Someone to look up to: LCS pros and their heroes
Riot·5/12/2015, 9:28:11 PM·0 votes·10,058 views
"I'll take Ahri mid!" you type in the pre-game lobby excitedly, having just watched Søren "Bjergsen" Bjerg dance circles around the enemy team as the Nine-Tailed Fox. Hoping to mimic the TSM mid-laners expert mechanics and split-second decision making, you look up the runes and masteries he used in the match. The timer ticks to zero and you get ready to dominate, just like the BjergerKing.
Having pro-players to look up to and draw inspiration from is huge for the next wave star-studded Summoners. While future mid-laners will point to the likes of Bjergsen and Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok as the players they emulated while they climbed their way to Challenger, today's pro-players tread a path that few have lead before them. That being said, there are those that helped pave the way, and inspired them to continue working toward being the best.
Elements mid laner Henrik "Froggen" Hansen found his competitive edge early on in life through soccer, which he played for 10 years. "I always liked the big players back in the day, from Ronaldinho and Roberto Carlos to Messi and Cristiano," explains Froggen. "It was always cool to watch [players] outplay the opponent, like when somebody dribbles past a couple guys on his own. That's something I always wanted to achieve."
While the 1 vs. 1 potential exists in both League and soccer, Froggen says it's quite different. "You don't really get ganked in soccer," he says laughing. "The 1 vs. 1 is kind of like boxing. You don't have to knock him out [or] kill him, you can just win by points and taking small advantages and then you can go help the team from there. Or you suddenly get a gank while doing a 1 vs. 1, like someone goes into the ring and just gives the guy an uppercut!"
In terms of his gaming heroes, Froggen says that he was a big fan of the early Counter Logic Gaming squad. He points to Steve "Chauster" Chau, George "HotshotGG" Georgallidis, Brandon "Saintvicious" DiMarco, and Michael "Bigfatlp" Tang as the players he watched the most. "It was mostly streams that helped me improve," he said. "I would see how they played a champion and then try to replicate the combos and spell-using they did well...and implement it in my own play."
Team Impulse's AD Carry Apollo "Apollo" Price represents part of the new wave of esports stars. As an up-and-coming name in the LCS, Apollo says that growing up he was a real "esports fanboy." He began following esports when the first Dota was starting to grow a competitive scene. "My childhood heroes were Loda, Vigoss, a lot of Dota pros. That's the kind of people I looked up to." Jonathan "Loda" Berg and Ivan "Vigoss" Shinkarev were some of the first major names in esports, when the MOBA genre was just starting to take off.
Apollo says that the qualities these players exemplified are true of the best players in any sport. "The people that are on the top have such a good work ethic, [are] always driven and have that passion," he said. "I think that's the biggest thing you can look up to someone for right? They're still going, they're still trying to get better."
Cloud9's William "Meteos" Hartman shows that dedication to improvement is a trait that is as important now as it's ever been, and it is the reason why he's constantly ranked as one of the top junglers in North America. "A lot of people fall into the trap of wanting to think they're good all the time, and I kind of avoid that. I think that once you think you're good you stop improving. I always had the mindset that I want to improve," explains Meteos.
Just like Froggen and Apollo, Meteos had his own favorite streamer. "The player I followed the closest was from Heroes of Newerth, his name was N0tail," says Meteos. Johan "BigDaddy" Sunderstein, formerly known as N0tail, began his competitive career playing HoN before switching over to Dota 2. "I thought he was an extremely good player, and I would watch his stream anytime it was on, and if I missed it I would watch his VODs," explains Meteos. Meteos can now call BigDaddy his colleague, as Sunderstein recently joined Cloud9's Dota 2 squad as a support player.
Meteos is aware of the fact that he is now in a position where other players will be looking up to him, but he doesn't worry too much about it. "I do recognize that people will probably copy some of the things I do if they're trying to go pro, or watch my stream, or that sort of thing. I try to set a good example when I can, but [I'm] not super, overly righteous about it. I try to be a good guy."
Esports fans have a unique and unprecedented ability to interact with their favorite pros. "We're always using Twitter," explains Apollo. "We have live-streaming so you kind of get to see the pro's personality...and that kind of lets you connect with them, which I think is good." This kind of access allows the next generation of esports athlete to follow in their favorite player's footsteps, and continue to build the competitive landscape.
Who are your LCS heroes? Which players do you watch to get insight on how to improve in your own game? Share your favorite players, past and present, in the comments section!
