Update

As of today I am unemployed. I was in a pretty bad position. This gives me some more freedom to watch more games and grind soloq more but it is also really stressful. I am going to be looking for a job in esports I think. Probably remote work. I hope there is something out there for me.

I am also really happy to say my interview with Elizabeth is over 1.1K views. It is amazing and I am really humbled.

I really hope i can continue to find ways to provide new insight into who these amazing people are.

Thank you for all the support.

Interview with Elizabeth

So, this interview is with Elizabeth from Cloud9. She manages Cloud9's social accounts and is sort of the team mom along with just a vast array of responsibilities (seriously it's mind boggling the amount she juggles in my opinion).


I've kind of been following Elizabeth for a while now. She always seems so bright and interesting and just this central part of Cloud9 for me. I was really drawn in more and more by her wit and an intangible magnetism. In any case, I knew it might have been an odd thing but I had casually tweeted at her that I would like to interview her sometime. To my surprise, she said yes and then when I was disbelieving she DM'd me. This is one of the toughest interviews for me to prepare for. I wanted to be find the best way to make sure that it was clear that it was honestly me wanting an insight into who she is and her life. I was worried about a lot of things (none the least that I am a giant fan of the boys she is constantly around and I didn't want that to bleed into our conversation) and that made getting started really hard.


I decided to just jump right in and it became very easy to converse with her and I stopped worrying so much. To every question she gave such an insightful answer and generally it felt very natural to move forward to the next. It was my first text interview and I was really unsure but it just happened really easily. I think that's more to do with who Elizabeth is as a person rather than my skills as an interviewer!


It was an interview conducted through DMs on twitter and no edits have been made so forgive us both if there is any typos.






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Kit: What got you into the esports scene originally and what were your first impressions of it?


Elizabeth: We’re going way back in the archives for this one. As cliché as it may sound, a boy got me into the esports scene. When I was growing up I wasn’t really around much in the way of technology, we had one TV and one PC. The main game I played as a child was a Mario typing game on Windows 95. Skipping ahead to my college years, I met my, now, fiancé Danan. He was super into World of Warcraft when we first met and then when League came out his focus switched. He started playing with friends, then he attended a few LANs (I sometimes accompanied him), and then one of his friends asked him to start managing his team. I’m not going to lie, I thought it was kind of silly at first. Like, professional video gaming? That’ll never be a thing.


Not too long afterwards, Riot started up the LCS. We would sit together and watch the games and it hit me that this could actually be a viable career path for him. As he went through school he managed challenger teams on and off. I think the most notable ones would be the Dignitas Challenger team (which had Sneaky on it) and the original Cloud9 Tempest roster. I mostly stayed out of it, I finished college and began working at an early education center. The extent of my involvement usually was driving him to the airport for Relegation or other events and providing moral support.


After Cloud9 Tempest failed to qualify, compLexity offered him a job managing their team. He accepted with the condition that I be allowed to live the house performing basic housekeeping tasks (and the title of Team Mom was born). Moving into the house was probably the first time I actually interacted with the scene directly. Alas, all good things come to an end, compLexity was relegated, and Danan and I returned back home to consider future options. While we were back home Danan got a call from Jack asking if he’d be interested in managing the main team, Danan agreed, and we were off to California once again. The rest is history.


Initially, I wasn’t very impressed with the scene. I thought it was scattered and disorganized. Instead of being able to request a specific day off work I had to tell my boss that, “at some point during this week I will need a few hours off to drive Danan to the airport.” For someone who’s very set in scheduling and organization it was moderately infuriating. Looking at it now though, the contrast is pretty stark, it’s certainly come a long way in a relatively short amount of time.


K: Wow. That's a really amazing story though. I knew that in some way Danan had been the catalyst for pulling you into the world but understanding the development of it is really awesome to me. How did you transition into the role that you do now? Was it a natural progression? How did you feel about it?


E: I don’t know if I would go so far as to say it was natural progression but I do feel like it was due to my natural abilities. Some of it was boredom; cleaning, cooking, etc for a large group can get pretty tedious. I was going a little stir crazy to be completely honest. Danan asked Jack if there was another area I could help with to help alleviate the repetitiveness of my day to day schedule and Jack suggested I give social a try.


I started running the Cloud9 twitter and facebook, as a result of doing that I started tracking all upcoming events our teams could potentially participate in, and it’s just kind of blossomed from there. I’ve started playing a role in our video production, I’ve started doing light photography for the teams, and tracking a whole mess of other stuff. Basically, a large portion of my day is spent staring at spreadsheets, it’s not super glamorous, but it’s super necessary. Like I said before, I’m really into organization so doing what I’m doing now caters to my innate capabilities and I also feel like the insight provided by my degree has been really helpful.


K: What is the biggest challenge about what you do now?


E: I feel like each facet of what I do comes with its own specific challenges. I’ve had days where I lose track of what I’m doing because I have so many spreadsheets open at once and living with 8+ guys isn’t necessarily a picnic. lol. Overall though, I think finding time for myself is probably the most difficult thing to accomplish. When I was working with my two year olds a really common theme was that as a caregiver, in order to prevent burnout, you need to take care of yourself before you’re able to take care of anyone else. I feel like that statement rings true even more so now than it did back then. Then, my work hours were relatively static, when I went home it was just Danan and I, finding time to relax wasn’t particularly difficult. Now, as anyone in esports can attest, there is no set schedule. You work as things happen and, depending on your role, there can be a lot of things happening. In my case it’s mostly juggling things on the computer with the Team Mom duties and finding time to maintain my relationships; after dealing with all of that there’s not a whole lot of time leftover for me to just chill. Recently I’ve started putting more effort into finding time to step away from everything else and re-charge. I'm hoping that taking time away will result in increased productivity during the time I am working and will allow me to get a cycle of work and relaxation set up. I guess we’ll see how that goes.


K: Yeah, I think where you can never really leave "work" would be a hard thing to learn how to balance how to turn work timeoff and take care of yourself. I get to leave work but I end up taking the stress of it with me so that's definitely something I can relate to too in a way.


What is the most rewarding part of your career and lifestyle?


E: Um, unlimited Red Bull? lol. In all seriousness, interacting with the fans is probably the most rewarding part for me. I’ve gotten messages in the Cloud9 facebook inbox just saying little things like “Go C9” or “Notice me senpai”, I responded with something simple like, “Thanks for the support”, and then got a response saying that I made their year just by acknowledging them.


For me, knowing that I made someone else happy is incredibly gratifying. I also firmly believe that without fans, none of us would have jobs, Cloud9 just wouldn’t exist. Our fans play a huge part in everything we do and I feel very fortunate that I’m in a role where I can express our gratitude to them directly.


K: Send me some of that redbull! haha. For me, I feel like Cloud9 is a little unique. I'm a casual fan of a lot of different teams in a lot of different regions but I'm really loyal to C9 and it's the first time I've ever had any "team spirit". I think it's because of the people in the org like you who really make us feel like we are a part of it all? Like in showing support for C9 it's just part of something bigger and I feel like in some silly small way it matters. And I really like that feeling and it's been a pretty unique and empowering experience for me. Gosh, I hope that doesn't make me sound crazy!


What are your hopes for the direction that you want to go in the future?

E: You don’t sound crazy at all. That’s what I want. The best comparison I can do is concerts. When I was in college I went to a lot of rock concerts, and I always loved the bands who came out afterwards to hang out with their fans. I want us to be approachable rather than aloof. I want our fans to know that they are part of it all and they do matter to us.

I’m not sure what the future holds at this point. I used to have the majority of my life planned out but esports has altered that course dramatically. When you work in a field that is relatively day to day it can be hard to plan too far ahead. My time with compLexity definitely taught me how quickly things can change. I think my future depends largely on how the industry continues to develop. If what I hope happens, it continues to grow and stabilize, I could see myself doing this for years to come however, if the opposite were to happen, I would start to explore other avenues.

K: Is it hard for you to now not feel like you can plan out with certainty where you are going? It seems kind of scary.

E: Oh, it’s definitely scary. The uncertainty terrified me the first time we moved to California. I had been at my part time job for about six years, my full time job for about two and a half, and I was leaving all of that for experimental position. Thankfully I had very supportive, albeit slightly confused, parents. When my sister and I left for college my mother opted to purchase a condo for us to live in rather than putting us in the dorms; it came with the stipulation that we put the amount we would’ve paid in rent into our savings accounts each month. I still have a bedroom there which I use whenever I go home to visit. Knowing that I can always go back if I need to gives me peace of mind to an extent. My time with Cloud9 has also helped me settle in more but I don’t think anything, other than time, will ever completely alleviate the apprehension that comes with working in a more fluid field.

