A friendly wave or a nasty diss? The community of Hearthstone is angry about an ambiguous gesture.
In the world of sports, small gestures can be seen as unsportsmanlike conduct – and the same holds true for eSports. This is what player Chang-Hyun Kim, better known as Cocosasa, has recently experienced.
Last weekend, the Summer Hearthstone Championships took place in Los Angeles. There, Cocosasa faced off against player Wang XinYu, alias BaiZe. For the most part, the match proceeded relatively uneventfully. But then Cocosasa brought out the legendary card Prophet Velen with his Priest and waved his right hand at the camera.
The commentators immediately asked: “Did he just say goodbye to her?”
What might seem like an innocuous gesture stands in stark contrast to the rest of the game. Prior to this, Cocosasa had completely ignored his opponent and put on a “poker face.”
With a wave to the sexist
Then what had to happen, happened: The community got angry and insulted Cocosasa for his unsportsmanlike behavior. There were calls for him to be banned from future tournaments. Others even viewed it as a sexist belittlement of BaiZe and claimed that he intentionally wanted to discourage women from making a name for themselves in this eSport.
Other streamers quickly jumped to Cocosasa’s defense, stating that one should not overreact and inflate a playful gesture into an act of sexism.
In Korea, some Hearthstone minions are waved at
Cocosasa apologized to BaiZe and the viewers at the beginning of the week, explaining that he always plays Hearthstone with “full body commitment,” which leads to such gestures. The wave was not intended as a “goodbye” for his opponent, but a “hello” acknowledging Prophet Velen.
It is quite common among streamers to “greet” legendary cards in this manner. Defenders came to his aid on Reddit, stating: “That is a Korean custom, the Velen-hi, to greet Velen.“
However, this incident also raises the intriguing question: What counts as unsportsmanlike conduct in a Hearthstone tournament? Is it permissible to provoke an opponent with such gestures to induce a mistake or moment of inattention? Or should one aim to play the match as emotionlessly as possible?
Cortyn says: You can really make a mountain out of a molehill. To me, this looks like a classic case of overzealous SJWs. It’s only a scandal if you want to see it that way. At worst, it’s a minor unsportsmanlike act that shouldn’t create such big waves. We are talking about a simple wave – and not about a raised middle finger or another obscene gesture. Especially with lively streamers who often keep their community entertained with gestures and movements, we should keep the ball flat.
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