LoL team owner gets “gumba stomped” after subbing himself into pro match

The owner of Serbian esports organization Zero Tenacity subbed himself into the starting squad for his team’s final game at EMEA Masters and got “gumba stomped.”

Zero Tenacity was 0-5 at EMEA Masters Spring before its owner Dimitrije ‘Hebihime’ Malesevic decided he wanted to play in their final match on April 20. The team lost handily against Los Heretics and ended the tournament winless. After the match, Hebihime took to social media to explain the loss and why he subbed himself in.

“Oof gumba stomped, I think we had the game in early-mid if we played it a bit better. Thanks for cheering for us this split guys,” the esports org owner said.

When asked for an update about the starting mid-laner’s status on the team, Hebihime said he subbed in to try to shot call and change the team atmosphere.

“What’s up, I’m a mid laner, I had to sub mid. I hate jungle(rs), bot lane is too hard. Dawid ‘Melonik’ Ślęczka is Melonik. Me stepping in, isn’t and has nothing to do with Emre ‘Kofte’ Akça,” he said.

He later reiterated his statement on a live stream, while also saying that the decision to sub himself into the lineup was made sometime ahead of their final match in the group stage.

The organization’s COO, Adrian ‘hatchy’ Widera, revealed the next day that the team went into the final game with a plan to win, but that the owner expressed a desire to play if the team went 0-5.

“It wasn’t our initiative to have Hebihime play, we didn’t think it was a good idea and we advised against it, but internally it’s not a subject of much discussion, argument, or disappointment,” he said.

LoL esports fans found the move silly and egotistical, pointing out that the Zero Tenacity starting mid laner had played every regular season, playoff and EMEA game before without issue.

This is not the first time an organization’s owner has had to take the reigns for one of their teams in a tournament. However, they are usually one-off scenarios like playing as a last-minute substitute when no other options are available or fulfilling a pro fantasy in a meaningless regular season match.