Memories are often short in League of Legends esports, where a continuous influx of new patches, new players and new fans cycle through the competitive ecosystem. Those watching P1 now, enamored with MikeYeung's aggressive jungling style and sudden appearance off of the solo queue ladder, aren't guaranteed to remember, or even be aware of, some of the histories of P1's other players.
They may not know of the early antics of TSM during Xpecial's time with the organization or the etymology of "Baylife. Xpecial has been through all iterations of League of Legends, one of few legacy players in the West who is still starting for a professional team. Most other players of this era have transitioned into management, coaching, or out of League of Legends entirely. His determination to remain a pro player is continuously tested.
Xpecial admits that the losses, even in regular season matches like P1's series against TSM and Team Dignitas this past week, still hurt. Losing to DIG is very heartbreaking. But there's really no point in looking back and regretting it. We've just got to keep moving forward and hopefully we get better. The event itself was good for the team's development, but not conducive to winning once they returned to NA, especially having played their picks onstage while most other NA teams spent two weeks practicing.
C9 went , but got the same amount of prize money as TSM, so it's kind of just a pride thing and I didn't really care too much about it. It's definitely not something that we can be proud of.
Nowhere is Xpecial's continuing passion for League of Legends more evident than in discussing a loss, frustration apparent in his voice and his expression. The passion I have for the game and my work ethic has kept me in the game for so long and that's something I'm pretty proud of. As long as I have the desire to keep playing, I'll keep playing until that flame dies out. Skip to main content Skip to navigation. P1's Xpecial: 'I'll keep playing until that flame dies out'.
You don't have to say too many things but cooldowns. When I play with Piglet I can't talk to him too much, cos he doesn't understand too many words, but I just say give him numbers, 'Shield in 2', 'Shield up', 'Fight! When I played with Doublelift it was an instant synergy cos he's good, I'm good and we talk a lot.
Where other botlanes often stress the need for personal chemistry between the players, Xpecial relies on simple and to-the-point communication, paired with his own unique intuitive understanding of what must be done. The latter is a quality which has not only allowed Xpecial to be successful with all of the AD Carries he has partnered with, but was duly noted by Doublelift during their brief time together at All-Stars. After playing with Loco and Aphromoo for months and months and months, I played with Xpecial for one game and I was about to open my mouth to tell him to do something and he just did it, before I could say anything, so I was like 'Woah!
So we just talked it out and he was really understanding,and I was like 'Wow! This is like the perfect Support, because he knows what to do, he's independent, I can focus on myself for once. I felt really liberated in that way. It has long been a theory of mine, based on experience watching and talking to elite level performers, that communication and a set hierarchy of how one will play is a form of lubrication or coping strategy for less naturally suited team-mates.
Team-mates who are excellent players and naturally fit together, will be capable of performing coordinated and intricate plays on the basis of intuitive understanding of what is required and trust in their team-mates being on the same page. Xpecial and his lengthy career of success seems to bear a fine example of such an approach.
The dream botlane combination that fans have wondered about, lusted for and dreamed over was a pairing of Doublelift and Xpecial, the two best players of all time from their region at their respective positions.
That fans were teased with such a duo at the S3 All-Stars event, where they played up to the lofty expectations, seemingly only increased the agony of the two never properly partnering in a competitive team. The Chauster-Doublelift and Xpecial-WildTurtle botlanes had their times where they were able to compete with the best in the world, but one could only wonder if an Xpecial-Doublelift botlane could have been the best in the world and dominated all comers. Now, Xpecial finds himself unusually gifted with an opportunity to create something special to close out his legacy as a competitive League player, moreso than merely lifting Curse from gatekeepers to Worlds qualifiers.
Piglet did suffer his own fluctuations of form during , but had a number of resurgences and flashes of excellence to suggest he was not entirely done as an international performer. The primary problem for the ex-SKT man was his lane partner, as PoohManDu could never recover the kind of brilliant and yet fragile versatility he had showcased in An AD Carry with a flagging Support can never realise his true potential.