K: I think it takes a lot of courage to make that kind of jump. Sometimes I can be really daring but it is usually when I have nothing left to lose. It takes a lot more courage and fortitude I think to leave something stable for something more fluid. I really find you inspirational.


What is the best and worst things about living with so many people?


E: Well thank you. To be fair, I had (and still have) a place to go back to if I absolutely need it. I can’t imagine what it would’ve been like to move out here and not have a backup plan in place.


The best thing would be the people. All of the guys are pretty awesome. Hai is probably the closest friend I have out here, excluding Danan of course. I routinely invade his room for board games and chill, or watch as he and Bunny play CoD Zombies. The worst thing, aside from petty housekeeping grievances, would also be the people. I’m very much an introvert so being around this amount of people can be kind of draining for me even if there’s no direct interaction. Usually if I’m feeling overwhelmed or crowded, for some bizarre reason, I go to Target and look at frivolous things like nail polish. I guess everyone copes in their own way and, at the moment, that’s mine. lol.


K: I can understand that. It's like you can't live with them can't live without them at times. lol I think that's not too bizarre actually. My best friend does that sort of thing too. I usually hide in books myself. To me, even at a store there are too many people!


Do you have any funny or embarrassing stories you can share?


E: The people at the store, pending that it’s not packed, don’t usually bother me. I feel a sense of anonymity. I’m just another person shopping with no risk of being bothered by anyone.


Funny or embarrassing stories. I don’t even know. After living with these guys for so long it all kind of blends together in a continuous loop of hilarity. I think one of my personal favorites stems from a board games and chill night in Hai’s room. We were playing Code Names and it was Jensen and Bunny’s turn to be the spymasters (clue givers). First, they couldn’t keep a straight face while giving clues; they weren’t just smiling, they were red in the face, rolling around, laughing, being semi-coherent. Then they mutually agreed to troll their separate teams in an attempt to get us to pick the card that would make us automatically lose the game. So ridiculous. XD


K: Jesus, they're all so crazy. I always really like it when I'm watching Hai's stream and it's like a parade of random people around and it just is always really fun to hear the background and I almost like that more than the stream itself. LOL


I'm kind of running out of questions now, sadly but I think my last one is... What do you hope for yourself and for the team in the future? Not just game wise but generally too with life.


E: This is probably the most difficult one to put into words. In a simple cliché quip, nothing but the best. Obviously in-game the never-ending dream is to win Worlds; to prove that they are in fact the number one team in the world and I would love for that to come true. (#WorldsTheDream2016)


Out of game, in short, I hope they learn how to adult. lol. Their jobs come with so many life experiences like traveling, living abroad, meeting new people, etc. but it also prevents basic life experiences like genuinely living on your own and being responsible for your own survival. I occasionally have moments where I find myself staring at them slack-jawed wondering, “How do you not know how to do this?”


With my two year olds, the most rewarding thing was watching the developmental boom; that’s how I feel towards the players. I want them to continue to grow. I want them to be able to live on their own (without me worrying). I want them to have the ability to move forward to a career outside of esports should they ever want to. I want them to have the brightest future they can. Basically, as generic as it may sound, I want everyone to be happy and to really thrive.


K: I think it doesn't sound generic so much as genuine. I think having the right influences in their lives will definitely help them develop and I imagine it has to be really amazing to be a part of that. And I totally 100% believe in the worlds dream. This has been a really amazing experience for me and I hope that this interview does you at least a bit of justice. I really wanted to show you and not just "that pretty girl with long hair who's always in Hai's room and around with C9".


Ah that came out weirdly.


E: Totally fine. It's been a fun experience being someone other than, "That annoying bitch who argued with Hai about getting a cat." lol.


--


Thank you so much for this opportunity. I am so grateful. Elizabeth is an amazing person and I tried to do her justice with my questions but I feel like I fell short so maybe you just have to take my word for it. I will continue to try and improve my interviewing skills so I can do a better job giving people the shine they deserve.

Interview Struggles

This post is more about me than about League of Legends but that's okay. This is my blog so I can have little side bars occasionally, right?

I have now completed two interviews and have three in progress through DMs and one that i will be sending a list of questions through email. I am really excited about it all. However, it makes me really anxious too. I have about 15 feelers put out and I am not expecting too many bites. That is okay but it's scary too. Also, making those requests was really anxiety inducing for me but I kept reminding myself that the worst that can happen is people ignore me or say no. I am really okay with it. No one really gets anything out of doing an interview with me! I'm just a nobody with a dream of getting to interview awesome people and have a conversation with them; hopefully I get to know just a little bit more about who they really are.

So it's okay.

I felt really discouraged last night. I started my interview with Gate and I felt really inadequate and like I don't know how to make sure my questions are always high quality and interesting.

There are a lot of different types of personalities and while I understand people well, i need to become better at shifting myself to fit the person. It's much easier to do out loud than in a DM. I think i will always prefer skype now. I think it will take more time and practice. I hope i keep getting the opportunities.

Thank you to everyone who supports me and gives me advice or talks me down from the ledge of anxiety. Love you all~ ❤

Interview with CurryshotGG

This is my second interview and perhaps thankfully it wasn't as monster long as the predecessor. I'm really excited to be able to do interviews with a variety of people and a lot of them will end up being varying in length and depth. Any time spent to help me is super appreciated.

So, in case you don't know, CurryshotGG is the Coach for NA Challenger team Ember who just secured a spot in the NACS playoffs this week. He was formerly the HC for Team Fusion who lost the promotion tournament to Dignitas in spring and then Team Imagine who then went onto lose in the promotion tournaments against Team 8 in summer.

I'd hazard to bet that this is going to be the split where that losing streak in promotion tournaments ends. Having seen where the Ember players have come from and how they've took the Challenge Series by storm and the amazing infrastructure and support staff that is in place... I'm just hard pressed to think anything but success will come their way. I'm totally ready for my Ember summoner icon.

Without further ado, though, here is the transcript of the interview (as will always be the case as close to verbatim as possible with cutting out of some tangents I went on):

[2/19/2016, 8:50PM]

Kit: So you're only my second interview. I'm still really new to this.

CurryshotGG: No problem.

K: You're the first coach I've interviewed. My other interview was a player who is currently between teams.

C: Who was that?

K: Maplestreet

C: Oh, yeah, yeah I know him.

K: So, let's get to the questions, the first question is what got you into video games and league of legends originally?

C: It was my older brother. He's a genius, like actually. He's in med school. It was our way to connect basically. So that's what got me into league.

K: That's so cool. Does he still play?

C: Yeah. He actually goes to the med school in Reno.

K: That's cool.

C: He still plays though.

K: I can't imagine med school and anything else. I'm not that much of a genius. Were you into any other video game before league?

C: I like modern warfare 2 a lot. Call of Duty, modern warfare 2.

K: I've watched people play that but I've never played it. I'm not very good at first person.

 C: Takes practice.

K: Yeah. So, what happened to make you transition into the competitive scene?

C: I'm just a competitive person. I just always want to win. Yeah, that's pretty much it. I just love the idea of competition.

K: What went into you actually making the decision to go into coaching from playing?

C: From playing to coaching?

K: Yeah.

C: I had a coach that... Well, there were a lot of people that weren't doing anything but had the title. So, I wanted to be somebody that actually helped other people. Even if it's in the slightest way, you know? So that's what got me into coaching.

K: Awesome. Do you have any regrets leaving the playing behind?

C: No. I don't really have any regrets at all. Yeah, I didn't like playing all that much at all. I didn't like playing twelve hours a day. So that's not what I like doing.

K: So what was 2015 like for you between there's lot of movements with the teams and everything so...

C: Yeah. Well, it was a pretty rough year. I was almost qualified with Fusion. Which is probably the best team atmosphere that I've ever had... not counting this one. But it was just definitely... we really thought we were going to make it because we practiced really hard, had really good scrim results. But yeah, for the year of 2015 just basically I kept making relegations and we lost. We barely came short of LCS.

K: With everything that happened last year, did losing both those promotion tournaments with fusion and Imagine... did that like impact your mental fortitude or desire to be a coach?

