On 23th June 2011 MSI Malaysia announced the appointment of Tan "Shizuma" Lyn Xhin as their official local MSI Gaming Ambassador. Tan, or better known as Shizuma in the gaming community is regarded as one of the best female DotA gamer with international recognition. Her intriguing perfomance in the Iron Lady DotA Tournament 2010, Shanghai where she played alongside with PMS|Asterisk* to victory propelled her to instant stardom. With numerous achievements locally, namely Perak FTZ Invite Tournament 2009 Champion, World Cyber Games - DotA 2099 1st runner-up and SMM Kuala Lumpur Qualifier 2009 1st runner-up, she is no doubt a fast rising star to watch out for. Although competitive DotA is a male dominated arena, Shizuma is often seen in local DotA tournaments alongside male teammates. The skill and talent that she has honed in playing the game is widely recognized by fellow competitive gamers as being on par with her male counterparts.

Lately Shizuma has ventured into games other than DotA and is also fast making a name for herself there. At the recently concluded SMM Penang Qualifier Leg, Shizuma Played Counter Strike Online with Team SYT. It was the first time Shizuma was seen competing other than DotA. According to her manager, And Loh, Team STY picked Shizuma after a few trials with different players. The team captain, Khor "daemon" Wen Jian, who is a well-know Counter Strike player in the local scene, acknowledged her gaming talent and subsequently became her mentor.



On the 18th June 2011, Shizuma started her day with high hopes. It was the SMM Penang Qualifier Leg and she was participating in the Courter Strike Online Qualifier. As usual, her manager, Andy Loh picked her up for breakfast and a short prep before heading to the battlefield.. As it was pretty early in the morning and keen to avoid crowded areas, we had our breakfast in a quiet restaurant in Prangin Mall, Taihe Restaurant. This restaurant actually offers "Maggie Goreng Tomyam," and it was GOOOD!



This post has been edited by Sanko: Jun 28 2011, 09:44 PM

After breakfast, we headed to FTZ ASiA.net Cyber Cafe, the official venue for the SMM Penang Qualifier Leg for registration. The DotA Qualifier Tournament was held concurrently with Counter Strike Online. As usual, teams had to wait for their turn for the competition. While waiting for their turn, Team SYT decided to have a light last-minute training session before the true action. It was a casual training session for teammates, more like a warm-up session.

After every match, the team will gather outside the cyber cafe and had a light moment sharing their personal insights to the game. Under the leadership of Khor "daemon" Wen Jian, Team STY operates in a very casual manner. Not serious discussion of game analysis but more of sharing thoughts. Normally Shizuma just listens to her teammates and would voice out her input in some obvious agenda where the team had overlooked. From the beginning of the competition, Team STY is aware that their thoughest opponent is Team ANNONYMOUZ. According to Andy Loh, during the friendly training matches, both teams are almost equal with Team ANNONYMOUZ having a slight edge over Team STY. When Team STY competed in the Final against Team ANNONYMOUZ, the result was a draw which then proceeded 3-death match. The winnter will be the first team the complies 3 wins regardless of being the Counter Terrorist or Terrorist. Unfortunately, Team STY was the Counter Terrorist in the 3-deatch match and they lost to Team ANNONYMOUZ. A lost is a lost, and there shouldn't be any excuses. However, it is a widely known fact that in Counter Strike De Dust2 map, the Terrorist team will have an upper hand against the Counter Terrorist team. As you can see, both teams won the games when they were the Terrorist team which ultimately led them to the 3-death match.

Shizuma was pretty down with the defeat. It has been quite some time since she claimed victory in the tournaments she participated. However, life goes on and in every defeat, she promised herself to work even harder to achieve greater heights. According to her, she wants most to prove her critics and discriminators wrong. She wants to prove herself through her skills and talent. After receiving the prizes, it is customary for the team to have a light "mamak" session to chill out and reflect on their cause of defeat.

When it comes to defeat, like any normal girls, Shizuma had a "special request" to loosen up her mood. She requested to have a special dinner together in a less-frequented eatery. We agreed naturally as we were thinking of the same as well. Chosen by Shizuma and agreed by all of us, we opted for Crepe Cottage near the beach. The restaurant serves pancakes and crepes as the main ingredient in all their dishes. There, we discussed a little about the concluded tournament and her future plans as a professional gamer. She mentioned that she is really grateful to have a sponsor as it is difficult to secure a sponsor in Malaysia. Very often offers come but does not materialize in the end. She said when a sponsor approaches, happiness is not the first reaction but rather she expresses a little phobia to such news. Higher hopes tend to lead to greater disappointment.



The day ended after dinner and life goes on. For us, we are back to our cubicle while Shizuma is back to her gaming gears. Life as a professional gamer may not necessarily secure a bright future and for a 23 year-old girl trying to make her presence felt in the eSports Arena, it is nothing short of a brave decision. It is definitely not an easy task and i personally wish her all the best.