In the short time leading up to the Major open qualifiers, hyhy had to learn how to play the offlane role from scratch. It was a grueling process, and WFG bombed out in the first open qualifier, long before the round of 32. Fast forward to the second open qualifier, and things were looking up. They were in the semifinals facing a strong CDEC.A team, and potentially Newbee.Y after that. The first game was a simple domination. hyhy played Axe and, along with the rest of the team, closed the game out in 25 minutes. In the second game, things began to fall apart. WFG lost a 15k gold lead in a disappointing end to an hour long game. And the final blow was the sub20 minute loss in game three, the result of a disappointing Anti-Mage pick. It was reminiscent of TI1, where hyhy picked his signature Shadow Fiend against iceiceice’s advice and lost their knockout match. This time, it would be Anti-Mage that cost him his spot in the Major qualifiers.
Amidst pressure from the community for older players to retire, hyhy pushes on relentlessly. Like so many others, he remains hungry for the championship that has remained just that tiny bit out of reach. Haunted by what could have been, he plays on despite being on a team with one of the worst win rates. Nevertheless, every cloud is bordered by a silver lining. In the past few days, White Fries Gaming have been crushing their way through the StarLadder Chinese qualifiers. In their quest for success, they show no signs of stopping, and I for one wish them nothing but the best.
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