C: If anything, that made it stronger. Losses like those... it can either go one or two ways, right? You can just give up, you know, and not be satisfied with your life. Pretty much, not to be harsh, but be a loser. Or, you know, you get stronger from those losses. Yeah, that's what I think it did.

K: Well, it definitely looks that way. What are your hopes for Ember?

C: My hopes for Ember... Just that all five of my players, I just want them to be happy. I want them to make LCS, live out their dreams, you know, for the next year or so... just so you know, they're satisfied with themselves as people and as players.

K: How did you get involved with Ember?

C: Mason contacted me. He was actually with C9T and that's how I got involved.

K: I know you said the team atmosphere with Fusion was good. What's the atmosphere like on Ember?

C: It's good, competitive. There's no sugar-coating. So that's nice. So, we improve at a really fast rate because of it. Everyone's completely... we don't care about feelings. We're just completely serious.

K: Everyone has tough skin.

C: Yeah, exactly.

K: Did you ever have struggles with team atmospheres, not necessarily on Ember but previously? How did you deal with those?

C: I don't think I can comment on that one.

K: No problem. How does it feel to work for a new organization that already has the infrastructure to support longevity?

C: It's one of the best orgs I've ever worked for. It feels great. Physically we have physical training. We have yoga. You know, we have a sports psychologist who's helped us a lot. We have everthing that we need. They're giving us every tool that we need to succeed.

K: That's awesome. What has been your biggest challenge?

C: My biggest challenge has been... I have to think about this one... Just making sure we, we meaning me and my support staff are consistent.

K: What are your thoughts on the direction of the game and competitive play in season 6?

C: Can I say something just general... I think it's a lot better than season 5. It's more... how do yo say it...it was really stale last time and it's the opposite of stale this time. There's a lot more stuff popping up.

K: It's a lot more dynamic. Alright, this is the last question I have written down. What are your hopes for yourself in the future?

C: Obviously, I really want to make LCS this split. Further from that, I just want to help my team in any way that I can even in the smallest way to maybe even go further than that. If that means worlds, worlds... maybe just LCS... MSI. Who knows.

K: Be the Origen of NA.


C: Yeah. That's what we're aiming for.



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Thank you again, CurryshotGG! Hope you all enjoyed the interview! It was short and sweet. I still have a lot to learn when it comes to interviewing people.

NA LCS Week 6 Day 1

So, this week's post will probably be concise! Keep an eye out for my CurryshotGG interview coming out soon. I will continue to work on improving this kind of content though. I know I have a long way to go and I appreciate anyone and everone who takes the time to read my little blog here!

NRG vs DIG

NRG: Poppy, Nidalee, Karma, Ezreal, Alistar

Bans: Corki, Malphite, Elise

DIG: Trurndle, Kindred, Lulu, Kalista, Bard

Bans: Gangplank, Kog'maw, Fiora

 

To be honest, this was a game that I wasn't heavily invested in but I really did want DIG to win it. I think NRG is looking much better this week than they have in a really long time. I'm not sure what exactly changed but Altec certainly showed up in a way that he hasn't for a while I think. So, there's that...

I really don't know why DIG performed so poorly. I felt like they had a lot of potential in this game but maybe the Karma pick just threw them off? I really hope they step it up soon... I want to expect more out of them but they always end up disappointing. 

As a side note, I really enjoyed seeing Moon's Nidalee and I hope to continue to get to see him play more engage champions and the same for Impact. 

REN vs IMT

REN: Malphite, Gragas, Orianna, Caitlyn, Braum

Bans: Fiora, Nidalee, Gangplank

IMT: Ekko, Rumble, Lux, Lucian, Soraka

Bans: Kalista, Kog'maw, Lulu

 

This game was freaking insane and so exciting. I always want to root for Renegades (especially when RF Legendary is playing) but I honestly didn't expect anything but them getting smacked down quick by Immortals. But holy fuck did they give Immortals a good run for their money. I wonder where this Renegades has been all split? They looked like a completely different team and they honestly did have a chance to beat Immortals. I think it went a little bit too soloq-esque where they didn't push objectives correctly. They got some great team fights but those don't mean much if you aren't pushing down towers and neutral objectives.

I think it will be interesting to see Renegades play CLG today. I hope they do well. 

Immortals... I think this is another game that shows they are beatable. A team just needs to be able to close out against them. I'm not sure if that's going to happen this split or not though. Maybe not until playoffs.

TSM vs C9

TSM: Poppy, Gragas, LeBlanc, Kog'maw, Braum

Bans: Nidalee, Orianna, Malphite

C9: Gangplank, Lee Sin, Twisted Fate, Kalista, Soraka

Bans: Lulu, Fiora, Lissandra

 

 I was so excited for this game. And of course, it didn't disappoint at all! C9 had me a bit worried but I knew that even when it looked rough they weren't out of the game. I was trusting in some brilliant call from Hai or some fuck up from TSM would happen (because let's be real that happens a lot). I think in the end it was a combination of amazing shot calling and then some disrespect from TSM.

Doublelift pretty much screwed TSM over by building mallet and it was extremely disrespectful to build that and they paid the price for it. It wasn't that solely and they just got out played in the end but it was really a fun game. It was heart pumping and I was going to be happy with how C9 performed either way because I think overall both teams played pretty well.

And can we just say... Balls is back!

CLG vs TIP

CLG: Poppy, Nidalee, LeBlanc, Corki, Braum

Bans: Graves, Nautilus, Kog'maw

TIP: Gangplank, Nocturne, Lissandra, Lucian, Alistar

Bans: Kalista, Fiora, Lulu

So, I think TIP had a lot of good here. I still find them promising but they're just shy of having enough to be successful. I hope they figure out what that something is soon. I'm forgetting a lot of the details of the game at the moment and honestly this wasn't one that held my attention all the way through. There's just always a lot of promising things when I watch TIP. Everyone brings up Feng as the reason but when I watch them that just doesn't seem like it's it. It's more like there is some cohesion missing overall with the team.

CLG looks pretty strong. Huhi is cute. That's really all I have to say about this game at the moment.

TL vs FOX

TL: Poppy, Gragas, Syndra, Ezreal, Alistar

Bans: LeBlanc, Kayle, Gangplank

FOX: Nautilus, Elise, Corki, Lucian, Braum

Bans: Kog'maw, Kalista, Nidalee

 

So, I didn't pay too close attention to this game. I was rooting for fox and I think that they are being underestimated sometimes. I think they're very likely to continue shooting up in the standings now that they have their full roster back. I am just super impressed with Froggen and KFO.

I'm not sure what's wrong with TL right now but I kind of hope they figure it out soon...

---

That's all for now folks!

Plans for the blog

I just thought I would take some time to explore the direction that I want to go with this blog. I still plan to do my weekly reviews of NA LCS and that will be a major focus. I also am intending to start writing reviews of select NACS and regional teams that I like to follow. I think doing a full out review for every reason is just too unreasonable for me. Of course, if there's ever a game you'd really think I'd enjoy and want my thoughts on I would always be up for looking at it and writing at least a little on it.


In regards to my reviewing of games I am trying to become more detailed and concise and do more than just simple fan thoughts on it. I want to give a bit more depth to my content. That's going to take some practice and I hope everyone will stay along with me for the ride of that.


In addition to the game reviews and writing periodically about league of legends related subjects... I want to continue interviewing people that are in the esports scenes in different positions and roles in the scene. This is a really hard feat for me on a personal level because of some intense social anxiety issues but after the interview with Maplestreet I find that it's very worth it to take some chances.


I recently mentioned Elizabeth, the team mom for C9, in a tweet and that I wanted to interview her one day. She said sure. I'm still working on the questions I want to ask because I really want it to be an interesting and intriguing piece about a unique perspective into the LoL world. I feel like it's a great opportunity and I just don't want to squander it with ridiculous questions. I'm being hyper critical of myself with it and that's making it harder but I just want to do it right.


Then, I had asked a professional player from a large organization for an interview and he had said yes but then he mentioned I needed to talk to the team manager because he can't make those decisions himself. This made me a bit too anxious so I haven't done it. I'm not even sure how to begin to do that.


I've put out one other feeler for an interview to a challenger team manager. He hasn't responded and I'm not quite expecting one but I tried! I'm also contemplating reaching out to some players from smaller organizations and Challenger teams. I really just want to get some fresh perspectives and in my own little way contribute to my community.


So, I'm actively looking for people to interview for my blog but I'm not prepared to approach large organizations (like CLG) right now. I feel like my blog is too miniscule and I am far too shy and anxious at this point. If you are someone who works/plays in the esports world then definitely get in contact with me!


