Bad Boys in eSports: Meet Greg “idrA” Fields

Greg “idrA” Fields is one of the biggest bad boys in eSports. Why? Let us tell you a few stories about him and his unique cases…

A promising eSports career ended not so long ago when Greg “idrA” Fields announced his retirement two days after being fired. He was one of the richest professional video gamers of all time due to his incredible skills – whenever he played, his teams were clear favourites at online sportsbooks in the US. idrA was also the biggest star of his team, Evil Geniuses. Why did the team decide to fire their most valuable player? Well, there are many reasons for that. Let’s take a look at a few of the best examples to show why Greg Fields was forced to quit the team and hence give up on the biggest eSports contract ever.

”The Phoenix upgrade is f*cking stupid”

Back in 2012, idrA was in the beginning of his pro gaming career. Upon arriving back to the USA from his “training camp” which he completed in South Korea, he gave some rather interesting interviews. He just lost a few games, for which he said “it just happens every now and then. You have to accept it.” And then he went on to criticise one of the most popular gaming software developers: “The Phoenix upgrade is f*cking stupid and once again demonstrates that Blizzard either does not understand their game at all, or is not balancing for competitive play” – said one of the most famous bad boys in eSports.

”I hope you get cancer!”

Greg “idrA” Fields frequently insulted his opponents in eSports. That was his style which is maybe not too elegant, but it definitely helped him gaining a lot of popularity as well as publicity. Upon signing a new contract with Evil Geniuses, these moment came even more often. He told his opponents that they are wasting their life trying to defeat idrA. They’ll never manage. Online sportsbooks actually agreed to that: Evil Geniuses had quite the best odds at that time. Yet that doesn’t suggest that one of the biggest bad boys in eSports should go on to wish cancer to his opponents…

”You’re all just a bunch of f*cks!”

After that incident, his team was clearly not happy about the reputation they are gaining due to their star’s misbehavior. And nor were the fans of Evil Geniuses. They criticized for not behaving professionally, for saying whatever comes to his mind and for being overly offensive towards everybody around him. What’s the reply of a professional sportsman to such criticism?

https://youtube.com/watch?v=QUGNVpzB2t0

Take it like a true gentleman? Accept it and try to develop your personality? Maybe. But that’s not something that the bad boys in eSports would do. That’s quite the opposite of what bad boys in eSports would do. Greg Fields would rather reply to the comments by EG fans, telling them “You’re all just a bunch of f*cks. And I happen to get paid to treat you like sh*t. And this is f*cking awesome!” – that was the last thing idrA ever said as an Evil Genius player. He was released and he could have said goodbye to his 6-figure salary as well. Was it worth it? Probably yes.

”People shouldn’t take my sarcasm so literally”

He would not be wherever he is at the moment without being like this and behaving like this. This is what brought him success, apart from his outstanding gaming skills, of course. However, later in an interview he explains how this is just his sense of humour and he doesn’t take any of those things seriously. “I think if I say that I want someone to get cancer, it’s pretty clear that I don’t actually want them to get cancer in real life. However, I understood EG’s decision because I generated too much negative attention for them.”

Poorly executed retirement

In 2014, “idrA” Fields announced that he would retire from eSports completely and go back to school to choose a different career path after being a pro gamer. However, the very same year he was re-signed by Evil Geniuses as a professional gamer in Heroes of the Storm. And idrA’s still being idrA: probably the most badass eSports player, who doesn’t care too much what others think of him.