Is one week enough to fix the Malaysian third seed’s holes in their gameplay?
Alpha Gaming was hit by a reality check last week in KIC 2025 as they fell to the lower bracket after facing Malaysia’s first seed, Nova Esports. They took the loss quite heavily, and their disappointment was palpable even after the match ended.
“We faced a tough opponent, and honestly the loss was mostly on us,” said Alpha Gaming’s coach Wang “Quinn” Qingxing in an interview with the media. “We didn’t do what we prepared and practiced for, we didn’t play our game. So the only thing we can do is adjust, correct our mistakes, and come back stronger.”
A 4-1 match score in favor of Nova may seem clearcut but the match was definitely closer than it seems. There were many times where Alpha Gaming had control of the game but they would then lose it, either because of poor decisions or outplays from Nova.
Now they face BOOM Esports, a familiar enemy, in the lower bracket quarterfinals. As it stands, BOOM has yet to even take a game off of Alpha Gaming. Yet their last encounter in the upper bracket finals of their group was deceptively close, despite the 3-0 sweep. In a way, it mirrors their performance against Nova in the playoffs.
“We didn’t expect BOOM to be that good but there were also a lot of communication errors on our end,” admitted Alpha Gaming’s Top Laner Lee Siang. “Our decision making was also not very good.”
Alpha Gaming added Siang and Mid Laner Chong “Shisan” Loong to their roster after their Esports World Cup 2025 run. It would seem that these communication problems have been plaguing them since then, and they’ll need to address them quickly if they want to improve their chances in the tournament. While they’re still favored to win against BOOM, they’ve clearly shown they’re not untouchable. The ball is in their hands if they want to prevent an upset.
“It’s up to the coaching staff,” said coach Quinn. “We have to calm down the players and readjust our mentality. We need to focus on ourselves and bring back our usual game. That’s our biggest focus for the quarterfinals.”
Banner photo from Esports World Cup.