Lastly, if you have any ideas for what you'd like to see from me content wise, let me know! I'm definitely open to suggestions and constructive criticism.


Catch you on the flip side!

Week 5 Day 2

I'm writing this today because I obviously was more interested in finishing up the Maplestreet interview yesterday. I hope you all will check that out and enjoy it. I'm kind of still exploring how to do my reviews on games and make it interesting but actually contribute to the community. I also would love a way to make it more interactive so I can start discussions with people from my posts. I think that's one of my ultimate goals.


I've really been amazed at some of the people in the League scene recently. There's a lot of negativity and trolls out there but there are some truly kind, gracious and encouraging people. That makes me want to strive more to make a positive impact in the community and a bit to make a name for myself too.


This really isn't what this post is about though and so let me get to the nitty gritty. I really am going to work on providing a more in depth review format in  this post and future posts. Sometimes, I have been very lazy and say outlandish things. I don't want to do the things I criticized Jatt and Yamato of at Worlds... so, I must take the step to improve my skills. It's going to take a lot of practice and I'll probably falter a lot. But I am working to be fair, honest and back up my statements.


So, without further ado, here is my reviews from day 2 of week 5!

FOX vs NRG

FOX: Malphite, Graves, Corki, Caitlyn, Janna

Bans: Ryze, Zed, Nidalee

NRG: Maokai, Evelynn, Gangplank, Lucian, Braum

Bans: Alistar, Kalista, Thresh

 

So, I am really, really impressed with Echofox and I feel more of the same about NRG just...missing something. This game what I really came away with is that Echofox is not just Froggen and company. Albeit, for me Keith is always underwhelming to watch but that doesn't mean that he's not good. He's just not particularly exciting. The best parts of this game was all of KFO's ults. Like, jesus Christ, who knew that he was going to be that good? I think Echofox made an extremely smart if not a bit risky move in investing in less experienced players. They have so much room to grow and learn and it makes their possibilities limitless. I also had no idea that Froggen played such a good Corki. It was really fun to see him on that kind of champion.


It's hard to pinpoint what I think about NRG. I feel a lot of nothing about them. I used to really like Altec but he's just so unimpressive and subpar it's not even funny. There's something wrong with the team overall. I don't know what exactly it is. Synergy? Communication? All of them have shown moments of brilliance but they just can't really seem to tie it all together consistently. I'm not sure I have any faith in their ability to pull it together anytime soon.

CLG vs TSM

CLG: Ryze, Rek'sai, Viktor, Ashe, Morgana 

Bans: Zilean, Nidalee, Lulu

TSM: Fiora, Graves, Lissandra, Kalista, Alistar

Bans: Poppy, Gangplank, Corki

 

So, I ended up a little distracted this game but I don't quite remember why. So, I will be very concise with this match. It felt to me like CLG severely crippled themselves in their draft with substandard picks against some very OP picks from TSM. It felt a bit like they were asking to make the game hard on themselves. I'm just not sure what the thought was behind their draft and why they wouldn't have gone with something more reliable and inherently strong.


That being said, I will compliment TSM for a game well played. I'm not sure if it's because CLG felt like they didn't really show up for this game but TSM looked better than they have in a really, really long time. I think they can feel pretty good about this win. I wonder if it was just because of the rivalry they managed to pull it off or if some of the cohesion that was missing previously has finally fallen into place? I suppose that is something we will only find with time.


I still strongly believe in CLG this split and I really think a lot of the game was lost in their draft and I'm just not quite sure what happened in game and how they fell so apart.

IMT vs C9

IMT: Quinn, Nidalee, Lux, Kalista, Braum

Bans: Poppy, Corki, Gangplank

C9: Malphite, Lee Sin, Viktor, Jhin, Alistar

Bans: Soraka, Lulu, Janna

 

So, I actually did have high hopes for this game. I wasn't completely delusional and I knew it would be hard but there was a possibility that C9 could win. Honestly, I think of all the teams they really gave IMT the most trouble in getting the win. In the end, they did get completely shut out but for a while there C9 looked really good.


I think the biggest problem was C9's comp. Running an immobile mid and Jhin against an extremely mobile comp that had plenty of cc just seemed a recipe for trouble. I mean, I'll be honest, I'm super happy that Sneaky got to play Jhin but they should have offset that lack of mobility with someone more mobile in mid like Ahri, Yasuo... anything more mobile really probably would have put them in a better position to pull of a win.


Clearly, comp isn't the only issue. IMT is just so fucking strong. I think that Hai did a great job with his shotcalling but when it comes to playing against such a mobile and cc heavy comp and then just some rough breaks in some of the team fights it was just too much to ask.


I think that IMT is beatable though and this game does prove that. I think next time they face each other that C9 could definitely pull out a win. I'm not so sure that I believe IMT will go 18-0 this split

TL vs REN

TL: Nautilus, Graves, Corki, Ezreal, Thresh

Bans: Ryze, Braum, Draven

REN: Malphite, Elise, LeBlanc, Kalista, Alistar

Bans: Nidalee, Bard, Poppy

 

Straight up, don't remember this game. So, pass.

DIG vs TIP

DIG: Poppy, Nidalee, Viktor, Lucian, Braum

Bans: Alistar, Gangplank, Lulu

TIP: Graves, Rek'sai, Ryze, Corki, Bard

Bans: Elise, Kalista, Fiora

 

I also don't remember this game. :(


---


I'll keep working to get better at this. I really didn't pay close attention to the last couple of games and then waiting two days to write about them wahat little I did pay attention to has escaped me. I remember cheering for TIP and that's  about all!


But I'm going to keep working to improve my reviewing skills on games and I'm also going to start doing  bit of reviews for NA CS and other regional teams -- not all of them just the ones that I'm interested in.

Interview from Maplestreet

So, this is my first interview blog post with the one and only Ainslie "Maplestreet" Wyllie. When I asked him if I could interview him it was kind of a joke because I didn't really think that he'd be interested. I'm really glad he agreed and that we had the chance to talk. He's really down to Earth, funny and smart. I was extremely nervous and outside of my comfort zone with a skype call but it ended up being candid and casual conversation. So, definitely no regrets for pushing past my comfort zone a bit!

It was great to get to just talk and have a normal conversation with Maplestreet who was one of the players I first really loved watching when I got into League. T8 was one of my favorite teams last season and Maplestreet was 50% the reason and Cali the other 50% and I really enjoyed watching the team because they always played as a team and that really was a compelling thing about them for me.

I'm not gonna write a whole bio thing because that's what wikipedia is for. So, the rest of this is the transcription of the interview I did as close to verbatim as possible. I hope you guys enjoy it and again I am so grateful to Maplestreet for taking the time to talk with me and make this possible. He's a great guy and someone I do hope I get to speak to more. I wish him all the success in his future endeavors because he certainly deserves it. 

This was a lengthy conversation (because we both had a tendancy for tangents) so it will be a long post.

Without further ado, here is the transcript:
[2/12/16, 10:05PM]

Maple(M): Hello

Kit (K): Hi, Hello. I'm Kit. Can you hear me?

M: Yeah. I can hear you.

K: Okay, Cool. Alright so...

M: You go by Kit. Is that your real name?

K: Uh... yeah... Well, you go by Maplestreet, is that your real name?

M: No, my real name's Maple, obviously. My last name is Street.

K: My real name is Catherine. And I hate it. So, I've gone by Kit for a really long time.

M: Yeah.

K: So, I'm a little bit nervous. I haven't done this before so... yeah. It's very nice to meet you.

M: Yeah. Nice to meet you. You're a regular on my stream.

K: Yeah. I almost didn't get to catch it because I actually have to work during the day. So.

M: Yeah, that's alright. I'll probably be streaming the next two days or something.

K: Cool. Don't stream during LCS though. Or I'll miss it.

M: Oh yeah, that's true.

K: Yeah, when you said Valentine's Day, I was like that's Sunday.

M: I forgot. Rip in pepperonis. I'll take all the viewers away from the LCS matches.

K: Totally. All 50 of them.

M: They're all viewbots man. I just got to get my own viewbots. Counterplay.

K: Totally. So, I wrote down some questions and I guess we can kinda see how it goes. My blog is really in it's beginning stages so it'll just be a casual blog about our conversation and stuff. So, nothing like... I have like a total of 400 views on 7 posts so.

M: 400.

