This weekend we took to the Margaret Court Arena in Melbourne to watch the League of Legends International Wild Card All-Stars match-up. The best players from South East Asia, Japan, Turkey, Russia, Latin America and Brazil were flown to Australia to compete for a chance to get into the 2015 All-Star Event, to be held at the NA LCS studio in Los Angeles.
Despite Oceania getting knocked down in the 5v5 tournament, Carbon and ChuChuZ were there on day three to keep the 1v1 dream alive.
Unfortunately the Aussie talent wasn’t able to bring home a prize. No matter, we got to ask some questions of Tim ‘Carbon’ Wendel the Jungler for Legacy eSports.
Tim ‘Carbon’ Wendel: Jungler for Legacy eSports
How did you get started with playing eSports professionally?
I was ranked highly on the solo queue ladder for a while and someone who was already in the esports scene asked me to try out and I was successful. That was pretty much it and I’ve played for the same team since then, Legacy esports.
What does the schedule of a pro gamer look like? (How many hours a day/week for training)
As a team, we train 2-3 hours per night, 4 days a week. Individually it is really up to each player. Best players would put in anywhere between 2-8 hours individually.
I personally play 3-4 hours a day as I also teach swimming.
What has been your best/coolest interaction with a fan(s)?
The first one I remember is when we were playing in Perth and I won my first tournament ever. I had signed a lot of stuff for lots of people and one kid around 13 years old walked past everyone else and said ‘hey mate you are my favourite player, can you please sign my phone’.
Having this one kid come up to me and say I was his favourite player at such an early stage in my career was amazing.
What makes playing in the IWCA different to the OPL?
Playing in IWCA is a lot more relaxed at times and a lot more stressful at the same time. It is supposed to be for fun but because we don’t get to test ourselves internationally very often we wanted to give it our all.
When playing in the OPL you want to win all the time no matter what. It is really nice to also play with Oceania players I don’t usually play with at IWCA.
Who has been the best international League of Legends star to meet?
I really get along with Kira. He has a really interesting story as he is from Ukraine and he has a wife and child named Kira. He’s a really good player and really humble, and speaks fairly good english.
What do you see as the biggest driving factor for the growth in Aussie eSports?
Identity – we are trying really hard to be professional and build an elite competition but due to the infrastructure and population we have we are not there yet. By forming an identity in Oceania we can differentiate ourselves from the other leagues and start to build something unique to other english streams.
Is there anything you would like to see changed or improved with Aussie eSports?
I would like to see more live events like IWCA. The crowd atmosphere is amazing and I love playing on stage more than I do at home.
What games do you play outside of League? (Tabletop/Video games)
I play Super Smash brothers on the Nintendo GameCube.
What tips would you give to players Breaking Bronze and climbing that Ladder going into the new season?
The best thing you can do is choose one or two champions and only play those. If you know your champion extremely well and don’t need to think about playing it, you’ll learn a lot more about the other aspects of the game.
Thanks to Carbon for Answering Our Questions
If you’re interested in following Carbon as he prepares for the next season of the Oceanic Pro League, you can follow him on Twitter here. Legacy eSports is worth keeping an eye on going into LoL’s Season 6, here’s their Facebook and Twitter.
Are you a fan of eSports? Which game would you turn pro for? Let us know in the comments below.
