Ana 'Bali' : "Inv n'a pas de pacte avec GEM"

Player manager at Team Alien Invasion, Host at DreamHack or ESL League Admin, Ana "Bali" Negueruela has been involved in eSports for years. We had the chance to interview her today, as she just left her post of manager at Invasion eSport.

 

 

Ana Negueruela, "Based Bali"

 

Hi Ana, thank you for accepting this interview ! First, could you introduce yourself ? How did you get into eSports ?

Hi, thanks to you for the interest. I am Ana "Bali" Negueruela from Spain. I am a player manager, scouter and noona (team’s older sister). I entered eSports when I had an accident that forced me to quit my previous job as a veterinarian. I spent 6 months watching streams and talking with people involved in eSports to learn about the business, and additionally I spent 2 months in Korea and had the chance to meet really nice people in eSports. All of this made me decide to give it a try.

 

You were working for Invasion eSports as a freelancer. What type of job were you doing for the team ?

I was the player manager and adviser for them. They really love eSports so I helped them to make it possible. I also recruited Gumiho, who was looking for a team at the time and wanted me to manage him.

 

Ana, Super, GuMiho, Top and Seed before IEM San Jose

 

You just announced that you are no longer part of the organization anymore. For what reasons ?

I left the team because I’m going to be replaced by someone who the sponsor has directly chosen.

 

Does it mean that GuMiho will leave as well ?

No, he will still be part of Invasion and will continue to work hard to still be one of the best. He is still one of my boys and I will be there for him as always.

 

Former French members of Invasion eSports have said that they left the team because they did not understand the management, which was not completely transparent with them. How does the team work ? Who is in contact with GEM for the recruitment ?

Well, I didn't know they said that to be honest, they were transparent at least with me, and always treated me well. As far as I know there is no "contract" with GEM, they just got Super for the team thanks to Judah from GEM, but as I said I am not sure if they have a contract with GEM. I joined the team because GuMiho and to give them advice, but don't know much about the deals with other players.

 

How do they manage to recruit so many Koreans after so much drama ? Aren’t they afraid ?

You say so much drama and make it sound really bad, but there has not been too much drama. Sure people doubt about the investment, and I can understand, but they explained in an interview with Aeromi about where the money comes from. I think it was pretty clear that sometimes teams work with big and known sponsors, and sometimes with others that are not really known or are private. That doesn´t means it's a shady business in all cases. At the moment they are paying everyone on the team as far as I know and give the guys good support with sending them to events. If at some point they fuck up (and I hope not) then it's okay to say anything, but at the moment there is no reason for it. Why should they be afraid ? They are nice with them and I was there to take care !

 

One of the mistakes which was a hot topic of debate

 

Invasion eSport stated in a previous itw that they were contacted by GEM thanks to Noblesse. Is that actually true ?

Yeah, Noblesse helped Invasion so much to get in contact with GEM. I wish him good luck with his new projects.

 

Why did Noblesse leave considering he has done so much for the team ?

Noblesse left the team because he has other projects and didn't need Invasion support anymore.

 

Do you think Invasion will collapse in the next few weeks ? Maybe more ?

I hope they don't collapse and wish them the best of luck. My boys are still there !

 

On another subject, TrigEsports just recruited MC as their first SCII player. You seems to have your opinion about this team, can you tell us a bit more ?

Haha, this is a really good question, I have my opinion which I think is similar to 90% of the people, being that they seem really shady. They basically are making really expensive promises that are unrealistic. I think you should start slow, with one project and then grow. Investing tons of money on something you don't really know, and hiring people to do it that don't have any experience on eSports is never a good idea. I hope I'm wrong but to me this is another project like ESGN, Clauf etc., and will end in bankruptcy that will harm eSports and the people involved. These kind of things never work in eSports, and there is no way they can ever be profitable. My opinion is that they are probably trying to avoid taxes, money laundering or something like that but of course not good or legal.

 

TrigEsports and their crazy projects

 

What are your plans for the future right now ?

I will still work in eSports if I can find a new project or team that needs someone with my skills. I´ll keep working hard and help everyone who needs it as always. Thanks for the interview, was a pleasure.

 

Follow and find out more about Ana Negueruela on about.me or on Twitter.