The new roster of Humber Esports' League of Legions varsity team stands out with its consistent winning streaks so far in the young season that began last month.
The team has been competing in two ongoing tournaments this season, the Collegiate League of Legends, or CLoL, and NACE Spring Varsity Plus.
CLoL is a collegiate esports league hosted by the game’s developers, Riot Games Inc. It includes schools throughout North America competing for the chance to play championships and win up to $16,000.
NACE Spring Varsity Plus is a tournament run by the National Association of Collegiate Esports, which hosts leagues for a variety of games.
Humber’s League of Legends, or League team, has won their past two games for NACE. With CLoL, the team currently sits on a record of 3-1.
Head coach Brandon “J Beats” Tran said teams in the two tournaments have different skill levels. NACE tends to have lower-ranked players within the tournament, while CLoL tends to have higher-ranked players compared to the Humber team.
“I treat NACE as like a practice tool for our team and CLoL has something more serious,” Tran said.
The League team consists mostly of new players, with only one veteran returning to captain this season’s team.
The roster consists of James “Lilsturr” Sturrock as the team’s top laner, Mark “RostedSalmon” Lee as ADC, Manraj “Manraj” Chauhan as support, Kevin “Sertonix” Tran and David “Ma” Ma as subs, and Kyle “Kairuu” Nguyen as both mid and the captain.
Top laners are players who don’t need much team support to build their online character. Attack Damage Carry, or ADC, are players who have the strongest physical damage.
Support players solely help everyone on a team. Mid-players can fight by themselves and switch lanes easily to provide support.
Nguyen said he originally tried out for both League and Valorant but eventually chose League because he enjoys the atmosphere more and finds the game more fun.
The 23-year-old Kinesiology student said he would be graduating this year, marking the end of his competitive career in League. He said he sees himself joining casual tournaments after graduating, but he mainly is doing this for fun.
“I just wanna leave behind wins, wins, and wins,” he said.
He said that compared to last year, this team is "3,000 per cent better." The team is often more vocal about their needs, with everyone wanting to cooperate and win as a team.
“Everyone’s more friends with each other this year. Last year was more every man for themselves,” Nguyen said.
Sturrock said this friendship helps the team perform when facing similarly ranked teams.
The student still views these experiences in a positive light and said the team can learn from these experiences.
“Our teamwork is much better than other teams. As a team, I think we can put up a great fight,” he said.
Besides the team, the ex-Twitch streamer said playing competitively has helped him improve his skills as a player. He said his main goal is to reach the Master rank by the end of the season, which is the third-highest rank in the game.
“There’s always something to improve on, so I always like that aspect. It’s helped me in the game and out of the game,” he said.
Tran said Humber Esport’s therapist, Ryan Terao, played a role in helping him foster the team’s connection to become stronger than it already is.
He said he learned a lot of techniques on how a coach should operate. Learning how to get people to come out of their shells is something he’s found beneficial for him and his players.
“As a coach, you’re not just working with one person. You’re working with like five, maybe seven to sort of substitute and identify their strengths and weaknesses,” he said.
Despite having eight years of coaching experience, the majority of the teams he coached were strictly virtual. As a law enforcement officer for the CBSA, Tran said he prefers being able to have face-to-face interaction with his players.
“When you’re behind the monitor, there’s no webcam. Some people like to hide their feelings or not say what they want to say. In person, I can tell somethings bothering you just by looking at you,” he said.
Besides NACE and CLoL, the League team will also participate in the invitational LAN tournament, Saint’s Gauntlet. Hosted by St. Clair College, the event will be held in the school’s esports arena on Feb. 22.
For many players of the team, this is their first LAN tournament.
Nguyen said being able to receive this opportunity means he has something crossed off his bucket list.
“I’ve always wanted to play on stage [...] so that’s like the most exciting thing for me,” he said.
Sturrock said he was most excited for the experience that would entail from the trip the team would make to the event.
“I’m looking forward to spending time with the team. Like renting an Airbnb and just kind of hanging out,” he said.
For those interested in having the opportunity to watch the League team show off their skills, their NACE games are live-streamed on Twitch every Tuesday. Details for games and times can be seen on Humber Esport's social media accounts.
