After Immortals didn’t make the cut for the franchised NA LCS, they had to move quickly to trade all their players by a certain deadline. Tough decisions had to be made.

I was transferred to Team Liquid along with Cody Sun, Pobelter, and Xmithie. Since Team Liquid then had Xmithie on their books, it made sense that they wanted him to be their starting jungler.

That said, I felt I was ready for a starting position too; I wanted to see if there was any chance of me getting a starting position elsewhere in the NA LCS. I preferred to take my chances than settle for playing in the NA Academy League.

Steve helped me to field offers from NA LCS teams and I ended up on FlyQuest because, out of all the teams that were interested in signing me, I thought FlyQuest was the team I had the best chance of starting for.

Team Liquid was understanding, and my agent helped me find my footing on FlyQuest. I was talking to Flame a lot during the offseason and I was encouraged that he was interested in playing with me as well.

FlyQuest had also picked up a handful of the Immortals staff in the offseason. It seemed like the obvious choice.

I appreciate that I struggled this past Spring Split on FlyQuest, though I think a big part of the reason I struggled was due to the unfavourable meta.

I wasn’t very confident on all of the tanks I needed to play, nor in my ability to be a consistent primary engage for my team. However, I learned a lot from that split and took away plenty of lessons that helped me to get to where I am now.

I was as surprised as anyone when I found out I had been traded to 100 Thieves. At the time, I was playing with FlyQuest Academy and, even though I thought I was performing pretty well, I didn’t think teams would be looking for a jungler at that point in the season.

Most teams had solidified their rosters by that point in the Summer Split since everyone’s top priority is building synergy and getting to Worlds.

The FlyQuest GM came up to me and told me there’d be an opportunity to be an LCS starter. I didn’t know it’d be 100 Thieves right away, but that wouldn’t have made the decision any easier.

I had enjoyed my time on FlyQuest, on both the Academy and LCS rosters, I’d never experienced a better team environment.

Criticism was given and taken in a healthy manner and everyone was truly committed to improving. That was my first time seeing that, and I know it’s not something that should be taken for granted.

On the other hand, joining 100 Thieves had its own opportunities. Not only was it a chance to play in the NA LCS, but 100T had already established themselves as a top team. They had already been successful and I also had friends on the roster – I knew that would be important in making my transition a lot easier.

Cody Sun’s contract was purchased by 100 Thieves from Team Liquid around the same time they signed Doublelift, so we ended up being in the same boat but with different destinations.

I never started for Immortals in the NA LCS, but I saw a lot of scrim time alongside Cody Sun, so we have plenty of experience together at the top level. What’s more, we were in the NA Challenger Series together on Dream Team, so we’ve become pretty familiar over the course of our careers.

All of the players have been really kind to me since I joined. We’ve been working really well together and scrims have been really productive.

All of the staff, from player support to media, have been extremely supportive and accommodating. They’re always checking in and making sure we have everything we need. They checked up on me a lot when I first joined the team to make sure I was comfortable.

I’ve had a chance to meet most of the 100 Thieves family by this point. I’ve gotta say though, my first interaction with Nadeshot was really random!

There’s a couch outside my room, and I walked outside once and he was sitting there eating Doritos. There were orange crumbs all over his shirt and he just looked up at me and said, “My bad.”

I know what this team expects me; 100 Thieves wants their jungler to dictate the early game, and then hand things off to Aphromoo and Ryu to shotcall the late game. If I set my team up well, I know they can finish the job.

I can’t deny that 100 Thieves lost a fan favorite in Meteos and, considering I didn’t exactly have the best 2018 NA LCS Spring Split on FlyQuest’s main roster, I understand why the fans could’ve doubted me when I joined.

I’ve tried not to let the thought of stepping into Meteos’ shoes bother me too much, I just want to be able to prove that I deserve the spot.

I too can be a player that fans want to cheer for.

Image Credit: Riot Games