Just a couple of days removed from claiming the Malaysian National Championship, carry player Yin 'XXF_' Fong leaves the squad and the game. His new game: League of Legends.
Carry player Yin 'XXF_' Fong is leaving Heroes of Newerth and his successful team of Orange eSports. Last week he celebrated the Malaysian National Championship together with his teammates, now he is leaving to play League of Legends.
XXF_ has been a key member of Orange eSports for a very long time, a very successful time at that. With him Orange became the best team in the SEA region with two appearances in Jönköping, Sweden to participate in the DreamHack event. The biggest success there was a fourth place finish this winter, when the Malaysian team became the first SEA team to ever make it through the Group Stage at DreamHack. After that the team returned to their homeland of Malaysia to claim the biggest price pool in HoN history, when they conquered the "The Malaysian Heroes of Newerth National Championship". All those titles and wins got them the Honcast Award for "Best non-EU/NA team of the Year".
The parting star XXF_ shared his thoughts exclusively with GosuGamers.net.
They were probably the best memories of my life as a professional HoN player. Right especially after we got crowned the nation champion and for winning $300,000RM in the Malaysian HoN Championships! Also, for all the times we had together as a team through Dreamhack Summer and Winter of 2012, where I got to meet the other teams and learnt from them. I think being with Orange eSports has helped me grow as a person as well as a player.
Were you already sure to move to LoL before the TMHNC Finals Event?
No, I wasn't. I was still having thoughts about staying in HoN or moving on to another game. Moving on meant starting anew from something else. I felt like I needed a game to further push me and my potential as an individual. Don't get me wrong, HON is a great game and it was a very difficult decision for me to leave the team behind but I have decided for a new challenge for a new year.
What is the reasoning behind the change?
I started of initially being a LoL player in Malaysia and then switched to join HoN with Orange eSports. With that said, after winning one of the biggest prize pool in the Malaysian gaming history, I felt like I have hit a personal 'goal' of my own and it was time to return back to LoL and prove myself there as well. The Kuala Lumpur Hunters (KLH) were my friends before and I decided to go back to them as they were a great team and I am pretty certain we will carry on where we left off when I decided to leave to play HoN.
Do you already have a team in LoL?
Yes, I have as mentioned in the above, they are The Kuala Lumpur Hunters. I'm also buddies with Leon the team manager there!
Any final words for your HoN fans?
I would like to give shoutouts to the CEO of Orange eSports, Frank Ng, Guleng , Mingjie pewpewbang , Aidan , Donald , Adam , Epul , Swei , Little Charlie. To Mischa, thanks for looking out for us and for all the help we needed in Sweden! And to all the fans who have been supporting me since day one in Orange, I love you guys. To Garena, for so actively supporting the eSports growth in Asia, for all the wonderful tournaments that has been happening in HON. To the Orange HON team, thank you guys for giving me so much memories in HON. You will always be my brothers, I'm sure we will meet again soon!
Special thanks to Mischa for her help with translating the interview!
His future will be in League of Legends, but the rest of the roster will remain in Heroes of Newerth to continue their dominance in the SEA region. They will look for an adequate replacement in the next weeks, as new tournaments in South East Asia are about to start in the near future.
Orange eSports Roster:
Way 'MrGhost' Yoong
Yean 'wangwang_' Seong
Choong 'Shuiyu' Wah
Jung 'dabeliuteef' Liong