K: Yeah. I've only been doing it like... Well, I did one in like November... and then I did one about Gosu in December and then I just blog every week about NA LCS.

M: Oh yeah? How are you liking NA LCS?

K: Well, my favorite team is Cloud 9, so I'm liking it pretty well lately.

M: Hai will never retire.

K: I know right?

M: Poor Hai man. He'll have a broken arm but they'll still need him to play.

K: It's hilarious because last season I... my league name is C9 Forever but I would play with a Gravity icon or a T8 icon part of the time, like depending on how troll I wanted to be to people. But it's mostly a gravity icon because I play with a lot of Bunny's subs. I would always get trolled for using a gravity icon with my username.

M: C9 Forever... Kind of.

K: And guess what... Bunny.

M: Restrictions apply.

K: Bunny ends up on... But no, I like teams that play as a team and aren't like one trick ponys. So that's why C9 and T8 were like kind of my favorite teams. So, yes, I'm kind of still new to the scene. Last season was the first full season that I watched like the whole season.

M: Oh, okay, that's cool.

K: So, I'm still kind of new. So, I guess we'll start simply. This is kind of a silly question. But what originally got you into video games and league of legends?

M: Video games started very early for me. Cause my parents were always buying consoles at garage sales and what not... yard sales or whatever they call them in America. So yeah. I had a NES and a Sega Genesis and a played the hell out of NES games. And, I guess, since the games on the NES were so difficult it forged me into an expert videogamer.

M: But yeah, my college, my two year program in college was ending and I got a laptop that could play league... by that time my brother Oddone was already a pro player and already on TSM and moved out and stuff. So, I was like okay, why not, I'll try out this game. I was like I'll just play for fun. And then I got addicted very, very quickly and then I couldn't stop playing.

K: You know, I might be the only one but theoddone will always be your brother... like everyone says oddone's brother and I'm like no that's Maple's brother...

M: Yeah, one of these days. I'll make a name for myself in the world.

K: I knew of you first... so I was like this guy looks like Maplestreet, what the fuck is this?

M: Oh god. What a weird coincidence.

K: Wait, he has the same last name. That's really weird.

M: That's such a common last name.

K: I also didn't have a videogame console until I was 24.

M: Wow

K: Yeah, I'm 27 now. My parents didn't let us have videogames and stuff so... I'm pretty new to gaming.

M: Well, was there any activities at all?

K: Well, I did play World of Warcraft because I did have a computer. So, World of Warcraft, Sims and Civilization

M: Nice, nice. You play a lot of Civ V?

K: I haven't lately but when you started playing it I was like dammit I have to get back into this.

M: Every few months I just say time to play game or two.

K: Yeah, I kind of miss the Civilization III though.

M: I never played it until 5, so, but there's a lot of complex mechanics and stuff at first.

K: They made it like really super complicated. It used to be much simpler than that. But I like the world building games Ceasar and Zeus.

M: Yeah, I had Ceasar III.

K: I always thought those were really fun.

M: Yeah. I like those a lot too.

K: So, next, what is your inspiration or drive to play competively.

M: Well, I kind of played for fun for a while... and then this amusing competition occurred. And TSM was playing... It was the MLG summer arena and was it 2012? I believe it might have been 2012 or 2013... it's one of the two. But TSM got absolutely destroyed by a Korean team named MIG Blaze... and I was like damn, the Koreans are really good at this game and they just beat TSM and I'm a TSM fan. I must avenge their honor.

M: So, yeah, even though I was like a gold player at the time... I was just like, I must avenge my brethren. I must defeat the Koreans who are the best players in the entire world, who would beat me like 100 out of 100 times at the time. And like, for some reason, that gave me a lot of drive initially. I don't know, competition is just so fun. And seeing like all the innovative strategies that the other teams brought in really made me interested in going competitive.

K: Has that drive changed over time or is it still the innovation that drives you to be interested in playing competitively?

M: Yeah, I've definitely changed as a person along with playing the game and what not. Because I used to be very, very shy and a loner and stuff. Being thrown into the world of esports you get a very, very large audience who can hate on you or can love you... So, my motivations kind of change. I'm maybe not as competitive as I was when I was younger. It's been three years since then, so I don't have like the exact same goals as just beating Koreans... I just like... I don't know. I was super competitive but that kind of made me a mean person in a way.

M: Now, I'm just like, I kind of want to have fun because I've been through a bunch of different teams and stuff... like, it's been not fun sometimes. And other times, it feels like the world is rigged against you when bad shit happens. So, I'm just trying to improve myself as a person, work on my own personal development and along the way I'll just take league of legends with it. It's still pretty fun for me to play.

K: It's definitely fun to watch you play. I always enjoy it. You're definitely one of my favorite streamers and given when I got into League of Legends, Team 8 wasn't that popular but it's one of the teams that hooked me into League of Legends. Watching you guys play...

M: We were so good in Spring.

K: Yeah

M: I got benched.

K: That was really... that was actually... I didn't particularly like much in summer because you were my favorite player and Calitrolz was my other favorite so... I was kind of like... you guys really, really made me sad. But, he seems to be doing really well so that makes me happy. Cause I try to keep up a little bit but...

K: So, of course, if I ask any questions you don't feel comfortable with you definitely don't have to answer them. Cause I have some weird questions...Not like... I just don't know where you don't want to talk about stuff. The next one is, what do you feel has been the hardest challenge since you started the whole thing?

M: Well, a continuing challenge I have, I guess, is my own personal psyche and what not. I am probably one of the least consistent pro players in the history of the game. Like, I have absolutely dumpstered everyone in North America and I have been absolutely dumpstered by everyone in America.

K: Well, you're in league with Soaz but that's Europe.

M: I don't know. It's kind of weird, like, my life is an emotional rollercoaster. It's been somewhat depressed.

K: That seems to be a common theme with gamers in general.

M: Yeah, escapism in video games. And then you turn into a toxic solo queue rager.

K: So, I'm a really socially anxious person. Doing this makes me a little nervous but I thought it would be a better experience than written.

M: Yeah, I know that feeling. I was so bad in school and stuff. School presentations were the worst.

K: I was actually okay in school... I just didn't have any friends. My parents were Pentacostal. I don't know if you guys have Pentacostal people... but basically it was a really strict religion, could only wear skirts, no make up, couldn't cut my hair.

M: Only wear skirts, shit. Sign me up for that shit.

K: No, like long skirts like to your ankle.

M: Oh shit, sign me up still.

K: No.

M: I want an excuse to wear a skirt for once.

K: Well, boys couldn't wear skirts.

M: Dammit, okay.

K: You would look really good,  though.

M: Oh yeah, shit. You gotta get the photoshop experts on it. MS Paint expert.

K: Or, you could just wait for Halloween and just dress up...

M: Yeah, just pretend to be dressed up for Halloween.

K: And really you're just exploring your darker side.

M: Yeah, how will I know if I like it if I don't try it.

K: Exactly, but yeah, it was realy weird... I didn't make any friends.

M: Yeah, don't worry. I was in the same boat and look where I am. I'm so successful, kappa.

K: You know, I think success has a lot of different faces.

M: Oh yeah. As long as you're happy. It's good.

K: I think you've accomplished a lot. I would say you're successful. Then, in your time in the competitive scene, what has been your lowest low?

M: My lowest low, huh...

K: Yeah, I know you've had a lot of highs and lows.

M: I've had a lot of lows. I've been super depressed at certain points like... Velocity was my first major team. And, at the time, no one liked us because we defeated and relegated a more popular team, MRN. And we started like performing poorly or I guess... our record didn't reflect us being a very good team. Like, so many people on reddit would just post so much hate against us. And that made me so depressed that like thousands of people were judging me as like this terrible human being. They're like, you suck at league, you suck at life. I wish you didn't exist. I'm like wow that's harsh.

K: People are awful.

M: I don't know. The average age of the people in league is actually much lower than 23 or 27. So, I'm so old. Even compared to pro players I'm like... I'm in like the top 10%. I'm pretty old.

K: On the flipside, what has been your highest high?

M: There's like... there's been moments where I've been playing the game where... it's like super, super intense. Like, there's extremely difficult plays that need to be made and I'll make them and my heart will be racing really, really fast. And like... I'll sense or hear it or I'll just feel that my heart is racing so hard... and it's louder than anything going on. But I'm like... when I can just play through that and still succeed... it's like the greatest feeling in the world. It's like I'm overcoming this extreme emotion and still performing at the highest level...

