news

한어Русский языкEnglishFrançaisIndonesianSanskrit日本語DeutschPortuguêsΕλληνικάespañolItalianoSuomalainenLatina

Cover News reporter Cai Shiqi

On August 19, EP Esports Club, which is about to travel to Hanoi to participate in the 2024 CFS World Championship, announced that team partner Ma Zhe (MZiN.EP) will replace free agent player Yan Kai (YZK.EP) to compete in the World Championships.

Unlike his "small addiction" return to the game during the CFPL Spring Tournament in March 2024, this player who has retired for more than three yearsCFThe number one player in e-sports will directly participate in the world championship as a main player this time.

Ma Zhe is the player who has won the most championships in CF e-sports

This legendary player, who won the first CFS World Championship for CNCF 11 years ago, has been secretly preparing for a long time to return to being a player from the team management position. In fact, the team had already made this decision before the start of the summer playoffs.

The team member had family problems and the naked world championships gave the veteran the confidence to come back

"This issue was discussed before the (CF) PL playoffs. Because one of our team players, YZK, had some personal matters at home, and he just needed this time to deal with them at this stage, that gave me this opportunity." When asked about the reason for his comeback, Ma Zhe directly stated that it was because a player on the team was unable to participate in the World Championships due to personal reasons that he decided to come back to help the team. This comeback had nothing to do with the EP team's highs and lows in the summer season.

Ma Zhe became a team manager after retiring

After discussing with the coach, Ma Zhe also communicated with the players on the team. Everyone agreed that there was no problem for him to return to the competition. Shortly after the end of the CFPL Summer League, Ma Zhe began training with the team.

The EP team believes that Ma Zhe's return will help the team. The veteran's experience in winning three CFS championships in the world championship is certainly one reason, but another important factor is that this World Championship also adopts the naked equipment rules, not the full equipment rules of the league, which is also the mode that Ma Zhe is more proficient in.

Since announcing his retirement at the end of 2020, Ma Zhe has transformed into a team manager. His main job has changed from training-competition to live broadcast-team management, and his overall pace of life has become much more relaxed.

But after deciding to return to the main force to participate in the World Championships, Ma Zhe had to speed up his life again, and insomnia followed. Ma Zhe told reporters that as a professional player, his mental state needs to be constantly tense, but he can play freely during live broadcasts. After returning to the training, he began to suffer from insomnia on the first night. He went to bed at 4 a.m. and had only a very shallow sleep after that. He woke up almost every hour, thinking about training or competition.

He also admitted that as he got older, it was a bit tiring to suddenly return to training and he might need to adapt to the intensity.

Returning to the game and training, adapting to the change of identity more quickly and not caring about the outside voice

Talking about the change of his identity, Ma Zhe said that he did not think he was a particularly qualified manager, but as a player, he was "quite qualified". As the player with the most championships in the history of CF e-sports, Ma Zhe is indeed an undisputed competent player.

Ma Zhe believes that he is "quite qualified" as a professional player

After returning to the players from management, Ma Zhe believes that his biggest challenge is that no matter how he rehabilitates, it is difficult to regain his former peak competitive state. At this stage, his goal is to try to adapt to the current EP team and find the best state he can currently achieve in high-intensity training. Ma Zhe replaced the position of the libero Yan Kai, and the team's tactics and command were also adjusted accordingly. He said that this new lineup is still in the process of running-in, and there will not be much change in the short term. He hopes to see the results of the training before the game starts.

After returning to the training, Ma Zhe also made some new discoveries. "If you are a manager and don't get along with them as a player, you won't be able to empathize with them in many things. After becoming a player, whether you are training with them or living with them, you can spend more time with them every day, so you can understand more about their thoughts, shortcomings and excellence outside of the game, and feel the good and the bad together." He said that this also helped his management work.

This time, he will face the challenge of international competitions in his official comeback, but Ma Zhe said that he does not feel any pressure, because his many years of professional career made him very clear about what he should do, and he does not care about the opinions of the outside world. "Because they all saw me when I was good, and now it may be mainly because I am getting older and my condition is not so good. My loyal fans will not blame me, and it does not matter what passers-by or other fans say." Ma Zhe said that he has already made all kinds of mental preparations.

Ma Zhe said whether he will continue playing professionally depends on his performance in the World Championships

Ma Zhe said in an interview that whether he will continue to compete as a player after the World Championships depends on his performance: "If I am really good, my coach and teammates will not let me go. If I am not good, they don't need to say anything, I will leave on my own."

The World Championships will be held from August 25th to September 1st. The three teams of Chengdu AG, BS and EP will represent the Chinese region, and Ma Zhe, the 34-year-old player, will complete a self-test in the competition.