CMX: "We all have learned our lesson"
After what has been called a "strategic match throwing", Dust2.us has spoken to the young gun of the FakeOut Nation squad to discuss what happened in the Bravado vs FakeOut Nation game that transpired only a few short days ago.
Chris "CMX" Moe, one of the five recipients of a 140-day ban from ESEA, got out his thoughts on how their season played out as a whole, how the throw went down, and who he believes will take home the championship.
First off, who are you? Let's hear a little background on yourself, what's your CS career looking like so far?
I'm Chris "CMX" Moe, I'm 16 years old. My most notable accomplishment is winning Mad City 3 along with 1motm, oSee, Snakes, and Voltage. I played Main playoffs last season with Legacy of JeNume (11-5) but unfortunately went out first round. This has been a successful season, our final record being 12-4.
So you go 12-4 this season, now under the FakeOut Nation brand, how do you feel the season went for you guys, aside from such a decent record?
As a team the season started a bit rough. After our first game, I and the FakeOut Nation guys parted ways which then I teamed up with Guaranteed Raw for 3 matches then ended up rejoining FakeOut Nation with Amazed being replaced with me.
After that hurdle, the team of me, Lowrider, Quick, Reality, Exotic have been almost perfect from that point. We ended up choking our second to last game vs CLG Red in overtime, then of course losing to Bravado which placed us at a 12-4 record.
In that final game against Bravado, every one following this level of play, has heard of your match fix. You've all received a 140 day ban from ESEA, and you're out of the playoff picture. How did this situation come about in the first place?
We were trying to avoid Bravado in playoffs. Bravado is a professional team from South Africa and they have a long track record of beating top teams in best of 3s. So in the controversial match we were aiming for the #7 seed which was not going to be in Bravado's bracket.
We ended up getting the 14 rounds we needed with ease and the scoreline was 14-4. We just simply stopped trying after we got the 14 rounds which we needed. So we threw the game from that point on and lost the game 14-16.
How long was this throw in the works?
Our throw was in no way at ALL comparable to the iBUYPOWER throw. The iBUYPOWER throw was done and planned out for a long time beforehand and they threw their game for lots of money. Our throw was simply done for seeding purposes. we simply crunched the numbers, the night before, of rounds that we needed to get and got them. There is no other deep inner workings of this.
The throw was actually really drawn out. You guys were up 14-4 before the throw began. To play against the very team you were trying to avoid, and to be beating them so handedly, what was going through your heads?
When it was 14-4 we were like, wow these guys actually aren't very good we should just beat them here and tough them out in playoffs. But we all felt like they weren't trying their hardest during the match, and that they would give playoffs their 100% so we went with the safest route possible. I mean even when we were throwing I managed to double bizon entry at B site solo so I don't think they were really trying too hard.
You guys are out of playoffs, and the ban is extended even into next season. I've heard you have appealed these bans to ESEA. Do you think they'll do anything for you?
We sincerely hope they reduce our bans. We all have learned our lesson and have been removed from playoffs. However the 140 day ban that they handed out covers all of next season as well. Which is way out of proportion, in our opinion.
We have had an overwhelming amount of support from the community through a reddit post which the 2 top comments had over 500 upvotes that said we did nothing wrong and it was a strategic move. We also had support from Richard Lewis and Thorin during one of their shows and they talked about our situation and how if a system favored up losing the game than winning it something was wrong with the system, not us.
Funnily enough, you mentioned that you played for Legacy of JeNume last season, and they're actually the team who got into playoffs at the #32 seed because of the ban! Are you still secretly playing for them?!
Ha! No, or that would be ban evasion and I'm trying to come back to make a name for myself. However my boy big_beetle better show Bravado whats up. Get some revenge for your boy.
If you guys won't be participating, who do you hope goes on to win it all? Your old team?
I would love for The Legacy of JeNume to win it but I don't think thats going to happen. I can see Nurfed's squad Big Frames possibly doing work. I also think Quickhands has a very good lineup with ShoT_UP and MarkE on it and think they have a chance. But of course I'm going to have to go with Bravado to win it all.
After it's all said and done, CMX still believes that Bravado will walk away with Main's Season 27 title and $3,000. While he sits on the sidelines, the show must go on.
Main playoffs will begin on April 2nd.
