I want to share my time playing league, my goals, and my plans moving forward.

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As season 6 is coming to an end, I want to share my time playing league, my goals, and my plans moving forward.

My IGN is bobqinXD/bobqinDX. I’ve been playing league since the beginning of season 1 and I’ve been challenger every season since season 3. Before I played collegiate, I was known as that guy who sniped the Sirens with hotshotGG and Wildturtle, and the guy who solo killed Faker in season 3.

As I graduated high school and entered university, collegiate had only been around for about a year. I was fortunate enough that during my first year at university, Riot went all in on the collegiate scene and started a tournament called uLoL. Being a long time high challenger player, I took advantage of the weak scene and could win lane hard enough to carry almost every game. My first year playing collegiate went smoothly. My team dominated our region quite convincingly, and we also stomped in the semis and finals that were held in LA. Oh ya I also got a pentakill on my very first game on stage, the crowd was so energetic. I still get goosebumps to this day just by reliving that moment in my head.

After being crowned the best school in NA, we were getting a lot of exposure from the local media. I remember being featured on several newspapers and doing interviews with multiple media outlets. One time while waiting for my bus, a group of young high school kids came up to me asking me to sign their frisbees and to take pictures with them. I was shocked that people recognized me, and at the same time I was extremely happy and it definitely made my day. The school roster decided to stick around for another year since we already got our synergy down. There was a lot more pressure going into the tournament from last year’s underdog to this year’s crowd favorites. Nevertheless, we still won for the second year in a row. Even though there were better players in the collegiate scene, it did not feel like much of a challenge to me. Because of this, I’ve decided to take a break from school to pursue my dream of being a professional league player as I want to challenge myself by competing at the highest level.

I did not let my collegiate success boost my ego because I knew better than anyone that collegiate is not on the same level as NACS or LCS. I reached out to all the upcoming NACS teams at the time, hoping that I could get a tryout. Almost every team denied and turned me down and said they were not interested. I was very discouraged but I didn’t give up trying. I wanted to be more than just a collegiate player and prove to people I am capable of playing at a higher level. One morning, I received a message back from Saint saying he was down to give me a chance and try me out for the upcoming Apex challenger team. I knew that this was one opportunity I couldn’t mess up as it was a dream come true to be able to play NACS so quickly after finishing collegiate. I was a bit nervous at the beginning of the tryout since I was playing alongside some very well-known names whom I looked up to. Coming in as a collegiate player, I felt out of place compared to these big names. As the tryouts went on, I was able to push my doubts aside and just focus on the game. I laned against some great mids that I thought were amazing and I was surprised I was able to hold my own against them and sometimes even come out ahead. The tryouts ended after around two weeks and overall, I’d give my performance a 7/10. I learned a lot from playing at a much higher level than collegiate and I was hoping it was enough to make the cut.

Days later, I was told they’d be using me for the upcoming NACS split. I jumped out of my chair in excitement. I was so blessed that things had gone so smoothly for me. I was ready to put in all my effort to improve and train as hard as I can. I put in even more time practicing the game, watching vods, sleeping less, and asking what I could’ve done better after each scrim set. Due to some complications with the tryout process, they decided to release me and use Shiphtur instead right before the start of the NACS season. I respect the decision they made. Shiphtur had much more experience than me but it just sucked that I wasn't able to get the chance to prove myself.

Right around that time, Hai made a tweet saying he was making a challenger team. I applied immediately, and after rounds and rounds of tryouts, I FINALLY got the spot! I was very proud to be playing under such a prestigious organization. However, it turned out the team was a “sub challenger team”; a team that C9 built to scrim with their NACS team with the promise that if any other teams reached out to sign you, you had the freedom to do it. We weren’t getting much exposure as it was a team Hai and the C9 staff managed with the intention of developing new talents for the next split of NACS. I remember there were a lot of memes on reddit saying how Hai wasn’t developing any talents after he promised he would, but he was trying really hard to help us. It just isn’t smart to throw a bunch of inexperienced players on NACS to play when the stake is huge. Overall, the experience was extremely helpful. We scrimmed 6 hours a day for 4-5 days a week against decent teams. In addition with the help of the analysts and Hai, I really felt like I was improving as a player.

Right before the roster lock for the remaining of the split, Team Liquid offered me a sub spot on their team. Hai suggested to us in the beginning that if any of us gets team offers, we should take it since he won’t be able to guarantee anything in terms of playing for next split. With that being said, I gladly took team Liquid’s offer, but it wasn’t long before Riot announced scouting ground. They stated in the rules that you cannot be under any contracts with professional teams when the invite goes out. Liquid heard me out and kindly released me so I could participate in scouting grounds. Shoutouts to coach Dlim and manager Nick for taking real good care of me during my stay at Liquid!

For scouting ground, I climbed all the way up to 860lp and basically had my scouting ground spot secured. However, I made a huge mistake by spamming games on the last few days instead of waiting out my banked games, simply because I wanted to play vs Faker again on the ladder. One game led to another and in the end I wasn’t able to recover my lp back in time.

Playing collegiate has taught me how to perform on stage under extreme pressure. It gave me the precious LAN experience many other challenger players lack, as well as how to play as a cohesive unit and be a good teammate. Throughout my time with Apex, C9 and Liquid, I have learned an even greater knowledge of the game that solo q alone wouldn't have been able to teach me.

I appreciate every single opportunity I've gotten. I'm still very thirsty for a chance to compete against the best and am eager to get the chance to prove myself in NACS.

TL;DR: After winning two years in collegiate, I have struggled and learned a lot from playing under different teams. I’m humble and willing to work hard. Very hungry for a chance to prove myself in NACS and compete against the best.

In the end, I wanna give a shoutout to Heaventime, Hai, Saintvicious, Meteos, and iwilldominate for helping and shaping me into a better player.

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