For those unfamiliar, Stunt is an NACS Support main that broke into the league scene with Astral Authority. From there, his work was recognized by teams like Ember and Team Liquid Academy were his mechanics and game knowledge was continuosly shown throughout the regular season and promotion tournament. Stunt is also known for playing Rammus support in game 5 of the NACS Finals against Cloud 9 Challenger where the pick did not fare so well.

We sat down with him to talk about how he got started in League of Legends, when pro play came into the picture and how he turned into the player he is today.

How did you get started in League of Legends?

Stunt: I used to be number 1 in all the games I played before League but they were all pretty small. So I wanted my skill to matter pretty much so i picked the most popular game.

So you pretty much knew that esports was a big thing that could be turned into a career?

Stunt: Until I watched Season 2 Worlds, it was more of a hobby.

Which champions did you use to climb?

Stunt: I pretty much played anything and everything my favorite were gimmicks tho AP Master Yi and AP Sejuani were my favorites. I played a lot of AD Alistar top and it actually became meta for a bit. Also, Nautilus support came from me.

Stunt's League account displaying his most played champions to the right.

May I ask why you chose support as a main?

Stunt: I used to be a really high elo mid laner like rank 51 Season 3. However, whenever i play against pros I always get like a sizable cs deficit. I was never really that good at laning but I always won by having a bigger impact in teamfights despite being lower in gold. So i figured, why dont i just play a low econ role and still have a big impact which is why i started playing support but i play it a bit greedier than a normal support would. xd

<iframe src="//www.youtube.com/embed/FWAH7EiyNuM" width="425" height="350"></iframe>
Stunt's montage video that sparked Nautlius support to break into the Season 5 Meta.

Where did your pro career start?

Stunt: So my pro career actually had a rather interesting start. I qualified for NACS through the open qualifier with Samadder Gaming (later Dream Team). Now the guy running the team, named after himself, was kinda shady and pretty much told everybody on the team a bunch of lies to get us to play together. Against expectations, we were good enough to win despite Arcsecond dropping out at the last second and having to flex our 2 junglers to mid. I always found it interesting that the manager was able to create a successful team with nothing but lies; guess that’s the amateur scene for ya.

How were you able to get noticed by Ember?

Stunt: I tried out for Ember initially but at the time it seemed they were pretty set on Gleeb. Naturally I was one of the first people they would contact when the team wasn’t working out.

It seems as if a lot of the challenger teams have a lot of problems with infrastructure. As an NACS player, what are things that you would like to see Riot do to make the challenger scene better? How do you feel Riot can fix bad ownership?

Stunt: NACS right now is a lot of work for little to no reward. Winning in challenger doesn’t mean much because it’s “just challenger” and losing can be a career killer. I think Riot needs to give more exposure to the challenger scene but I don’t want to go too deep into this because I think they are working on it.

Usually when people are unable to qualify for the LCS after one year, they go back to school. Why have you chosen to stay in the competitive scene after two splits in NACS?

Stunt: Mainly pride. I've spent a lot of time on this game already and I've gotten so close to LCS twice now. I know I can play at an LCS level and I really want to prove it. and.. school sucks lol

What is something that differs you from other supports in the NA LCS? Another way of thinking about it is, mentally what can you do that other supports will never be able to replicate.

Stunt: I've mained every role at one point at a challenger level so I can understand the mentality of each role and also specific champion interactions.

Going back to the NACS, How do you feel about a team like Cloud 9 challenger rostering a team of 4 veterans with one rookie? Do you think this is acceptable or do you feel the challenger scene should limit the number of veterans per team to something like two?

Stunt: In my opinion, it depends on the intention. That is why it's difficult to make rules around. If it was a veteran who didn't get an LCS offer and wanted to keep playing competitive, then I think it's completely understandable that he play in the NACS. Otherwise, it really hinders the growth of new talent since already established players are pretty much shutting them out.

Do you think expanding either the NACS or LCS could help solve this problem?

Stunt: I think there needs to be more incentive for people to play/invest in challenger because right now it frankly sucks.

So one of the things you stated was the challenger series needs more exposure. Can you state two other things you see in LCS that is not nearly at the same level in the challenger series?

Stunt: I'd say job stability since challenger teams rarely stick together for more than one split.

You now have a lot of time to prepare for the 2017 Spring Split. What do you plan on improving the most during this offseason?

Stunt: During the offseason I plan on improving individual mechanics and situational awareness through solo queue and work on teamplay by filling in scrims when possible. And watching vods.

Any shout outs? Also where do you see the NA teams likely placing at worlds?

Stunt: Shoutouts to all of my former teammates and coaching staff, who have all taught me something unique and invaluable. Shoutout to my amazing fans and friends who continue to support me. And from what I've seen, I think NA teams can vy for top placements at worlds.

Again, thank you Stunt for the wonderful interview. It is always a pleasure to speak to players that are at the pinnacle of creating the meta for competitive League of Legends.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/LiquidStunt
Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/stuntopolis