It never fails. Whenever a member of an esports team brags or fools around on social networking websites, the archivists appear — collectors of messages who dedicate their time to posting them right at the moment when a player or a team fails. They don't do it for fame, because the content that they make go viral is not theirs. They do it simply for the feeling of self-satisfaction of pointing out that a public figure is off the mark.

This persecution, which is enhanced by the eternal present that reigns on the Internet, emerges as a natural response to the so-called trash talk. The person who wants to brag is allowed to do so until the moment he oversteps the line; once defeated, he sees how the shot backfires.

To a certain extent, there is no problem with the opportunistic diffusion of these provocative messages, but often lines are crossed in a way that motivate players to isolate themselves and refuse to rejoin the trash talk game; because, except in exceptional cases, it's just a game. Facing the witch hunt and the permanent reminder of their swagger by the audience, players and teams are sometimes so intimidated by the possible reprisals that they choose to maintain a low profile.

The most recent good example of this occurred after Schalke 04's defeat against Misfits Academy in the EU Challenger Series Playoffs. Invincible until the best of five, the first German football club to invest in League of Legends has run out of options to return to the EU LCS' next summer split.

The series would not have had as much impact if it wasn't for Schalke 04's perfect season. The replacement of the members of the directive and technical staff that failed in the EU LCS and the construction of a roster with reputed names and emerging talents, like Oskar "VandeR" Bogdan and Elias "Upset" Lipp respectively, started the campaign at a pace never seen before in the regular season of the second category.

Schalke 04 was the best challenger in Europe and the team made sure everyone knew it. In addition to dominating the Summoner's Rift, even in games where they did not play at full capacity, the players spent weeks posting messages about their virtues, coming across as full of themselves or they would disparage their opponents.

Some of these messages had a relaxed tone, as Schalke 04 players maintain a good relationship with some whom they joked about, while others were pure cockiness. It should be noted that they were cowards for erasing the mesages after being defeated to avoid dealing with the onslaught of interactions, but in the same way it must be acknowledged that they were braggarts — rather than brave — for posting them before the matches rather than being advantageous and wait, as Misfits's owner did, for the result.

Spreading messages about the perfection of Jean-Victor "loulex" Burgevin's jungle routes or VandeR and Upset's fictional visit to the medical consultation, who diagnosed that the level of the Challenger Series was "trash", is not problematic in my view. Nor is it to create a meme from Schalke 04's banner or to bend the cannon of the German tank to convey the team's sadness.

Esports needs more villains and, had it not been for Schalke 04's dominance and the attitude of their members, this split of the EU Challenger Series would not have been so interesting. Even for those who don’t regularly follow the league, as is my case, such a team makes you aware of what happens in the competition.

But instead of enjoying this narrative, most of the time the audience dedicates itself to perpetually scream at the team that has failed. The series between Schalke 04 and Misfits Academy has by its own merit a place in history and no doubt the players who participated will have to live with the result until the end of their days. It is not necessary, therefore, to mark them with a stigma which, moreover, is not necessarily reliable.

Contrary to what many claimed on social networks, the impact that these provocative messages can have on the performance of a team is insignificant. Although it is true that they can put more pressure on the shoulders of players who have historically cumbled when facing adversity, it is much more likely that Schalke 04's defeat is due to a bad adaptation to patch 7.5, a bad day on stage or simply a drastic improvement by Misfits Academy.

That said, it's a shame that the format of the EU Challenger Series favours the inconsistency between the results obtained during the regular season and the Playoffs, since a single confrontation against each rival is a sample too small. Also, I dislike that there is not a losers' bracket that guarantees that the two best teams participate in the Promotion Tournament.

No matter how hard the defeat has been, it is just a single defeat that does not discredit what Schalke 04 have achieved. Not only have they completed the most dominant regular phase in the history of the EU Challenger Series, they have been one of the most charismatic teams to have starred in the league.

Schalke 04's presence is also positive for Europe. Unlike North America, the old continent has few organizations with spending power to match the German club. Although they failed in their two splits, it would be a pity to abandon the project and send an alarmist message to other similar investors may be considering betting on esports. The current infrastructure looks good and Schalke 04 may be able to succeed if they continue to try. After all, Gamers2 and the trio formed by Andrei "Odoamne" Pascu, Fabian "Febiven" Diepstraten and Petter "Hjärnan" Freyschuss demonstrated that perseverance sometimes has its reward.

I leave a proposal as a recapitulation: let's enjoy the banter that brings joy to esports and let's share, if that's what we feel like doing, those eye-catching messages even if they are advantageous, but let’s not crucify the players for their words at the drop of a hat.