M: So, there's been a few of those on Team 8 and I've had a few of them on Renegades and a few of them on Velocity... like for some reason, at some points, I get tired of losing or like...yeah...just something inside me gets so intense and it's just so awesome... and it's something I can be proud of. I've spent most of my life not appreciating anything I do and what not... but those moments, I'm just like, Dang I did well there.

K: So, a question you probably get asked all the time... what is your favorite and least favorite champions?

M: Those are always like difficult questions for me to answer for some reason. Because, I'm way too like calculating and cold right now. I used to be so pure like... I love Corki in his urfrider skin. It's so cute. But now I'm like... I like Corki but he got nerfed a bit and I shouldn't have preferences for champions since the meta keeps changing and with every patch note... I should have unclouded judgement on the champion and due to Corki being nerfed he's not actually my favorite.

K: So, if in a hypothetical world there was a Maplestreet patch where you could have like anything you wanted on any champions, what would that be?

M: Well, let's just hope Varus somehow gets a buff for AD carry. I actually like playing Varus a lot. That was actually one of my first mains. Varus is so hot dude. The half naked man, he's throwing tentacles out at everyone. It's so funny. I love Varus.

K: I love him too. That was actually the first AD carry that I got really good at...

M: Nice, nice.

K: Actually, it was like him and Twitch at the same time.

M: Oh, not bad.

K: I'm not very good at AD carry. I'm totally scrub.

M: Yeah. Don't worry. I'm pretty scrub myself. I can't hold a team at the moment. I'm boosted.

K: I'm so sad.

M: I'm so sad too. Least favorite champions... any champion that can gank me a bunch and in the meta game. Like, seriously, junglers are so annoying. Like, there's a Rek'sai reach around the turret gank which is total bullshit and impossible to deal with. I hate Rek'sai. I hate Evelynn.

K: Evelynn drives me nuts. I don't even know how I could answer those questions.

M: Quinn is annoying too. Every champion that has ever killed me in the history of the game. Screw them.

K: So, like, every champion ever.

M: Yes.

K: Except maybe like Galio. Cause no one plays Galio.

M: Yeah, something like that.

K: What do you think of season 6 so far?

M: Let's see... it started off with the huge mastery changes, essence reaver is broken forever... I actually don't mind season 6 that much. AD carries got reworked and people were saying that AD carries were broken but I felt like they were weaker than ever. Season 6, I feel like has been the season where the game is the most balanced and like the dedicated roles of each role is set in stone. Like you have to play as a team to win now and if you don't have a fairly well balanced team composition I feel like you're at a really big disadvantage.

M: So...season 6, I hate, cause I am like... I am a person that enjoys playing single player games and I enjoy...like... honing my personal skills in video games. So, like...when I'm being told I have to play as a team, I'm like crap. This is unfamiliar territory.

K: So, why are you playing a team game?

M: I don't know. I'm into deep at this point. There's no way I can change games after like spending the entirety of the past four years playing.

K: Be like... Mario Smash pro...

M: I don't know. Competivie mario and smash dude... They've been playing for like twenty years and shit. They've been playing fighting games since they were like two.

K: So, then, when I ask you what changes you most want to see... it's basically you want a game mode where you can play all by yourself?

M: No, I just want a mode where I can win my lane so hard without the jungler ganking me that I can 1 versus 5 the entire team. Sounds totally reasonable, right?

K: That's completely reasonable.

M: Yeah. I hit like level 6 and I've got a Karthus ult that one shots everyone in game.

K: Yeah, let's put a Karthus ult on an AD carry because that would be fun.

M: Yeah.

K: That would be so fun. What are your thoughts on NA LCS? Have you been watching it?

M: I've been watching a bit of it. TSM looks like the crappiest team of all time. It's so embarrassing how like...bad they are... And that's like a little bit of motivation to me. I've got toxic motivations. I'm just like god, they're so bad. I might as well do it myself. I need to get good. I can't trust on TSM or any of these teams to carry us at worlds.

K: Yeah, it was kind of hilarious because when I wrote my original... I wrote like what I thought of the teams and like how I thought they would do and like I originally... TSM has a lot of star power but I don't think they're going to mesh very well personality wise and no one is going to listen to Yellowstar.

M: Dang.

K: So, what happens, no one listens to Yellowstar and they look like a hot mess.

M: Who knows...

K: I don't know if that's it but that's what it looks like.

M: It's always hard to tell from the outside looking in. It just looks like everyone is bad.

K: Yeah, I'm not blaming anyone specifically but it looks like...and Doublelift's actually said there's a lot of trust issues it seems like... Communication so... Hot mess.

M: Okay, what other team is there... LA Renegades ... They benched me for Freeze and then they were like... we might as well improve our team in the off season... let's get rid of Maple. This will fix our team.

K: I still think that was like the worst move that I've ever seen in my life.

M: I'm still tilted to this day.

K: If RF still wasn't...actually he's been benched also...so I'm like what, why am I even cheering for you guys anymore?

M: RIP


K: It's just like slowly everything I liked about the team is just going away.

M: It's so sad about the whole thing. I don't know. I'm a very competitive person. So then... they went to boot camp in Korea... And I'm just like damn wish I could go to korea to play.

K: I think they would have done better if they'd kept you but that's just my opinion.

M: Well, the past is the past. I just need to step up, move on and prove them wrong.

K: You know what team I was most wrong about?

M: Which team?

K: Immortals.

M: Oh god.

K: I said, you know, they're all really good players but aside from Adrian like none of them have like a cool head. So they're either going to be super good or super bad and they're probably going to look sloppy. Because, I didn't account for Huni and Reignover picking up on Yellowstar's shotcalling from playing with him for so long. I just didn't factor that into my assessment of them. I always figured Turtle would be better off of TSM, after watching TSM Legends and things that were happening there.

M: Fucking TSM dude. Bjergsen and four wards.

K: Dude. Aren't you like in a TSM streamer's house right now?

M: Nah, it's not really sponsored by them. They pay the rent themselves, the two people oddone and dyrus.

K: Yeah, so I'm just kidding you anyway. So, yeah, I just mean I felt like Turtle would do better on another team. But I was like Adrian is the only person on this team that knows how to place a ward. That's like what my thought was... they're just going to lose so hardcore because they're going to go for it and not know how to just calm down. Because Huni's just always so aggressive and everything. And so, I was super wrong about them. But, C9 is going to beat them this weekend because I'm a delusional C9 fan.

M: Alright then.

K: I was actually hyper critical of C9 in my predictions.

M: Dang, you're critical of every team. What team did you think was going to be good?

K: I predicted that C9 would look good and CLG thought would be interesting. I was more leaning toward Huhi would look really good and Stixxay was underrated... and then Aphro and Darshan will be Aphro and Darshan and.... Xmithie...will be Xmithie....

M: What the hell does that mean? That was the weakest analysis I've ever heard. Aphro will be Aphro, Xmithie will be Xmithie. Darshan will be Darshan.

K: At the time, I wasn't very invested in CLG. I was curious about Huhi and I like Aphro and Darshan. So, when I say Aphromoo and Darshan will be themselves is that they're going to be really, really good at what they do. And Xmithie is...

M: Going to do Xmithie things.

K: Yeah, he's going to be that cinderhulk... miss ult... I'm actually not that much of a ...

M: The Sejuani ults..

K: Sometimes, I'm like why...I don't understand their decision to keep him but he also fits their style pretty well, so... yeah. I was just really interested in Hotshot's view on how to treat players and I think it's actually done them pretty well. But, there wasn't a lot of teams I had a lot of faith in because like... I actually thought the Renegades were going to do much better than they did... so far...

M: I thought they would be better from Korean boot camp but I honestly think they got worse. It doesn't even make sense. How does that happen? I would have gotten so much better in the fires of Korea. Shit. I would have been playing my ass off...shit.

K: I don't know what happen with that. It's depressing to watch. I figured NRG would be good but I didn't care much about them. I wrote a novel on C9 and then everything else is really short. Cause, I have a lot of opinions on C9 and wrote about all the players.

M: And Balls' recent game was quite interesting. The Fiora game against Renegades...I think it was.

K: Oh, the one where he did like 529 damage?

M: Yeah... I don't like Balls. If I did a fantasy team I wouldn't want Balls. I'd take RF Legendary over Balls man.

K: He had such low damage cause no one could ever fight him. Balls, actually isn't my favorite top laner. My favorite top laner is probably Darshan and I also like RF Legendary a lot and he's really nice so...