In Xpecial, Piglet finds himself with a new chance to establish himself as one of the world's best at his position. In Piglet, Xpecial is given the vehicle by which he can again return to the World Championship and may yet be able to be a part of the best botlane in the entire League of Legends world. Last split it was impressive enough to take Cop and Curse to one game from qualifying for Worlds, now Xpecial finds himself in a position that may exceed even the abundance of riches he had at his disposal in TSM.
With North America, Xpecial is one of the most decorated players of all time. The Support star has won eight offline tournaments, including an LCS split. He has finished in the top four of 16 offline tournaments in total, including all four of the LCS splits, the latter piece of trivia being shared only by Dyrus.
Finally, Xpecial has been an elite level player at his position and in his region for more than three straight years of competitive play. There have been many great players from the North American region and some are still building their legends as we speak, but none can match Xpecial in his excellence across seemingly all categories.
History would have been very different for the region, had it not been for the appearance of that extra special Support. A League of Legends fan? You'll just need a Gfinity account to enter and then you can sign up here. With nearly a decade of experience in LoL Esports, Xpecial adds a wealth of experience and unique insights from both professional playing and coaching that bolsters an already impressive Harrisburg University esports program.
Inven Global's Nick D'Orazio spoke with Xpecial about the newest chapter in his Lol Esports career and the present and future of collegiate esports. How have things been since you joined Harrisburg in a coaching position? Is there anything that you didn't expect you would enjoy or any unexpected difficulties thus far? When I was first asked to be a coach for Harrisburg's League of Legends team, I was thinking it was going to be a temporary thing.
I didn't really go into this with many expectations, but I've come to really enjoy coaching again. Before, I was coaching for Golden Guardians, and I was not having the best time. I played my part, but I didn't have as much impact as I wanted. On Harrisburg, I feel impactful and I can feel that there's been a lot more growth for the players as well. It's quite rewarding to watch the players improve through practice. Also, I didn't expect this to be so fun, so that's the biggest difference for me.
How much of your coaching style is formed from things you've learned from playing League of Legends professionally? The biggest things I learned were not necessarily through playing, but through reading a lot of books and talking to other coaches.
In my own previous coaching experience, there are a lot of lessons I have had to learn on how to treat players and staff members. Having to learn a lot through my own coaching career was very important.
In your opinion, what are the top misconceptions about what a collegiate esports coach does? In the higher level leagues, players tend to have more experience and have gone through a lot more of the basic training for a competitive esports athlete.
In collegiate esports, players are often coming straight from solo queue. At first, I have to be very strict about how I want them to practice and what I'm looking for. People tend to goof around in scrims at all levels, but specifically in collegiate, it's easier to hold players accountable and make sure they put in their full efforts.
There's a lot of standard stuff like that in which any coach of any sport would be held responsible. A lot of the time, I feel more like a babysitter who knows all about the game as well. The game knowledge I have and my ability to stay on top of the ever-changing nature of League of Legends are incredibly important for a coach.
The coach also has to play the game and keep evolving with the game as it changes. Did you expect that this new position would allow you to keep playing the game and keep your skill razor sharp, and has that been a contributor to the unexpected fun of the position?
At this point, I wouldn't consider my skill razor sharp. I've been very on and off, and this is probably the worst I've been as a player. However, for me to do my job properly, I don't need to be playing at the top level. I can watch VoDs of professional games and learn through that as well. I don't really enjoy League of Legends the same way I did, but it's still fun to pass on my knowledge, teach the game, and come at things from a different perspective.
Do you think there's a comparison to be made between traditional college sports and collegiate esports? I think they're very similar, with the sole exception of athletes not being able to go to the NBA right after high school. Right now, the collegiate esports system is kind of like the NA Academy League system. You have players who either can't quite make it to LCS with their current skill level, or players who had their own reasons for going to college instead of trying to go pro.
Regardless, these players get an opportunity to prove themselves in the LoL collegiate scene. Some of these players will go pro, but the majority will stay in the collegiate system and finish their education and play for potential scholarships. Do you think there will come a day where that choice won't have to be made?
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