On the 9th of June at the NA LCS stadium, Columbia College defeated the University of Illinois 3-0 in the College Championship semi-finals.



Performing a very convincing sweep, Columbia College overcame Illinois and secured a place in the finals. Executing high-level macro play by teasing Baron and faking out Teleports, Columbia took Illinois for a ride. With CC showing an incredible performance, a player stood out from the shining team. This player is none other than Stumpey.



At first glance, Stumpey seems like the typical talented up and rising League player. However born with a disability, Stumpey proves that his passion for professional League has not been set back by his limitations.



Let’s see what CC’s top laner, Stumpey, has to say about Cloud9, Yasuo, and his future.



¤ Could you quickly introduce yourself, please?





My name is Ian Alexander. I am Columbia College’s top laner. I am currently a Junior in college, and I study computer science.





¤ Could you tell us how you got into this whole college Esports scene?





When I was younger, I knew I wanted to go to college. This is because it was what my family had done basically. Everyone went to college. I started college when I was 16. I am 19 now. My first year of college was in a different school. At this point I was playing league, and I realized that I could get a scholarship if I played hard enough.



I actually reached Reddit's front page on reaching challenger with a disability. Off of that, Columbia College hit me up and basically recruited me into their program. I played with them last year and that is how I am with them this year.









¤ You performed amazingly on Yasuo today. We are curious about your thoughts on Yasuo as a pick and his place in the meta right now.



One thing about Yasuo is that we only specifically pick him into Ornn. The reason is that when you look at Ornn, he is probably the most common blind pick top laner. This is simply because of the fact that he has no bad matchups. The bad matchups he has, he will almost always win the early to mid game and lose later. Picks like Camille. With the Yasuo matchup, Yasuo wins at all times. Also, he is really good strictly out of laning phase as suppose to a Fiora.





¤ This may be a question you’ve been asked before. Due to Yasuo relying heavily on mechanics, how have you coped with his difficulty with your disability?



When I was born, I only had one arm. I was born with a disability basically. So everything I have learned so far has been with one hand. When I first started to play League, I had to learn how I learned to do everything else with one hand. Basically learning with one hand from the start as supposed to learning League with two hands and switching to one hand. This has really made it natural for me to play the game the way I do.





¤ Are you dreaming of becoming a full time professional player and maybe go to Worlds in the near future?



If you had asked me that last year, I think I would have said no. However this year, I am looking a lot into going pro. Before, I was more focused on my degree. Holding off on my degree to go pro would be a better opportunity for me.









¤ Do you have a preferred team/organization that you want to be recruited on and play with?



Definitely Cloud9. I have got a lot of friends at Cloud9.





¤ Could you tell us how you got to know so many people in Cloud9? In addition, could you also tell us a funny story/episode regarding your relationship with friends at Cloud9?



Basically, I met other people through soloq. Since those friends are also friends with C9, I got to meet them as well. Although it doesn’t mean a whole lot, I am in Sneaky’s club. I do occasionally talk with some of their players. They have a bunch of Discord channels with their friends. I am in those. Since I am good friends with Johnny and he is close with Sneaky, I got to meet with most of C9. I am also friends with Licorice and Blaberfish. I would get them in random soloq games, so I would be like “Okay, I’ll go to coms with them, so we have better chances of winning.”.



I guess one funny story would be that one time I got into a soloq game with Licorice and Blaberfish. We were all on Discord. Licorice and I, both top laners, did not get top lane. We got put both bot instead. Pardon my language, but we got s*** on so hard together. It was so bad that we were using our heal ability off cooldown basically just to not get dove.









¤ Since you have made it to the finals, which team are you expecting on the other side?



I think it will be UCI. I believe they are just a lot more well rounded than Maryland. Maybe Maryland can upset with cheese or something. Maybe UCI will have a bad day? Overall, I think UCI will most likely win. As of preparing against UCI, I think they do the same things that we do. They are a little bit more cheesy I would say. If we both play macro standard and play it better than they do, that is our best chance of winning.





¤ Lastly, is there anything, in particular, you want to say to your friends, family, or fans?



It has definitely been a really fun year working with all of them. Currently, I’m not sure if I am going to stay at Columbia College. I have a lot of offers for other schools at the moment. I am looking at Academy right now. Overall, I had an amazing time with them for this past year.





