xQc Defends Esports Journalist Slasher After Backlash Over Fissure Reports
Robert Paul for Blizzard EntertainmentOverwatch streamer Félix ‘xQc’ Lengyel has commented on the recent drama surrounding Baek ‘Fissure’ Chan-hyung’s place on the LA Gladiators and Rod ‘Slasher’ Breslau’s reporting on the situation.
Fissure became the subject of some controversy after it was announced that he would not be competing in the first series of the Gladiators’ quarter-final against the London Spitfire, a stunning decision considering his contribution to the Gladiators’ success over the regular season.
In the wake of the announcement, journalist Slasher reported on Twitter that Fissure’s absence was a result of his losing motivation due to his unhappiness in the team. Slasher also reported that Fissure wished to leave the Gladiators for an all-Korean squad ahead of Season Two.
Fissure responded to Slasher’s reports in a stream later, claiming that they were inaccurate, and that his absence was entirely performance-driven. Fissure did state, however, that he had talked to the Gladiators about his belief that building a team with a mutual fluent language would be a superior approach.
Public opinion inevitably swayed back and forth as information on the situation came out. The Gladiators faced criticism for their decision to bench Fissure initially, and then Fissure became the subject after Slasher’s reports. Fissure’s own statement contradicting the reports then shifted focus back onto Slasher.
The pattern is a common one in the world of esports insider reporting, with a minority of fickle fans often willing to heap vocal criticism on whichever party they like the least, regardless of the content and context of their statements. With the disparity in respective fan-bases, it’s often reporters who suffer the brunt of such criticism if their reports are contradicted by a popular player.
In this case, however, Slasher has a surprising defender in former Overwatch League pro xQc. xQc stated during a recent stream that, though he’s no fan of Slasher, he doesn’t like seeing the backlash when, according to xQc, Slasher’s reports in this instance were correct.