Oh, to be an unwanted Banana. Ripe for challenges but turned down by others.
Ahead of its first major League of Legends: Wild Rift tournament, the newly-formed Singaporean team named after a common fruit found scrims rare as no one took them seriously.
“All the good teams would reject us,” said Dragon laner Adam “TaiLeS” Goh. “They won’t even reply after hearing our name, so we could only find non-pro teams (for practice).”
But underneath that soft, yellow skin was a battle-hardened squad ready for an explosive debut. The self-confessed “for fun” team clinched the runners-up spot at the Southeast Asia (SEA) Icon Series 2021: Fall – Singapore, which propelled them to the SEA Championship Play-Ins that begin from today till Sunday (Sept 14).
The power of 5
People now sit up when they hear the name Banana. After all, this bunch came out of nowhere to claim a game against Alliance in the Icon Series finals, which ended 3-1 to the Swedish organisation.
In fact, Banana only lost two matches in the tournament – both to Alliance. What’s more amazing is that they were all adapting to each other’s styles on the go.
Banana comprises 5 former pro League of Legends players: TaiLeS, Support Jervis “ScarletPetal” Lam, Jungler Tan “Vendetta” Yee Khai, Mid Shawn “Soul” Lim and Baron laner Wong “iNitrogen” Jing Kai.
“A lot of our learning and growth came from playing in the Icon Series (due to the lack of scrims),” said TaiLeS, 24. “We usually try our best and take each game as it comes.”
Having only formed in July, they knew they needed time to gel, but individual skills and a small slice of luck could make up for it during the Icon Series. According to them, 2nd place was a formality. They weren’t wrong.
Losing to Alliance wasn’t all that bad though. For TaiLeS, it proved that the gap between the next tier can be closed with proper training.
“We expected to get stomped, but after taking a game off them, we feel that we can definitely aspire to reach their level,” said the business management undergraduate at Singapore Management University. “It was definitely easier to find scrims after, as pro teams around the region started to approach us.”
The underdog role
And now, the big one. The SEA Championships is where giants come out to play. Banana want to make them slip.
It is a tough task, considering 3 out of 5 members are conscripted, including ScarletPetal who had to beg his commanders for time off. He will still miss one of the days and will require a sub.
“It’ll be a miracle to make it to the group stage,” admitted TaiLeS, adding that they only had time for 4 scrims a week due to studies and army commitments, while others could play 4 times a day.
“We will be heavily underestimated by most, if not all, of the teams because Impunity had a poor performance in June’s Summer Super Cup and we are seen as the next Impunity.”
Banana are on the lookout for the dangerous Vietnamese and Thai teams. But they retain a fair amount of self-belief. With minimal preparation, they choose to rely on their strong foundation to take on some of the best in the world.
On their chances, TaiLeS said: “Most of us are superior in mechanics compared to many teams in the Icon Series and our losses are mainly due to (weaker) team play. If we’re able to pull through, it will be through our solid individual play.”
Banana will play against Hong Kong’s QWQ on September 15.