M: Yeah. Honestly, and I've been following the scene for a long time... Balls used to be a dominant top laner but now he's so far from it it really makes me wonder... if he's gonna be playing much longer.

K: I feel like he's on the upswing. His games lately have looked a lot better. I don't know. It might be towards the end for him. But he also seems really motivated to be better again, so...I guess we'll see what happen with them. Dyrus is... I didn't like Dyrus originally when I got into League but I didn't like TSM because... for me they were like a one trick pony team. Because it's like mid...pour everything into mid every single game and no other strategiess. So, I didn't really like that but then I liked Lustboy a lot. So...then Dyrus grew on me. I don't know how that happened.

M: He grew on you. He is pretty tall.

K: Then he made me cry when he cried at worlds and I was like I hate you so much. You're really easy to talk to.

M: Am I? I went on random tangents like what do you think of NA LCS? Well, Balls sucks. Yeah, I don't know. I thought Immortals would be really good. They're also backed by the best management staff support structure. And TSM always disappoints. I feel like they're probably just... they just have... it's such a cop out to blame like coaching and what not but they've consistently had star players each split and then they just fail. They never adapt to international play well. It's always really crappy, in my opinion.

K: At least now, there's a little bit more variety in how they play...sort of...kind of...not realy.

M: Yeah. They win and sometimes they lose. And then they throw at baron

K: I have friends who are like they're making Yellowstar look bad. And I'm like yeah... kind of. A little bit. But he's kind like the Madlife of NA. Because everytime I watch CJ I'm just like Madlife you look so sad. How did I end up with these people? There's not really any teams that I really hate. They're all kind of interesting but I was wrong about 75% of the teams but they all did like crazy shit last minute like after I'd already made all my predictions. Like the Liquid shit happened after I'd already made my predictions about Liquid. Though, I thought keeping Piglet was a mistake and I still kind am iffy about Piglet.

M: Hey, everyone's been saying he's like the best AD carry.

K: No, he's a mechanical God but so is Doublelift but that doesn't mean that they're good teammates and like... half the time I like Doublelift half the time he drives me nuts but Piglet's the same way. But sometimes I feel like they're really bad teammates. So like you can be awesome but if you're a toxic asshole you're not going to win.

M: Yeah

K: That's why I still think they would have been better off even if they had downgraded to get someone that was more... had a better attitude. But...

M: yeah.

K: No one asked me these things.

M: it's always like super difficult entering the unknown and then also if they org just drops him and like they get a lot of hate when they don't succeed right away. It's like oh you guys are just idiots. Yeah... we're dealing with kids I guess and if the orgs tweet out this guy's a stupid cunt don't pick him up for your team. That could ruin his entire life.

K: yeah. That's... I kind of like how basically the team mom for C9 when people were shit talking Bunny and it was like Rioters doing it... and she was like this is what destroys young players is people saying things like this...cause it was basically #c9withhai and it was like that's how you destroy young player's confidence.

M: Yeah.

K: Cause Bunnyfufuu is actually really good but he played against Immortals... And C9 did not look that bad that game.

M: Rest in peace Bunny. There's only one player in the history of the game that I would like...hope an org would be like don't ever pick up this player. And he's very very infamous for every team hates him. Every team that's ever decided to try him out hates him.

K: So, if you could join or create any team.. which team or what people would you want to play with? Or what organization?

M: that's an intense question.

K: I know.

M: that's so hard to say. Let's see... out of all the LCS teams right now. I guess it would be coolest to play on Immortals or maybe TSM. Like, I don't... I always want to strive to play higher levels of competition so if I could go to worlds or IEM. I think it'd be cool to play against the best players and see how I stack up. Like, for some reason, I'm like... I'm so inconsistent because my motivations are so weird. Like, if I get completely outplayed and destroyed that will motivated for like a whole month.

K: So, apparently you need to play for TSM and go play at IEM and get destroyed.

M: Yes. Like literally, that's what happens. Like someone presses me so much and I'm like whoa. they're awesome. Shit. I need to work way harder now. Instead, I lose track of things and I guess like waste time getting angry at stupid things like people in solo queue. But yeah, I think it'd be cool to play on a team with like big management and popularity.

K: I would vote for TSM Maplestreet.

M: yeah. Make it happen..

K: Veto the Doublelift.

M: Who knows, it could be an upgrade.

K: I think it would be. I always thought you seemed like you were a really good teammate to your teams. So that was...I think that would be a plus but then again on TSM I'm not sure how important that would be.

M: yeah, who knows.

K: My thoughts are TSM are always kind of complicated.

M: They're cute but...

K: No...they're not actually

M: So toxic in solo queue.

K: Actually none of them are that cute right now.

M: That's why they're losing.

K: Hauntzer. There you go. They have Hauntzer.

M: They're only losing cause they're not cute.

K: So, I'll adjust that. What person do you think you'd like be on a team with. A specific person?

M: Oh yeah... Let's see. Immortals is kind of cool. Cause they're the rejects. They're just like the rejects of their teams. Like Fnatic is like we don't want to pay you that much Reignover and Huni you can go away. Pobelter's probably the same deal with CLG. ah, we don't want to pay you, we want Huhi instead. So like join the rejects.

K: So, do you like Adrian's style of support?

M: I like Adrian as a person. So, I guess I could get used to his support.

K: So that's a no.

M: I don't know. I've never played with someone that's so like strong at the Janna Soraka plays. Like you don't see many people in soloq who are good soraka's. Like you'd think it'd be easy but...

K: Actually she is so hard to play well...especially at that level.

M: either the one team plays terribly against the Soraka or the Soraka is a god. Very few Soraka gods.

K: So, stylistically, what current professional support, maybe not even in NA do you think that you would synergize well with and like playing with?

M: I don't know. Me and Maria were like.. we had pretty amazing synergy.

K: The most OP botlane.

M: Because we were both like depressed people that kind of hated the world and it's like let's unite our hatred for the world.

K: I really enjoy watching you guys play together. It was..

M: It was fun for a while. It was some of the most fun I had.

K: So do you have any funny stories about your past teammates you'd like to share? Or embarrassing stories that you won't get in trouble for sharing?

M: I don't know. All I remember is my drunken adventures.

K: Oh. Tell me more.

M: I was super drunk at IEM San Jose and I think I asked Sjokz out on a date. But she realized how very drunk I was so... I also got $100 for confessing my love for Sjokz in person.

K: So, do you think she would have said yes if you weren't drunk

M: who knows. No comment. Fuck you Sjokz. You denied me. No one denies me. I won't resort to any name calling but...I'm just saying.

K: That's adorable.

M: No one should reject someone as awesome as me..

K: No, you are awesome.

M: Exactly.

K: So, what past teammate has helped you most in game or as a person?

M: In game teammates only..

K: Or you know people in the scene that have...that have been like...

M: Okay. Owner of Team 8, Eric Ma. He's the greatest human being ever. Also, I love the coach, Matt. Matt and Eric are the greatest people are ever. Eric's like... he just... has a good amount of faith in me. He always just encouraged me to go on and stuff. And like he invested a bunch of money even when we were still a challenger team. He made all or dreams happen so... Eric is like the greatest human being ever. One of these days I'm just going to become a servant for his mansion. But yeah, I would take ten bullets for Eric before letting the next bullet hit him.

K: Oh. So he's worth ten

M: I'm like you're worth about ten of me and then after me I need to rest a little. The next bullet might kill me.

K: That's true. You're only so big.

M: Matt's just like a really good friend of mine. I always talk to him about random stuff. Game philosophy and stuff. And all the players I've ever played with are just like unique individuals and they've all like had an impact on me.

K: Yeah.

M: I wouldn't say anyone had like a fairly negative impact on me... They're all unique. At times I kind of hated them. But when I look back, no one was in the wrong. They just had different perspectives and attitudes towards stuff.

M: Like, for example, Calitrolz is like this really harsh person but he's always really direct and what  not. And that's just how he is. He definitely wanted to win and he was stubborn sometimes. He was like the shotcaller in Team 8 and if we didn't have him shotcalling we probably wouldn't have won any game. Me and Slooshi weren't super decisive and like confident in our own calls. Calitrolz would be like everyone listen to me right now or I'm fucking suiciding...We're like fuck. You'd think that's like toxic but not it's actually he wants to win and he's taking the responsibility to make the calls. So you should just follow him.

K: yeah, he was really amazing to watch play.

M: yeah

K: Did you ever have conflicts with your teammates? How did you resolve them if you did?

