Wind and Rain’s British team manager Alex “Kazehaya” Hirst has said goodbye to his roster as they leave to join Origen.
Kazehaya had been working with the roster for a while, and was part of the League of Legends unit as they left the Spanish scene, won Ragnarok in the Nordics and qualified for the EU Challenger Series.
“Honestly I really loved that team and roster, I had been working with Dan, Darkside and Quixeth for going on five months straight,” Kazehaya told Esports News UK.
“I had taken them from battling in the top three in 2nd division Spain all the way to the Challenger Series, so I was more surprised than anything else when they turned round and said they were going to Origen and that I could not come along with them.”
“I am looking forward to showing them how strong my drafts are and how bad of a situation they can end up in when they go against me.”
How will it feel playing his old team with WAR’s new (as of yet unannounced) roster this split?
“I honestly wish them the best of luck in the future and I hope they finish second in the regular split this season, right behind us,” Alex added.
“I am a generally competitive guy so it will be a little bit weird to be dealing with brand new people at first and competing and celebrating the wins with them over the old roster, but generally I am looking forward to showing them how strong my drafts are and how bad of a situation they can end up in when they go against me.
“I want to wish them the best of luck but we will be announcing our replacement roster very soon and I am very confident in the players that we decided to go for in the end.
“I believe that both rosters can compete at this level but we will be going for that LCS spot just as much as they will be.”
Kazehaya also confirmed that former WAR coach Johan “Lee Joo Ho” Olsen will not be working with either team. Johan is currently looking for future positions elsewhere.
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
