Impaler coasts to success

Matt ‘Impaler’ Taylor took a gamble transfering to NA, but it’s paying dividends for the young Englishman. With Team Coast at his back he barreled through the Expansion Tournament to take the final spot in the NA LCS. His performance wasn’t without mistakes, but with a new perspective on his game, Impaler is quick to get back on the horse. Though he’s now known for making plays where it counts, the new jungler for Team Coast started his career humbly. Since his time with Supa Hot Crew, Impaler’s trials and tribulations have turned him into a veritable force on the Rift.

Turning points

From the get go, Impaler and SHC’s 2014 Spring Split was a learning experience. Even though they bested Fnatic to earn their longest split streak at three wins, they were never again able to take a positive record. It was clear Impaler had the skill to play in the LCS, but his early play suggested he needed time to feel at ease among greats like Shook and Cyanide. “Honestly in SHC I was pretty afraid of fucking up a lot or making mistakes. I was the consistent guy who didn’t make crazy, big plays but was always reliable,” Impaler says. In addition to adjusting to the big stage, his champion pool needed some trial and error to expand and solidify beyond his favorite Piltover Enforcer, Vi. As he went toe-to-toe against EU’s best in the jungle he gained the irreplaceable stage experience that separate goods from the greats. Looking to keep up with his peers, Impaler worked throughout the spring to expand his toolbelt of champions. It wasn’t long before he was earning bans for his Pantheon in the spring and then consistently setting up picks as Elise later in the summer. SHC earned a top three finish in the Round Robin portion of the Summer Split, but an unexpected flop against Roccat in the playoffs brought their otherwise successful split to a jarring halt. Personal conflicts reached a boiling point between Impaler and his teammates, forcing Impaler and SHC to part ways in early October. Suddenly, he had nowhere to turn. “EU was already really known for junglers. Amazing was free at the time, Dexter is still free. It didn’t look like I’d get to tryout for any teams replacing their jungler and nobody was replacing their junglers in the first place,” Impaler says. Impaler was prepared to spend the rest of next year focusing on his studies at the University of the West of England, but wasn’t able to register in time due to his late release from SHC. When Lucas ‘Santorin’ Larsen left Team Coast for Team Solo Mid, a unique window of opportunity opened up. Jesse "Jesiz" Le had already committed to Coast as their mid laner, so he proposed that Impaler go to NA with him and fill Coast’s vacant jungler spot. “I definitely wouldn’t have gone alone. It would be difficult for me for play well and practice hard when I’m in a whole new region, nobody I know,” Impaler says. “It’s easier to go as mid/jungle as well because you interact with each other a lot.” As if coming over to a new continent to try and qualify wasn’t bold enough, at the time Coast had yet to qualify for the Expansion Tournament at all. When the team came together in their house in Las Vegas, they shot up the ranked ladder just in time and secured their spot. “I pretty much had to go to NA to have a chance at LCS,” Impaler says.

Never looking back

After leaving Europe for North America, Impaler had a revelation about himself and the other junglers in the EU LCS. “All of the best EU junglers, Jankos, Svenskeren, Shook, just aren’t afraid of taking those risks or aggressive plays every time. Because it pays off more often than not and they’ve got the mechanics to back it up, those are the junglers that shine out,” Impaler says. “It’s because they’re not fitting this 100 percent consistent role, but their overall play and when they’re playing at their best is just so much higher than anyone else.” Once he got the chance to test himself against the other teams in the Expansion Tournament, Impaler took his new ethos to heart. Team Coast stumbled in the first round against Curse Academy, but in back-to-back do or die situations, we caught a glimpse of the new Impaler, particularly in Game 4 against Team Fusion. “We were 1-2 down, so absolutely no pressure. Box ticked. Then two immobile AD Carries, box ticked. We needed some kind of hard engage or pick and Rengar does that so well,” Impaler says. “If you’re always worried about making mistakes, you’re just shackling yourself, holding yourself down. You can’t be afraid to fail.” Though they managed to swipe the 10th spot in the NA LCS, they’ll have to work hard to catch up to the other teams that have been around much longer. Impaler spotted one of his team’s weaknesses, but he may have a way of turning it around into a strength. “In Coast we’re very one dimensional. Our botlane is always aggressive and always pushing, so basically any time I want to go towards the bot side of the map I know our botlane is going to be pushing in,” Impaler says. “Because we’re so one dimensional I know how to play around it. We can know how games are going to go before we even start playing." Tune in to Lolesports.com on Saturday, January 31 to see Impaler and Team Coast take on the giant killers Team 8 and Gravity Gaming on Sunday! Photos and videos courtesy of ESL.

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