Axiom Statement

Click here to listen to our official statement regarding CranK joining Axiom and the recent accusations brought forth by SlayerS:

http://tindeck.com/listen/ifxl

Written copy :-

Ladies and gentlemen, my name is TotalBiscuit, sponsor and spokesperson for Axiom eSports, and I'm here to provide a statement from our team in regards to the recent Slayers drama and accusations from Jessica leveled at our player Crank. I will be providing a translated statement from Crank, which address all of the issues he wishes to discuss, after which I will provide Axiom's perspective on the whole ordeal. I apologise for the recording quality, I am currently sitting in the middle of a hotel room in Vegas, not exactly the ideal recording environment.

Okay, so this statement was translated for us, and accurately reflects the thoughts of Crank at this time on several matters, so I'm quoting this verbatim.

There are two things I wish to address and clarify. Firstly the accusation that I lied to the team about wanting to join a foreign team for money, and secondly, that I disrespected Boxer on the phone. In refuting the first accusation I want to explain I felt for a while that Jessica, Boxer and coach Cella were not taking proper care of the team, in terms of motivation, practice routines, house atmosphere, etcetera. For many months I requested that we receive better care from the management, and although they always said they would, nothing seemed to change. Boxer came to the house to be with us, but still nothing changed. Instead of providing the support that the team needed, Boxer often sat around and did other things that were not in relation to us. His focus was not on the team, or Starcraft 2. That's why I asked to go home, and leave the team, because nothing seemed to change for the better. Regarding this, I've talked to Boxer about it privately, and Boxer said, in that conversation, that he admits, and recognises, his fault. I made it a point to tell him that it was not about the money, or about going to a better team, because I did not want any misunderstandings when I left. But Jessica continually would not recognise her own mistakes, and made me out to be the bad guy who abandoned the team to survive on his own. Once I left the team , and went back home, I realised how alone I was. I had no team, and was only a Code B player with nothing to brag about. On top of that, I was an old, Korean age 24, player living at home. As a man who has already finished his military service, I could not ask my family for much monetary support. It was a humbling challenge for me to be back there. Because of this, I started streaming, but since my career wasn't that great I only made about one hundred and fifty to two hundred thousand wan a month, which is about the equivalent of one hundred and forty to one hundred and eighty five dollars. That is what prompted me to look for a team that could provide me with a good gaming environment so that I could better myself. It was never my intention to search for a team with lots of money.

In response to the second accusation, my response is that during my last phone call with Jessica we got into a screaming match. No matter what I said, she refused to listen, saying 'no matter what you say, I will not listen to you, you are a liar who left the team.' I urged her to resolve this matter over the phone, but her mind was made up. I kept on trying to talk with her, but it was in vain. Then Boxer got on the phone. He explained that, according to him, from the perspective of the team and himself, I was the cause of all the internal issues, including the MMA, Ryung and Alicia ones. I questioned this statement. I asked him 'don't you remember all the times I said let's change things and let's work harder, why do you think I am the cause.' After I reminded him of our past conversations, he finally said that he understood where I was coming from, but from the view of the team, that's just the way it had to be. He said 'I recognise that you tried your best to change things, but there's nothing I can do from the perspective of the team. I also accept responsibility that I did wrong too, but it would have been better if you didn't leave the team on such a bad note. After all this, we can set up a separate meeting and reconcile you and Jessica.' I broke down crying due to frustration. It is true that I had very angry emotions that I couldn't hold back any more regarding Jessica, and it is wrong of me that I fought with, and screamed at, an adult. But when I was on the phone with Boxer, I did not yell. I was crying because I felt really wronged by all of this. Even if Jessica recorded the call, I wouldn't be embarrassed by any of it, even if it went out in the open. All in all, I feel like all the problems needed a scapegoat, and since I was the first one to leave the team, I became that scapegoat. I am not writing this to cause any more trouble, or to say that I did nothing wrong. I just want to clear up my name, and clarify what happened.

That concludes Crank's statement, translated into English. You can expect additional information to come out over the next couple of days in interviews conducted in Korean.

