The Controversial Choice Made by the Owner of Zero Tenacity at the EMEA Masters 2024 Spring
On the 20th of April, the owner of a League of Legends club that was competing in the EMEA Masters 2024 Spring stepped in to fill in for himself, and the results were as disastrous as you could possibly imagine.
Zero Tenacity, a League team from Polish Ultraliga, were 0-5 down in their group at EMEA Masters. After realizing that there was no possibility of advancement, Dimitrije “Hebihime” Malesevic, the owner of the organization, made the decision to sub himself in the middle lane. Z10 lost to Los Heretics in their final game while the 26-year-old was in charge of the position, and they finished with a record of 0-6 in their group.
Immediately after the “gumba stomped” loss, Hebihime responded to comments made by fans on X (which was formerly known as Twitter) and gave his thoughts on the matter. He clarified that Emre “Kofte” Akca’s play in the midfield had no bearing on the decision in any way. I am a mid laner, but I had to become a sub mid. I despise junglers; bot lane is too challenging for me. There is no other melonik. Me stepping in isn’t and has nothing to do with Kofte,” he wrote.
Adrian “hatchy” Widera, THE chief operating officer and sports director for Zero Tenacity, addressed the situation on X. “Hebi informed us at some point that he would like to play the sixth game if we were to finish with a record of 0-5… I informed him that I am opposed to it for a variety of reasons, and that we should not proceed with it. In the end, it was his decision to make, but I wanted to emphasize that it was not anything that came from us [the team],” this individual wrote.
The decision made by the owner of the organization was deemed by fans of the league to be both weird and terrible. I do not know what to say about that behavior. Honestly absurd, he is allowed to just bench the guy who has played the entire split + playoff, put in all the work to reach EMEA Masters and just decides to go ‘fuck this dude, let me play,’” a fan on Reddit wrote.
The show, however, must continue. Beginning on Monday, April 22, the quarterfinals of the EMEA Masters 2024 Spring tournament will begin.