From the pitch to the Rift
Elements mid laner Henrik "Froggen" Hansen found his competitive edge early on in life through soccer, which he played for 10 years. "I always liked the big players back in the day, from Ronaldinho and Roberto Carlos to Messi and Cristiano," explains Froggen. "It was always cool to watch [players] outplay the opponent, like when somebody dribbles past a couple guys on his own. That's something I always wanted to achieve."
While the 1 vs. 1 potential exists in both League and soccer, Froggen says it's quite different. "You don't really get ganked in soccer," he says laughing. "The 1 vs. 1 is kind of like boxing. You don't have to knock him out [or] kill him, you can just win by points and taking small advantages and then you can go help the team from there. Or you suddenly get a gank while doing a 1 vs. 1, like someone goes into the ring and just gives the guy an uppercut!"
In terms of his gaming heroes, Froggen says that he was a big fan of the early Counter Logic Gaming squad. He points to Steve "Chauster" Chau, George "HotshotGG" Georgallidis, Brandon "Saintvicious" DiMarco, and Michael "Bigfatlp" Tang as the players he watched the most. "It was mostly streams that helped me improve," he said. "I would see how they played a champion and then try to replicate the combos and spell-using they did well...and implement it in my own play."
Paving the way
Team Impulse's AD Carry Apollo "Apollo" Price represents part of the new wave of esports stars. As an up-and-coming name in the LCS, Apollo says that growing up he was a real "esports fanboy." He began following esports when the first Dota was starting to grow a competitive scene. "My childhood heroes were Loda, Vigoss, a lot of Dota pros. That's the kind of people I looked up to." Jonathan "Loda" Berg and Ivan "Vigoss" Shinkarev were some of the first major names in esports, when the MOBA genre was just starting to take off.
Apollo says that the qualities these players exemplified are true of the best players in any sport. "The people that are on the top have such a good work ethic, [are] always driven and have that passion," he said. "I think that's the biggest thing you can look up to someone for right? They're still going, they're still trying to get better."
Walk the path
Cloud9's William "Meteos" Hartman shows that dedication to improvement is a trait that is as important now as it's ever been, and it is the reason why he's constantly ranked as one of the top junglers in North America. "A lot of people fall into the trap of wanting to think they're good all the time, and I kind of avoid that. I think that once you think you're good you stop improving. I always had the mindset that I want to improve," explains Meteos.
Just like Froggen and Apollo, Meteos had his own favorite streamer. "The player I followed the closest was from Heroes of Newerth, his name was N0tail," says Meteos. Johan "BigDaddy" Sunderstein, formerly known as N0tail, began his competitive career playing HoN before switching over to Dota 2. "I thought he was an extremely good player, and I would watch his stream anytime it was on, and if I missed it I would watch his VODs," explains Meteos. Meteos can now call BigDaddy his colleague, as Sunderstein recently joined Cloud9's Dota 2 squad as a support player.
A new generation
Meteos is aware of the fact that he is now in a position where other players will be looking up to him, but he doesn't worry too much about it. "I do recognize that people will probably copy some of the things I do if they're trying to go pro, or watch my stream, or that sort of thing. I try to set a good example when I can, but [I'm] not super, overly righteous about it. I try to be a good guy."
Esports fans have a unique and unprecedented ability to interact with their favorite pros. "We're always using Twitter," explains Apollo. "We have live-streaming so you kind of get to see the pro's personality...and that kind of lets you connect with them, which I think is good." This kind of access allows the next generation of esports athlete to follow in their favorite player's footsteps, and continue to build the competitive landscape.
Who are your LCS heroes? Which players do you watch to get insight on how to improve in your own game? Share your favorite players, past and present, in the comments section!
). Whereas most players had a champion pool, Froggen had a champion ocean. For YellOwStaR, it was how well he could play the support role and shotcall for his team. The fact that I actually saw him making pivotal plays from the support role really opened my eyes to how supports could carry a game. Him (and Mata when I eventually discovered the Korean scene) really inspired me to make a difference from the support role. They are all very mechanically skilled as well.
dying top 15 times in a recent game with Sneaky and aphromoo). Rather than raging, they see what they can do and laugh whenever something good or disgustingly terrible happens.
I always look up to PowerOfEvil. When I play 
I try to mimic BunnyFufuu. When I play 
its Bjergsen. So it depends what I'm doing that particular game
