Introboys

In Filipino gaming lingo, introboys (or intro boys) is an insult towards players who perform exceptionally well early in a multiplayer match, only to lose in the end. The singular form is introboy.

The term was often used by Filipino Dota 2 fans to insult local professional teams like Mineski in international tournaments whenever they failed to win in a match after achieving a good early game.

In live service games, introboys refers to players who frequently join newly-opened game servers only to quit after a few days or weeks.

"Introboys" was derived from the name of the Filipino pop band INTRoVOYS. The word "intro" is meant as a shorthand for "introduction".

The term originated from the toxic culture of trash talking in MOBAs like DotA-Allstars and Dota 2, where winning players would insult the other team early on, only for them to lose in the end.

In MOBAs, the core game design makes comebacks more common than in other genres. Unit scaling and comeback mechanics make early game kills less impactful than late game kills. Furthermore, the early game is gank-oriented while the late game is team fight-oriented.

While MOBAs are the most likely for comebacks to happen, "introboys" can be used for any game genre as long as a match comeback is performed against a massive early game advantage.

At the end of the 2023-24 PBA Commissioner's Cup, fans started referring to Magnolia Hotshots as "introboys". Magnolia Hotshots was the top team during the elimination round and was favored to win the title, however, they lost to San Miguel Beermen in the finals. The team's point guard, Jio Jalalon, said that the "introboys" label is motivational for them, but they chose not to listen to it.^[1]

"Intronesia" is a variation of "introboys" used by Filipino fans on the Indonesian teams after RRQ Hoshi (Indonesia) lost against RSG Philippines in the MLBB Southeast Asia Cup 2022 Grand Finals. In the tournament, RRQ beat RSG 3-1 in the Upper Bracket Finals, only to lose to RSG (who came from the Lower Bracket) in the Grand Final in a 0-4 sweep.

"Introboys" was popularized in the tournament after Filipino casters Arjay "Santie" Magcalas and Theodore "Uomi" Ignacio used the term during the Filipino cast of Game 1 of the RRQ versus RSG Grand Final. In that game, RRQ acquired a massive early game lead only for RSG to perform a comeback.

1. Hotshots fired up by 'Introboys' tag. March 17, 2024 at 2:19 PM. Ralph Edwin Villanueva. Philstar.com. Retrieved on 2024-05-06.