Axiom eSports does not currently represent the interests of MMA, ergo we will not be discussing his situation at this time. Now, let me talk about things from Axiom's perspective. So, Axiom entered into a contract with Crank after we had established a relationship of trust. That relationship hasn't changed. We are not learning anything new that we did not already know prior to signing Crank to the team. Crank has our complete and total support, and unwavering trust at this time. Axiom understand his motivations and the actions he took involving Slayers, Jessica and Boxer, and believes he took the correct action, given the circumstances. We also believe that motivation is key to any professional gamer, and it's not surprising that he felt he did not want to carry on due to the situation with Slayers. When we brought Crank to MLG we did not bring a broken, disheartened player to a tournament. We brought a player with a renewed will to fight, an enthusiasm rekindled by community support, and a consummate professional who had rediscovered his passion for Starcraft. Differents player thrive in different environments, and each has individual needs. We hope to be able to support Crank and ensure his continuing success. Axiom is about, more than anything, new beginnings for its members, a blank sheet upon which they can write a new chapter in their career, secure in the knowledge that they are on a team that has their back one hundred percent of the time and will be in their corner when they need us the most. We do not throw our players under the bus. We trust our players, just as they trust us, and we will not be taking any action against Crank because we do not believe he did anything wrong to begin with. Axiom has nothing but respect for Boxer, Jessica, and the achievements of Slayers, but, nobody is perfect. Mistakes were made on all sides, and we only hope to learn from those errors to create a better environment for our players so we may one day hope to equal the achievements of Slayers and other Korean teams. The reality of the situation is that when you own an eSports team you have a certain amount of responsibility. If you are involved in the staff, if you are involved in the management or ownership of the team in any way, then responsibility for the problems, failures, and of course successes of the team lie upon your shoulders. This is the case with every team, whether it be a foreign team or a Korean team. It is my opinion, as a representative of Axiom, that when looking at the reasons for failure, one should always start at the top, not at the bottom. There appears to be a great deal of blame being placed upon the players, and yet no questions are being asked as to why a professionally owned and operated team imploded so completely. It is very easy to blame the ESF situation for the downfall of Slayers, and there is no question that coach Won was in the wrong in instigating this particular incident, not to mention the fact that he himself accepted responsibility, and resigned from his position as head of the ESF. However, it was not merely this external factor that caused the collapse of the team, and I hope that we will find out more about the situation as more investigation is done. I find it very hard to believe that even if all the accusations towards the players were true, that a handful of players could bring down such a large and successful team on their own, and that the team management was not capable of doing anything to stop it. My name has been TotalBiscuit, thank you for listening.

Last edit: 2012-10-22 04:14:39

Host of I Suck at Starcraft 2 and SHOUTcraft - http://www.youtube.com/totalbiscuit

Endymion United States. October 21 2012 19:14. Posts 2477

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totalbiscuit is sexy and i love him.
that is all.

It left us speechless, quite speechless I tell you, and we have not stopped talking of it since.

goswser United States. October 21 2012 19:27. Posts 3422

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Totalbiscuit is a sexy beast.

say you were born into a jungle indian tribe where food was scarce...would you run around from teepee to teepee stealing meat scraps after a day lazying around doing nothing except warming urself by a fire that you didn't even make yourself? -rekrul

memcpy United States. October 21 2012 19:39. Posts 442

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Thank you for doing this. Really clears up the whole situation, at least from Crank's perspective.

GolemMadness Canada. October 21 2012 19:39. Posts 4876

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I look forward to seeing if there's any response to this. O_O

Apom France. October 21 2012 19:43. Posts 552

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Thanks for the statement TB. Plausible answers from Crank (and I believe them to be true), and blame where it should be on Slayers' fall.

LittLeD Sweden. October 21 2012 19:47. Posts 7396

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Handled professionally. Great job TB.

Lonyo Guernsey. October 21 2012 19:53. Posts 2010

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Any chance of a written statement or summary from anyone?

HOLY CHECK!

Forgottenfrog United States. October 21 2012 19:56. Posts 1015

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I am glad that Crank found a team. Jessica is dramatic and she seem to blame everyone but herself for the all the problems. I agree the ESF played a part in it along with Manager J but I hate how Jessica is attacking the players. She thinks everyone plotting against her but don't realize that people are leaving because of her nasty attitude and how she deals with thing. I hope everyone in Slayers find a team and not be brought down by all of this drama.

shark. October 21 2012 20:26. Posts 131

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Well done TB.

Shana Indonesia. October 21 2012 20:37. Posts 1260

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You sound sexy but unfortunately I barely understand what you said

Is there no written statement?

Believing in what lies ahead. | That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet.

BlitchizSC2 United States. October 21 2012 20:46. Posts 287

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Love the clarity. TB you are a sexy beast.

www.twitch.tv/blitchizsc2 | http://www.youtube.com/BlitchizStarcraft ~ fighting!

Weirdkid Singapore. October 21 2012 20:49. Posts 2110

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Poor Crank

I never really followed him but he sounds so sad

Last edit: 2012-10-21 20:49:43

"Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest you be like him yourself." - Proverbs 26:4

Thalandros Netherlands. October 21 2012 20:53. Posts 228

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Thanks for putting this out there, and with your amazing voice! =D I hope more gets cleared up over the next couple of days so we can safely ''put the blame'' on certain ends and start hoping for the players to get a good team.