M: I can't really think of the largest conflict that I've had against another player. I've never got into like a fist fight or yelling match. So... It's not really...Calitrolz has yelled at me a few times but...

K: So you just....

M: It was all to motivate me. Secretly he loves me, even if he'll never admit it. I understand you Cali you don' have to pretend anymore.

K: Oh god. So, what do you think of yourself as a player and how do you think you'd do if you were in the LCS this season?

M: I don't know. I had so much strong play in NACS and if I somehow kept up that level of motivation and play, I honestly believe I could be really really strong in LCS. Right now I guess I'm just inconsistent. I was on teams and then secretly not on teams. I was stuck in contract hell and then no longer in contract hell. It was unlucky. So that pissed me off. And I guess that just shifted my focus away from just constantly playing to get better and stuff. So, I need to find my way again. work on my own mental fortitude I guess. The ability to just keep working hard even when I don't feel 100% what not. I'm pretty bad right now honestly. But I feel like given the opportunity and a little bit of time I would have the motivation to impress everyone so often.

K: What are your hopes for the future?

M: That's a good question. My hopes for the future. I don't know. A few years ago, I guess my aspirations were to become someone that could have a really positive change in the world. So, I'm not entirely sure what job that was... I was thinking of becoming a teacher and stuff but like I had like these aspirations to be like this noble valiant person who helped poor kids in need and stuff...and make them not go through the troubles that I did and hardships and stuff. But in a way, the hardship shape me into the person I am. I don't know. I just want to make a positive change in the world. Doing good. I would like people at my funeral to be like he was a good kid and I mean it.

K: I absolutely agree with that myself. it's definitely a good outlook to have too.

M: I don't wanna die and at my funeral it's like he was an alright kid. Even though he did like a lot drugs and was shot like a million times by the police for trying to rob a bank. He was a cool kid. He was funny. I'm sure he just meant it as a prank.

K: Is there anything in the league of legends or esports scene that you'd be interested in doing aside from being a player?

M: I've actually had some interest in being a coach kind of. But I've never actually done the hard work for any teams yet. I've done some analysis work for various teams but I haven't been hired full time by anytime. I think maybe that's a sign I'm not as important or concise with my information as necessary.  I'm actually like decently smart on the game. Maybe I'll teach kids how to go from bronze to challenger. Be training the future superstars that will beat the Koreans for me.

K: Teach me.

M: Alright, I'll teach you. What role do you play?

K: I main jungle all last season pretty much

M: Oh god, nevermind.

K: But this season I'm pretty much sticking to mid and ADC because literally if you don't you can't move up in the elo that I'm in.

M: It's hilarious ironic that I'm like the worse jungler in the history of high elo. I find life hilarious. Like there's certain things I call ironies of life and stuff... and it's like you can jinx yourself. I've not missed this shot in 100 times and then throw it and it misses. Ah shit. just weird and amusing things that happen.

K: that was actually my last question I had written down.

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Thank you again so much Maplestreet. I enjoyed this so much and had a great time getting to talk to you and being given this great opportunity.

Week 5 Day 1

Today was definitely a day of really fun games! I'm actually still battling sickness and working on transcribing my interview with Maplestreet so this will be super, duper concise.

FOX vs REN

Fox: Malphite, Elise, Corki, Caitlyn, Alistar

Bans: Ryze, Braum, Zed

Ren: Quinn, Rek'sai, Lulu, Kalista, Poppy

Bans: Nidalee, LeBlanc, Twisted Fate

 

So, I was 50/50 about this game. After it's done I just kind of feel horribly for Crumbz. This was a really fun game as a FOX fan though. It was great to see KFO look like he was having better communication for the team. And I was just super excited to see Froggen play again. I think there's not a lot to say about this game though. It felt kind of sloppy on both sides but both teams are still struggling due to their roster issues I think. 

I wish I had more to say about this game.

NRG vs CLG

NRG: Malphite, Kindred, Corki, Ezreal, Braum

Bans: Ryze, Kalista, Graves

CLG: Fiora, Elise, LeBlanc, Lucian, Morgana

Bans:Gangplank, Poppy, Nidalee

I was really excited about this game. I had full faith that CLG would win it. As the analyst desk discussed after there's just something missing from NRG. They could be amazing but honestly, I don't think we'll see their full potential for some time...

That being said, aside from a few misteps I think CLG looked really strong. I was really impressed with Huhi's play and I hope he gets to play on more assassin in the coming weeks. I'm still excited about that super dangerous kill on Malphite that honestly how in the fuck did it even happen? Amazing. 

There was a lot of tactical outplays on CLG's part and I'm honestly very impressed with Aphromoo's shotcalling. His interview after the game also made me respect him anymore because he takes responsiblity humbly and eloquently. I think that's a really important trait especially in a shotcaller.

Also, despite Huhi's protests the pink jerseys are awesome and look super good on all of them. :)

C9 vs TL

C9: Malphite, Nunu, Corki, Lucian, Morgana

Bans: Elise, Lulu, Poppy

TL: Quinn, Rek'sai, Twisted Fate, Kalista, Alistar

Bans: Nidalee, Gangplank, Jhin

I really, really enjoyed this game a lot more than I have the energy to talk about. Hai was super fun to watch and so ballsy this game. I think that was my favorite part of the whole thing. It's always fun to see a game where everyone in C9 is doing well. I think Malphite might be the Maokai of season 6 though. I'm not really complaining though if they continue to find success with it.

Overall, C9 is really looking like a force to be reckoned with.

Liquid really seems to be a mess... I hope that they are able to help Matt right himself so that he can put on a more consistent showing going forward. It seems like he must be in his own head after last week and that's not good for the team right now

TIP vs TSM

TIP: Nautilus, Graves, LeBlanc, Ezreal, Bard

Bans: Syndra, Kalista, Lulu

TSM: Fiora, Kindred, Zilean, Corki, Alistar

Bans: Poppy, Gangplank, Nidalee

My thoughts basically are... TSM should feel bad and TIP looks solid but were outgunned. They had some decision making issues. I think if they can just get their shotcalling together and play consistently they can pull into the middle of the pack.
 

IMT vs DIG

IMT: Gangplank, Rek'sai, Lux, Kalista, Soraka

Bans: Poppy, Corki, Graves

DIG: Quinn, Elise, Ahri, Lucian, Janna

Bans: Nidalee, Lulu, Fiora

So... DIG made me hopefuly for like two seconds and then they were dashed. IMT looks awesome as usual... I really don't have anything to say about this game. It's getting boring watching IMT games.


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Catch y'all tomorrow.  

C9 plus Huhi is adorable

This week wasn't the usual way I want to do my blog and I am going to just highlight a few games. So, of course, I'm gonna talk about C9 but CLG also stood out for me this past weekend. Maybe a bit bias since I've become even more fond of Huhi lately than I was before. TIP has also been really interesting. I wonder if teams will stop underestimating them yet.

So, I'll talk about the C9 games first. I'm always excited to see Cloud9 play, even if they lose (although, that is very painful to my heart).

The first game was C9 vs REN. This game was totally freaking insane. I wouldn't have guessed a sub 20 minute game would happen but I really shouldn't be surprised. I think that even though Renegades might not be the stiffest competition, the fact that Cloud9 were able to take advantage and so effectively shut them out so quickly is promising to the idea that they are back in form. Of course, not all the issues are solved and I think there's a lot of places they can shore up but that win just feels awesome as a C9 fan. I could watch montages of Jensen from that game over and over again. LOL

It was just nice to see them be so decisive. 

Now, on Sunday, I was really anxious about the C9 vs NRG game. Then we got to the draft and I was even more anxious. I should've written this sooner because I'm failing to really find the details of the game. I feel like again C9 looked really strong. I'm totally amazed by how good Jensen played this past weekend and it makes me super excited to see them play against Immortals again this coming weekend. I think they have a decent shot at being the ones to take down Immortals perfect record. 

I'm not getting too in depth because I honestly let too much time pass before I sat down and buckled in to get this written out. I'm never going to let that slide again. 

I wanted to write more about CLG but I'll leave it at that I feel like they looked really good against IMT but their game on Sunday looked a bit sloppy. I think teams have this habit of underestimating TIP way too much and so the games become a bit harder than they should be. I think it was a fun game to watch and Huhi's interview afterwards was pretty precious.

I don't really have much more for this post but I needed to make one because if I don't I'll break my habit of making consistent blog posts. I know this was really super lackluster but it's done!