Buzz
LPL's gorgeous caster faces intense backlash when voting TheShy as MVP.
Recall, before the 2023 season officially kicked off, Weibo Gaming made daring transfer moves. They terminated contracts with a lineup of core players who had long been associated with the Suning brand, retaining only TheShy. Subsequently, WBG recruited a constellation of stars like Karsa, Xiaohu, Light, and Crisp to form a new 'Galactic Band' with ambitions in both brand and title.
However, the player who was expected to become a pillar alongside his teammates ended up being the weakest link despite the trust from WBG's leadership. In numerous matches, TheShy didn't perform up to par, becoming one of the reasons for WBG's struggles in the LPL Spring group stage.
As a result, WBG's fans are increasingly losing faith in the former 2018 Worlds champion, even when TheShy performs well. A notable example is the recent match against Team WE, where WBG clinched a thrilling 2-1 victory. Remarkably, TheShy had a fairly decent, if not excellent, performance. Consequently, he could have been selected as the MVP of the match. Indeed, he received one vote from female caster Hitomi.
The only drawback is that because of this vote, the female caster faced harsh criticism from a segment of the LPL audience. Many believe she understands nothing about the game, and some go as far as to say she's just a 'roaming flowerpot' or biased towards players from South Korea. The reason being, Hitomi previously expressed admiration for Viper (also a player from the LCK).
Explaining her choice, Hitomi said: 'I was torn between TheShy and Xiaohu. But I think TheShy played a crucial role in stopping Aphelios (from Hope) in decisive team fights. That's why I chose TheShy.' Of course, since only Hitomi thought so, the MVP ultimately went to Xiaohu with overwhelming votes. As for the female caster, she still faced criticism for her choice (which didn't affect the overall outcome).
In the match, Xiaohu's contributions were clearly greater, so there's no doubt about the MVP title for the former Royal Never Give Up star. However, perhaps a portion of LPL fans are a bit harsh, especially when MVP selections are often based on emotion and personal evaluation, leading to frequent controversies.
