MnM Gaming has been a staple in the European scene for the last two years through the British national tournaments, the Challenger League, and a number of regional events. In this time, the org has had three very successful teams which won two national leagues, the Challenger League, and almost qualified for the Six Invitational with the current lineup positioned in the Challenger League finals and just one game away from the 2021 EU League.
Ex-MnM players include CTZN from G2 Esports, Doki, Kendrew, Saves and Blurr from Na'Vi, the ex-Na'Vi player of neLo, pacbull from Secret, and the Cowana player of Kayak. As well as this, the ex-support staff includes the eUnited's old coach of Bugs, and the current coaches of Giants Gaming (GiG) and Rogue (rcuth). All this talent has been brought up from various tier-three teams via the MnM Gaming organization.
Now, the team themselves have attracted a lot of attention as, after knocking Chaos, G2, Vitality, and the current Secret roster out of last year's Six Invitational qualifiers, the team has picked up the ex-Secret (the British lineup) player of Fonkers and the ex-Millenium coach of Sparxo to inject experience into the team.
As well as being crowned the British champions ahead of Na'Vi last August, the team topped their group during the Challenger League and will soon play against Cowana in the CL Finals for a 2021 EU League position. Before this, later this week we'll see the team in action alongside Rogue, Secret, Vitality, Chaos, Cowana, and 10 qualified teams in the SI qualifiers as they hope to go two games further than last year and qualify for the event.
We spoke to the organization's founder of Kalvin "KalKal" Chung to ask what makes the org so special to be able to thrive so well in tier-two to three R6S and what is next for the org:
Firstly, can you introduce yourself and your role to readers?
What's the secret of the organization's continued success?
When searching for a new lineup, what's the recruitment process like for MnM in R6 and elsewhere?
As one of the few orgs which seem to be truly thriving in tier two/three R6S, are there any changes you'd like to see at this level?
There's a chance for the 2021 EUL to include more British players than any other nation (13) all of which would have come from the national level over the last 18 months. How much do you think the Prem/UKIN itself helped develop this talent?
If Cowana and MnM do replace Chaos and Rogue in the EUL these would be the 13 British players in the EU League as of Stage 2 lineups:
Player | Current Team | PL/EUL Debut Date |
|---|---|---|
Kendrew & Doki | Natus Vincere | June 17th, 2019 |
CTZN | G2 Esports | June 17th, 2019 |
Blurr | Natus Vincere | March 23rd, 2020 |
Joe | Natus Vincere | September 21st, 2020 |
Pacbul | Team Secret | September 21st, 2020 |
Yuzus, Nathan & Dats | MnM Gaming | April 2021 |
Anarchic, Grizzly, Kayak & Sloth | Cowana Gaming | April 2021 |
In comparison, the next top nations by player numbers would be France with 11 players and Russia with 10. This would mark the first time in EU history that France, Russia, or Finland haven't held this record.
The MnM Gaming organization sold both their Challenger League winning lineup to Na'Vi and then their SI Qual contending team to CR4ZY. Is there any chance MnM would be willing to keep and support a successful roster into the EU League in the future?
MnM's next game is against Cowana in the Challenger League grand-final. How is the team preparing for this and how do you judge your chances after your nail-biting semi-final?
This question was asked prior to the Challenger League Final's delay.
Finally, do you have a message to MnM's fans or the wider UK scene in general?
MnM Gaming's next game will be tomorrow as they fight through the single-elimination SI Closed Qualifiers with a potential meetup on the weekend against Na'Vi and Tempra for a spot in the 2021 Six Invitational.
Following this on January 15th is their Challenger League Finals against Cowana. Should they win this the following roster qualifies for the 2021 EUL Season while a loss means they must beat Rogue in a relegation match with the winner qualifying also:
Max "Dats" McLachlan Nathan "Nathan" Sharp Josh "Yuzus" Pritchard Aku "Fonkers" Seppä Jonas "Jonka" Kaczmarzyk Jack "Sparxo" Wright (coach) Loic "Eden" Sennepin (analyst)
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Keep an eye out here for further coverage of the league and be sure to check out our other interviews with organizations around the world over the last year:
- Oxygen Co-Founder: "Ubisoft’s world-class management [...] should encourage fans and players"
- PENTA Managing Director: "The new system allows us to prepare for the EUL with the fantastic players we have"
- Elevate Chief Strategy Officer: "Contrary to popular belief, we do pay our players"
- Nora-Rengo CEO Akidog: "Nora-Rengo will be back"
- FURIA Esports Founder: "Separating work and personal life is essential to growth as responsible human beings"