Teams or players: who do you cheer for?

Teams or players: who do you cheer for?
Teams or players: who do you cheer for?
posted by NanaKrustofski,
While we all enjoy watching good Dota, games become even more exciting when you are cheering for your favourite team. But unlike in traditional sports, affinities are often connected to individual players rather than to a single organisation. When a player leaves their team, there is often the question: do you follow them and become fan of their new squad, or do you stick with the organisation?

Nigma / Liquid



After this year's TI, Kuro S. 'KuroKy' Takhasomi announced the departure of the entire roster from Team Liquid. Fans were excited for the new team, but a lot of people voiced their unhappiness. They followed the organisation for several years, eventually purchased merch and so on – and now the team broke up with their home.

When Liquid signed the old Alliance squad, people have been enraged: they don't stand behind this team, this is not their Liquid, there is only one team – a lot of hate and discontent came through. The worse their results got, the worse the feedback.

Things changed after the recent DreamLeague S13: EU Qualifier, where they dominated all their opponents, whereas Kuro's new Nigma experienced a total failure. Suddenly, some people claimed they thought they were fans of the legendary four around Kuro. But now they realised they were actually fans of the organisation itself.





Your fave leaves the team – what now?



As long as your favourite player is wearing the jersey you are used to see them in, everything is fine. You might have even bought that jersey yourself as a fan. But what do you do, when they leave the organisation? Do you follow them on their path, or do you stick with the organisation?

As an example: say your favorite team has always been Team Secret since its foundation. Your favorite player is Omar 'w33haa' Aliwi. In 2015, when w33 played for Secret, the constellation would have been perfect. Then he got kicked and since this event, it is incredibly hard to decide which side to pick. When Nigma fight against Secret, do you cheer for your favorite team, or for your favorite player?

Patriotism is not an option



For traditional sports, it is a common theme to simply become a fan of the team that is geographically close to you. If you live in Catalonia, you often just become fan of FC Barcelona. If you live in Los Angeles, you probably like the LA Lakers.

In Dota, regional proximity is not always a possible factor for choosing one's favourite team. CIS has representants such as Virtus.pro and Natus Vincere, Chinese fans have a lot of teams as an option as well. But if you are for example German, there is no specific team to cheer for. You have single players from your country, like Kuro S. 'KuroKy' Takhasomi or Adrian 'Fata' Trinks, but not a typical German team or organisation.



Photo credit: Valve

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