Not in NA Anymore: Interview with Former SGS Star and aL SG Frontman xEquivocaL

On Sunday, the two best teams in Singapore are going to play a best of three to see which team will represent the city-state at the Season 3 Southeast Asian Regional Finals. The first team is the Singapore Sentinels, the Garena sponsored professional squad that has stayed in second place in both splits of this season's Garena Pro League and has long been the representative of Singapore in international competition. The second team is Absolute Legends, which has grown to be a force in Southeast Asian play despite their semi-professional nature.

Earlier in the season, I interviewed the squad's manager, Nelson Sng, who saw his team getting to finals of the event, and that prediction has held true.  I interviewed the star player of the Absolute Legends squad, Baldwin 'xEquivocal' Sai, with only two weeks left in the season (including the championship match) to see his expectations for the event. 

First, I'd like to thank you for taking the time to do this interview.

xEquivocal: No problem.
 

So, let's start at the very beginning. When did you start playing League of Legends?

xEquivocal: I started playing League of Legends in January 2011.

Did you play Dota before you started playing LoL?

xEquivocal: Yeah, I played Dota competitively for almost a year before switching to LoL. 

Now you played for the Singapore Sentinels for the first GPL season. What compelled you to leave the Sentinels, and why was Absolute Legends your choice afterwards?

xEquivocal: I played the Support role for the Singapore Sentinels for the Sentinels for like seven to 8 months before ToFu [SGS's Top Laner] left for the military, and I got switched to top lane for two months which caused a lot more pressure on me for switching from Support to Top. I realized I can't really adapt to the top role for Season 2, although I mained the Top lane Season 1. For some games, I was actually pulling the team down and after the contract ended, I decided not to take so much pressure and leave the team.

I was actually intending to form my own team with one of my teammates now (xBeNw) which I had personally trained and found a lot of potential in. But we couldn't find any suitable player since most of them were already on a team. We decided to try out Absolute Legends since I could get the role I love the most (Mid Lane) and they were willing to put xBeNw in, [even though] he was a three-four month old in League of Legends when we joined aL. I found out that aL is the best team for us to join and players on the team are committed. I don't regret joining aL at all. 

Is there any bad blood between you and your former teammates on the Sentinels?

xEquivocal: Not at all, we are still friends and sometimes after a competition we go to dinner and talk a lot. 
 

You guys are doing quite well in the Legends Circuit [TLC] right now, and have only lost to Sentinels and Insidious Gaming's Outlaw squad with three games left to go. How happy are you with your team's performance this season?

xEquivocal: I am actually quite satisfied about our performance at TLC since are improving in individual and team play. There's a chance if we win these three games straight we can actually tie with the Singapore Sentinels.
 

Is it the top two Singapore teams that go to regionals, or do they play for the spot? I'm not quite aware and, to be perfectly honest, watching the Legends Circuit for an answer is a crapshoot. 

xEquivocal: The top two Singapore teams will be fighting a best-of-three for the spot to represent Singapore. They only stream two games, and not all of them are good. July 28th will be the best day for TLC, I guess. It will be the last match of aL vs SGS, after that will be the All-Star match, and then the best-of-three aL vs SGS for the top spot.
 

Which you are a captain for, correct? [about the All-Star match]

xEquivocal: Yeah
 

How does that feel?

xEquivocal: Feels good since I can actually pick the players I want. It will be a good match.
 

Any hints on who you're gonna pick?

xEquivocal: Actually we have already chosen our players.
 

Oh... you did? Well that's mildly embarassing, I apologize.

xEquivocal: Its fine. The rosters are: aL xEquivocal, SGS d4rkness, aL BeNw, Neo.iSg Valkyrie, SGS hyhy against SGS Chawy, SGS HarLeLuYaR, Neo.iSg CharM, Neo.iSg Swoop, TI Ly4ly4ly4.
 

So you guys made a switch at the beginning of the season, picking up Miss Valentine as your support over Mexi. How do you feel about the change?

xEquivocal: Miss Valentine is a very good support player and I would reckon her as the best female player in Singapore. The changes have made our gameplay, communication and map control even better since Miss Valentine actually gives calls sometimes.
 

Outside of Singapore, do you think your squad could compete with anyone in Southeast Asia.

xEquivocal: Yes, we also need to compete with all of the strong teams in Southeast Asia to improve and learn from them. We are currently halfway in a Hong Kong eSports tournament  and there are strong Taiwan teams such as AHQ and CGA. I am sure we can learn a lot through this tournament and improve and make our team even stronger.
 

Should we expect to see you at the SEA regionals?

xEquivocal: Chances are low, but I'm sure we'll do our best to get that spot.
 

Before I let you go, any shout-outs?

xEquivocal: Thanks for this interview, I would like to thank Absolute Legends, Logitech, and all the fans that had been supporting us!

Thank you again for the interview, Baldwin. After this interview, aL SG went on to go 2-0-3 in the Hong Kong eSports Tournament, losing to Taiwan's eSport Dragons Pro and XinSoul, and the Hong Kong L1ghtning. However, this Sunday, Singapore's Legends Circuit will reach its apex, with Absolute Legends playing the Sentinels for the spot in the Season 3 Regionals after the Singapore All-Star game. The festivities start at 3:00 AM EST/9:00 AM CET with the All-Star game, followed up by the national championship, and you can watch the game on Garena Singapore/Malaysia's Twitch channel. I wish Baldwin and the rest of Absolute Legends luck in their quest to reach Worlds.

This interview has been edited for style and punctuation, but not content. Anything that was not included in the interview was placed in brackets or would be annotated with an endnote.