Twitch Rivals tournament. However, looking closer at the pair of changes, both of them seem for the better.
In Trick’s case, it would certainly be best for your midlaner and team captain to be focused entirely on the match, rather than the upcoming birth of their child. In the case of Swifte, there was likely a collective sigh of relief among Team Trick2G when they realized they wouldn’t have to play with such a toxic personality.
Trick’s coaching role won’t be incredibly different from the role as team captain he already was placed in – after all, the team is literally named after him. He’ll be giving coaching advice before and after games, but there’s a good chance that he won’t actually be able to coach the players during the games themselves due to the birth of his child. This way, he can stay involved in the tournament without having to outright bow out.
