Kilala ang Malaysian esports organization na Geek Fam bilang isa sa pinakatanyag na Dota 2 teams sa Southeast Asia. Simula noong nabuo ito noong Nobyembre 2016, naging tahanan ito sa mga mahuhusay na manlalaro, katulad nina Marc Polo “Raven” Fausto, Carlo “Kuku” Palad, at Cheng “NothingToSay” Jin Xiang.
Ngunit noong ika-20 ng Setyembre ng nakaraang taon, namaalam ang Geek Fam sa kanilang Dota 2 roster. Ang pinakamalaking salarin ay ang COVID-19 na naging sanhi ng pagkaka-postpone ng 2020 Dota Pro Circuit at pagkaka-delay ng The International.
Sa kabila ng paglabas nila sa eksena, pinapanatili pa rin ng Geek Fam na buhay ang kanilang Dota 2 Facebook page para sa mga updates:
Isa sa mga dahilan kung bakit nananatiling close at supportive ang Geek Fam sa kanilang mga dating player ay ang founder nilang si Keat Lim na naniniwala sa pilosopiya ng pagiging isang pamilya.
“There is a phrase we use, ‘Once a geek, always a fam‘,” banggit ni Lim sa ONE Esports. “Our founding philosophy is that games are played by geeks and can connect people. People who don’t speak the same language, who come from different backgrounds, whether you’re rich or poor, whether we’re the same religion or not, we can all connect through a common passion — gaming. That’s our founding belief, that’s why it’s Geek and Fam. If you’re a geek, you’re part of the family.”
Hindi dito natatapos ang kanilang pagsuporta sa dati nilang manlalaro dahil madalas ay ka-chat pa rin niya ang mga ito upang magbigay ng mga advice.
“We have a WhatsApp group. We chat a fair bit on it,” bunyag ni Lim. “Especially on game days, where we help each other relax. We message each other quite a bit. Sometimes they come to me and talk about their problems and if I can, I help them. Sometimes we talk about drafts too. We talk about their current draft, or maybe they have doubts on the draft but they have difficulty speaking to the drafter and then they speak to me to be the intermediary instead.”
Sa loob ng halos dalawang buwan, lahat ng 12 dating player ng Geek Fam ay lilipad sa Bucharest, Romania para sa The International 10. Bagamat proud si Lim para sa kanilang lahat, mas close siya kina Chan “Oli~” Chon Kien, Ng “ChYuan” Kee Chyuan, at Thiay “JT-” Jun Wen.
“Not so much because they’re my favorites,” paliwanag niya, “but because they grew the most here. For these three, I know I had a big part to play in their trajectory. I am very close to Kuku and I like him a lot but I can’t say I had that much of an impact on his trajectory. He was already moving upwards.”
Dagdag nito: “With these three, I know if we didn’t meet, if Geek Fam didn’t exist, their chances of going to The International this year would be quite low. And they themselves said that to me.
At the Singapore Major after they did so well, and again when they came back to Malaysia and we had lunch together. At the time we took them in, they were considered unknown players with no experience. So it feels good to know I had a positive impact and was able to propel their careers forward into a different trajectory,” dagdag nito.
Ang mga unang taon ng Geek Fam
Nang balikan ni Lim ang mga araw na unang sumali sa koponan sina JT, Oli, at ChYuan, naalala niya kung gaano lang kaliit ang kanilang budget:
“In the past, we didn’t have a lot of money and our limited budget was an advantage actually. It forced us to think of ways to be very accurate with how to make the most out of it to win. I think a lot of teams, select players based on experience or achievements. This usually correlates to their abilities but not necessarily in my opinion.”
Dahil dito, nahasa ni Lim ang kanyang husay sa pag-spot ng talento para sa Geek Fam.
“When I’m looking at new players what I look for first and foremost, is hunger. Hunger is very important. The desire to win is very hard to teach. because that desire to win will help them overcome ego problems. So hunger to win is really the first thing,” kuwento niya.
Sa pag-arangkada ng The International 10 sa Oktube, maaasahan natin na susuportahan ni Lim ang kanyang mga manlalaro. Ang iba pa nga ay minsa’y nagme-message sa kanya para sa advice, or kahit pampalakas-loob lang mula sa dati nilang boss.
Para sa lahat ng mga naging miyembro ng Geek Fam, ito ang nais niyang iparating:
“For many of you, it’s your first [The International], you’re probably really nervous but just relax, and play. I think you guys are some of the best Dota players these days already, so who cares about name or reputation? You have the ability to be the best. And to all of you, all the best of luck.”
