Swifte withdraws from Twitch Rivals, unhappy with team draft

Twitch streamer and League of Legends challenger support player Johnny “Swifte” Ngo withdrew from the 2020 Twitch Rivals League of Legends NA Team Draft Showdown.

Twitch Rivals will see teams drafted by eight captains, all well-known personalities within the League community, fighting for a $75,000 prize pool. One of the team captains is Timothy “‘Trick2g” Foley, a streamer known for his amazing Udyr plays, and Swifte was one of the players he drafted for his team.

Unfortunately, having to play bot lane with diamond player “Horsey” wasn’t to Swifte’s liking, so Swifte withdrew from the tournament.

Soon after the draft happened, Swifte tweeted his withdrawal in a particularly rude way. After receiving a backlash from the community, Swifte answered with no remorse, showing that he thought lowly of the teammates he had been drafted with. He later seemed to have realized his mistake and has deleted the tweets, but not quickly enough to stop screenshots from circulating around the community.

Swifte says he couldn’t have fun with Trick2g Twitch Rivals team

A few Twitch streamers criticized his behavior, telling him his goal of becoming a pro player will never come to life if he can’t behave professionally even in a less serious tournament environment such as Twitch Rivals. When Julian “Tarzaned” Farokhian told him the purpose of the tournament should be to hav efun fun, Swifte stood by his point.

“I won’t have fun therefore I made the right decision,” Swifte replied to Tarzaned.

Despite the drama, Trick2g and the rest of the team didn’t give in. The captain picked up streamer “Geranimo” for the bot lane. Geranimo shared that he’s excited to play with the team, very much in contrast to what Swifte had to say.

The 2020 Twitch Rivals Team Draft will start on January 21. Eight teams will fight in two groups, with four teams advancing to playoffs. Besides the share of $75,000 prize pool, teams will also earn an additional $1,000 for every group stage win.