Alocs: the big god of Brazilian Challenger
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One of the largest off-season mysteries in the Brazilian competitive scene was the destination of star support Leonardo "Alocs" Belo. Following his release from the high-profile CNB e-Sports team, his heart seemed heavy and his outlook uncertain. In a post shortly after the announcement, he doubted whether competitive League of Legends esports in Brazil had room for him anymore.
His inner turmoil stemmed from personal expectations of his own play, as well as his exceptional experience on CNB.
"Everyone was there to give everything, to play and get better. Everyone behind CNB, the guys behind CNB, and the players of CNB were really giving it all to get better. I was so happy there."
A Will to Win
CNB was not Alocs’ first competitive team, but was his home for over a year and a half. Previously, his attention had been split between both League of Legends and school. "For me, it was hard to go even deeper because I was at university, but I really tried. To play was the thing that I always loved. I really wanted to be involved with what Riot was doing [in Brazil]." Opportunity struck when the call from CNB e-Sports coincided with his completion of university classes in Spring of 2013; however, the path to esports success was still not easy. The Brazilian infrastructure was still at an infantile stage, and CNB was without a gaming house. They traveled to offline events, using these chances to bootcamp together in São Paulo, before moving into a gaming house later in the year. CNB rose to become one of the premier teams in Brazil. While the team was a constant presence in major tournaments, they developed the reputation for always finishing second. Alocs admits that the team struggled at times, as the defeats weighed heavily on players minds. "We had a lot of trouble at winning championships. We were always at the final, but we’d always lose that. It was kind of frustrating for us, and it was heavy for some of us. Things got a little messy after we lost the Brazilian CBLoL of 2014."Without a Place to Call Home
When Alocs speaks of CNB, even when recounting their darkest times, his voice lights up as he remembers how much his teammates meant to him, and how valuable of a learning experience CNB e-Sports was for both him and his teammates. "We had gone through a lot," he says. "We experienced a lot together." As a person who values friendship above all else, and a self-described "tryhard guy," Alocs’ departure from CNB in November 2014 left him with few desirable options. The top two teams in Brazil, paiN Gaming and Vivo Fibra Keyd Stars, already had their respective support players. With a lack of parity in the region, Alocs did not see a home for himself on an existing team. "If I [went] to a tier two team, they’ll have no experience playing competitively. It would be hard. I would think that I would get kind of depressed before we would get better. So I didn't know where to go. I didn't know if I should try to be a good coach or a good analyzer, things like that. I was kind of lost."
Big Dreams and Big Gods
Opportunity came knocking in the form of a large sponsorship from Lenovo, and the promise of a brand new team. At first, Alocs desired a "dream team" of existing Brazilian stars. However, this dream was stymied by the new format of the Campeonato Brasiliero de League of Legends (CBLoL) 2015, which mirrors the League of Legends Championship Series structure, giving Brazil their first regular season offline tournament. Not only was Alocs unable to acquire existing top talent for his team, but he additionally could not enter the CBLoL qualifier without a roster. With active interest from Riot Brazil in developing their challenger scene, along with the promise of a possible bid into the second split of CBLoL 2015, Alocs set out to create his own team, one in the same vein as CNB. In his search for potential teammates, Alocs focused on three requirements: an easygoing mentality, strong mechanics, and prior competitive experience. The first player to exemplify these traits was former paiN Gaming support and KaBuM! e-Sports AD carry, Gustavo "Minerva" Alves. "This was one of the main reasons we got to Minerva because he was really easy to deal with, really experienced, and he has good mechanics in any lane that he wants to play." Minerva was scouted for the mid lane, while Alocs chose Gustavo "SacyR" Rossi for the AD carry role, in spite of no prior competitive experience. For his top lane and jungle, Alocs turned to Korea, picking up the former Midas Fio player Lee "Nexus" Jun-woo, and Ha "Nicker" Ja-hoon. While he admits that there have been a few communication kinks, Alocs speaks confidently about his team, named Big Gods, as a whole. "I think we can make that work really well because we have intelligent people here. We can deal with nice rotations, nice counters, and different ways to play. We can play different styles of strategies. And I also want us to be really good friends out of the game. We are funny, we have fun together, and that’s what I think makes the time worth it."