Definate LGIM.NesTea, Ax.CranK and StarTale.Life fan!

kanchome October 21 2012 20:55. Posts 11

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After much contemplation, I've changed my matter and stance. Sometimes in life we go through situations where life deals us a set of cards that are unwinnable. What he said to Boxer is something only someone who simply broke down who gave up his future life in anything else did for a chance in progaming. Yes, what he said was something that never should have been said, but these words were the words of someone who broke down mentally from all the hardship.

Crank's already suffered enough, without western esport supporters to add more fuel to the fire. Chances are no matter what occurs, koreans are going to look at this negatively, but we as western viewers are in a position to see outside the hypocrisy of the situation. ESF bullied Team Slayers (regardless of whether it was slayers fault), now Jessica and Co are bullying Crank (regardless of whether it was Crank's fault). There's no need for all this online bullying, especially when it's one young man's entire life at stake here.

At this point in time the damage has been done, but it doesn't need to go any further. In the words of Mahatma Gandhi, an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.

I'll support Axiom and Crank. TB if you can pass on a message to him, please tell him that what separates champions and losers is the fact that champions learn from their mistakes and overcome hardships others fail to overcome.
Hope he can start a new chapter in his career after all this.

Last edit: 2012-10-21 20:56:49

EtherealDeath United States. October 21 2012 20:55. Posts 8152

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On October 21 2012 20:37 Shana wrote:
You sound sexy but unfortunately I barely understand what you said

Is there no written statement?

Well he's quoting it verbatim so I'm sure he has a written version.

SC2: Kasu.767 ////////// Dota 2: 1a2a3a

NesquiKGG October 21 2012 20:56. Posts 100

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Wow .. great job TB ! and i feel a lil bit sad for Crank

.... From now on he has my Support !! GOGO CRANK!!!

I cheated on my fears, broke up with my doubts, got engaged to my faith and now I'm marrying my dreams.

megacrack Australia. October 21 2012 21:06. Posts 90

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jessica wrote something on playxp http://www.playxp.com/sc2/bbs/view.php?article_id=4202897

Integra Sweden. October 21 2012 21:10. Posts 4915

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On October 21 2012 21:06 megacrack wrote:
jessica wrote something on playxp http://www.playxp.com/sc2/bbs/view.php?article_id=4202897

And Total Biscuit, you might wanna think twice if you decide to respond to this, let's be honest, Jessica has been a walking drama machine ever since she joined the slayers team. Don't let her troll you TB! Leave her alone and don't respond to it.

Last edit: 2012-10-21 21:10:26

"Dark Pleasure"

MVTaylor United Kingdom. October 21 2012 21:21. Posts 2773

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Courtesy of Sandvicerate on Reddit.

"Ladies and gentlemen, my name is TotalBiscuit, sponsor and spokesperson for Axiom eSports, and I'm here to provide a statement from our team in regards to the recent Slayers drama and accusations from Jessica leveled at our player Crank. I will be providing a translated statement from Crank, which address all of the issues he wishes to discuss, after which I will provide Axiom's perspective on the whole ordeal. I apologise for the recording quality, I am currently sitting in the middle of a hotel room in Vegas, not exactly the ideal recording environment.

Okay, so this statement was translated for us, and accurately reflects the thoughts of Crank at this time on several matters, so I'm quoting this verbatim.

There are two things I wish to address and clarify. Firstly the accusation that I lied to the team about wanting to join a foreign team for money, and secondly, that I disrespected Boxer on the phone. In refuting the first accusation I want to explain I felt for a while that Jessica, Boxer and coach Cella were not taking proper care of the team, in terms of motivation, practice routines, house atmosphere, etcetera. For many months I requested that we receive better care from the management, and although they always said they would, nothing seemed to change. Boxer came to the house to be with us, but still nothing changed. Instead of providing the support that the team needed, Boxer often sat around and did other things that were not in relation to us. His focus was not on the team, or Starcraft 2. That's why I asked to go home, and leave the team, because nothing seemed to change for the better. Regarding this, I've talked to Boxer about it privately, and Boxer said, in that conversation, that he admits, and recognises, his fault. I made it a point to tell him that it was not about the money, or about going to a better team, because I did not want any misunderstandings when I left. But Jessica continually would not recognise her own mistakes, and made me out to be the bad guy who abandoned the team to survive on his own. Once I left the team , and went back home, I realised how alone I was. I had no team, and was only a Code B player with nothing to brag about. On top of that, I was an old, Korean age 24, player living at home. As a man who has already finished his military service, I could not ask my family for much monetary support. It was a humbling challenge for me to be back there. Because of this, I started streaming, but since my career wasn't that great I only made about one hundred and fifty to two hundred thousand wan a month, which is about the equivalent of one hundred and forty to one hundred and eighty five dollars. That is what prompted me to look for a team that could provide me with a good gaming environment so that I could better myself. It was never my intention to search for a team with lots of money."

Last edit: 2012-10-21 21:21:21

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