Interview with Blaber: “Scouting Grounds helped me get recognized by a big org such as C9. I was able to join a team full of veterans and learn extremely fast.” Milos Nedeljkovic Follow Sep 6, 2019 · 6 min read

We caught up with Robert ‘Blaber’ Huang from Cloud9 to discuss his path to becoming a professional player and competing on the biggest League of Legends stages. Cloud9 have secured a spot at Worlds 2019 and are getting prepared to take on the world’s best at the biggest League of Legends tournament, later this year in Paris.

For those who haven’t been following the amateur tournaments in North America, Blaber’s roots come from the amateur North American scene where he competed for several different teams. It was his extraordinary performance in Scouting Grounds 2017 when he was competing for Team Ocean Drake that provided his break-through moment..

Shortly after, he was drafted by Cloud9 and placed on the Cloud9 Academy roster as a substitute. It wasn’t long until he got picked up by the main Cloud9 roster, and everything else from that point is history.

From Scouting Grounds 2017 to the big stage of LCS (Photo: lolesports)

Hello Robert! For all the readers, can you tell us a little bit more about yourself and your gaming career? For how long have you been playing League of Legends and did you compete in any other games before?

I’ve been playing League since the Season 1 Beta when I was 9 years-old, but I didn’t really start grinding until season 6 where I played around 2–3k games. I quit badminton around this time and started focusing on video games. I did not really compete in any other games before league but I did play a lot of WoW.

Before C9 Blaber there was Team Ocean Blaber. Before Scouting Grounds, what teams did you play for/with if any in the amateur scene?

Before I was on Scouting Grounds I was on team Sky and team Wildcard. Both of the teams I played on were for a short period to play in the NACS qualifier tournament.

What are the differences between developing yourself as a player in the amateur LoL scene vs. solo queue? Does playing in the amateur scene develop better team players than solo queue? Why do you think that?

I personally don’t feel like there is much difference between the amateur LoL scene and soloq. If you are individually talented you will outperform others very easily in the amateur scene and eventually make it into the LCS/LACS. I don’t think you can develop more in the amateur scene than in soloq. It might help a bit but the quality of games is much lower and it felt more beneficial for me to play soloq vs pro players. I learned so much more once I got on Cloud9.

(Photo: lolesports)

With the new changes to the Scouting Grounds format including an avenue for amateur teams and not just solo queue, what do you think of the changes? Do you think we’ll see more homegrown NA talent get noticed?

I don’t think changing the format for amateur teams to join together will really change the amount of homegrown NA talent. Usually in the amateur scene it’s very rare to have 5 promising players on 1 team. It’s usually 1 or 2 outstanding players on the team. I feel like if you are exceptionally talented pro players will notice you in soloq and talk to their teams about a potential player that could be very promising. I do believe there is decent talent, many teams just don’t give their players chances.

What were the major changes going from Blaberfish2 to Scouting Grounds and then to Cloud 9?

The biggest change from soloq to scouting grounds for me was working with an LCS coach in Zaboutine and an LCS player in Akaadian. They really helped me in-game in parts I never really focused on or thought about. I realized I was a large voice on my team whereas I never really talked in soloq since there are no comms. When I joined C9 I realized the weaknesses I had such as playing alone to much and not as much with my team. I was also a really greedy player since in soloq you must be greedy to carry, I learned to sacrifice more for my laners. I also got very lucky since I was able to work with a bunch of experienced players in the Academy, Sneaky, Jensen and Smoothie.

(Photo: lolesports)

What aspects of being a pro player are amateur level players least prepared to take on?

I think it might be hard for amateur players to expand their champion pool in a competitive environment as well as be willing to let your ego go and take criticism. All amateur players have a lot to improve on and sometimes have to be a lot more willing to learn than they may expect. However, they also have to be confident in their own skills and know their strengths and weaknesses.

How did Scouting Grounds help you propel to be a jungler on the world stage within a year?

Scouting grounds helped me get recognized by a big org such as C9. I was able to join a team full of veterans and learn extremely fast. I was super grateful for the opportunity, it also allowed me to see how it was working in an actual LCS environment and how the schedule was like.

(Photo: lolesports)

What advice do you have for the players attending the Scouting Grounds this year?

For players attending scouting grounds this year or any year, just make sure to focus on your own strengths and play towards them. It’s important to show what you’re capable of but you must also be willing to help your team succeed and learn from your coaches as well as the pro players. They are pros and pro coaches for a reason.

What are most LCS teams looking for in competitors at the Scouting Grounds?

LCS teams are looking for players who are communicative inside the game, not someone who talks randomly but someone who can lead their team. Generally if you don’t talk at all teams aren’t that interested in you.

Final question! Congratulations on qualifying for the Worlds this year! What are your expectations? Will we see the best of Blaber on the big stage?

Thank you! I expect us to do really well at Worlds. I always have high hopes for my team since I know how good we can be. I will try my best to show the best of my abilities. I didn’t have the best worlds last year so I hope if I’m able to play that I can smurf it for my team :-)

Follow @blaber on Twitter and catch him in action at the Worlds this year!

If you wish to read more about Scouting Grounds Circuit and check results of 2019, please visit our blog or the Circuit page. Follow @FACEITLoL for more updates.