zhokiNg says TYLOO had no choice but to play HyperX Retake after IEM Beijing clash

TYLOO coach WeiJie “zhokiNg” Zhong said the team was caught between HyperX Retake S13 and IEM Beijing, then had to withdraw from Retake after a late change in their Major picture and Dongkai “Jee” Ji’s illness.

Speaking in an interview translated by HLTV, zhokiNg said TYLOO had already planned for the possibility of a conflict between the two events. The problem was that the timing changed after TYLOO beat 9z at PGL Masters Bucharest. That result lifted their VRS points enough that the team no longer needed extra points from Retake, but they were already registered by then.

“After that, yeah, that’s roughly how it went,” zhokiNg said, describing how the team ended up playing the event anyway before later withdrawing.

How TYLOO got stuck between Bucharest, Retake and Beijing

ZhokiNg said TYLOO had looked at the calendar before Retake and tried to prepare for both outcomes. He said the team expected a conflict with IEM Beijing and had built their planning around the possibility that results at PGL Masters Bucharest might still leave them needing more points.

That calculation changed after the 2-1 win over 9z. Before that result, TYLOO had been thinking about the possibility of needing “points-farming” matches to stay in the hunt. Once they beat 9z, the team’s points were already enough. The issue was that the registration for Retake had already been completed, so, as zhokiNg put it, they could not withdraw at that stage.

He added that nobody expected Jee to get chickenpox at the time. That illness made the scheduling problem worse, because TYLOO were then dealing with both a tournament overlap and a player unavailable through illness. In zhokiNg’s words, the team had “no choice but to play in that Retake event.”

The situation mattered because TYLOO’s withdrawal from HyperX Retake S13 hurt their bid for a place at the Singapore Major. HLTV reported that the forfeit in the quarter-finals sharply reduced their chances of securing an invitation. The conflict with IEM Beijing landed at a moment when TYLOO’s VRS position was already under pressure, and the team’s calendar now had direct consequences for the Major race.

Jee’s recovery and the hospital certificate

ZhokiNg said Jee was “pretty much recovered” by the time of the interview, but the player still needed a non-contagious certificate from the hospital before he could return. That was the final step before he could play again.

The coach said it was still unclear whether Jee would be able to play the opening match. “We’ll only know the result today,” zhokiNg said, making it clear that the decision depended on the day’s outcome and the medical paperwork.

That update left TYLOO with a roster question even after the worst of the health issue had passed. Jee’s recovery was moving in the right direction, but the team still had to wait on formal clearance before they could count on him for the event.

Why zhokiNg says TYLOO’s points picture is still competitive

ZhokiNg pushed back on the idea that TYLOO’s VRS standing had suddenly fallen apart. He said the team had “always been near the top” in Asia, but that other sides below them had played more regional points-farming events and added to their totals that way. TYLOO, in his view, had mostly been playing S-tier events on the world stage instead.

He said that schedule made the work harder. TYLOO had been going through PGL, IEM Beijing and another match he referenced in the interview, and he said the team simply had to keep playing. Because of that, he argued, it was far more difficult to win points than it was for teams farming smaller regional events.

ZhokiNg also said TYLOO still see a clear gap between themselves and The MongolZ. He pointed to The MongolZ’s rapid rise after a roster change, saying they won an event and saw their points jump sharply in a single tournament. That, he said, showed the gap between the teams remained substantial.

He tied that back to TYLOO’s need to keep improving. The points race was close, but he does not see the team’s position as a sign that their level had collapsed. Instead, he framed it as the result of a demanding schedule and the difference between international events and regional point collection.

Beating 9z, the secondary IGL search and a looser lineup

ZhokiNg said the win over 9z in Bucharest was still an encouraging sign. He said TYLOO had lost to the South American side three times before, knew their style, and still managed to beat them after making adjustments.

He also said the team did it without a full roster. In his view, that did not just cover for the missing player; it also showed that TYLOO were improving. He added that even if Jee had played, he thought TYLOO still would have been able to beat 9z.

On the team’s search for a secondary in-game leader, zhokiNg said TYLOO had been working on that area for some time. He said there were two candidates: JamYoung and Jee. After trying both, TYLOO found that JamYoung fit the role well, but his positions sometimes made it hard for him to focus fully on mid-round duties because he was often at the front of the action.

That pushed the team toward Jee. ZhokiNg said Jee’s positions suited the role better, and that Jee had been working on it, though he still had room to grow. The search, he said, was ongoing rather than finished.

ZhokiNg then returned to the effect of playing with a reduced roster. He said worry tends to fade when a team is not at full strength, because some players assume the team probably cannot win anyway. At the same time, he noted that full-roster matches can bring pressure, especially after repeated losses to the same opponent.

He gave 9z as the clearest example: after three previous losses, TYLOO still carried that memory into the match. But when the coach himself plays, he said, the mood can change. Players may think the team could lose because the coach is in the lineup, yet that can leave them more relaxed and willing to just play their own game.

ZhokiNg said he felt the same during FISSURE, where he could see players had less mental burden and were simply following Mercury’s and his calls. That, he said, let them play more freely. TYLOO now head into IEM Beijing with that background still hanging over their Major path, their roster situation and the aftermath of the Retake withdrawal.