North America’s LMQ has experienced the same roster fluctuations as many teams have been through following the 2014 World Championship. While the LCS is still several weeks away, LMQ has made the decision to bring on a new support now. Meet Popstar Adrian, a player that decided to leave the classroom behind in order to chase an LCS dream.
Adrian “Popstar Adrian” Ma is a 17 year old player that first got into League of Legends in the middle of Season 1. He was initially drawn to the support role because he frequently duoed with friends. He said, “It [bottom lane] is the only lane that always has two people in it and I love to coordinate and work together.” Through years of playing, and improving, Ma was able to get into Challenger, and has consistently maintained that lofty ranking.
He was able to parlay his support skills into a scholarship at Robert Morris University. Adrian competed for the Eagles throughout the majority of the fall as a scholarship athlete. Due to the amateur nature of collegiate athletics, one of the main draws for many athletes is to represent their school in a competitive arena, even in a relatively new competition like esports. He did admit some nerves when the Eagles first took to the Rift, but felt “a great sense of achievement and pride because I was representing our school on a competitive level” with each victory that RMU’s team secured.
Popstar Adrian made a positive impression on his RMU teammates and coaches. Ferris “AGeNt” Ganzman, head coach of the Eagles, described Ma as “a very hard working player, who does not need to be reminded to put in the practice. He provides leadership through work ethic. He has a strong fundamental understanding of 5s and provides a lot of contributions during team discussions. He is vocal as a player outside of the game and has been working on bringing that in-game as well.”
That work ethic helped transform LMQ’s new support. He fully admits that he had a bit of an ego when he began working with the Robert Morris coaching staff, but he learned that “you have to approach things with an open mind, be understanding of others, and respect their point of view.” He also hopes to bring that mentality with him as he acclimates to his new LMQ teammates.
While Adrian has only been with the team for a handful of days, he hopes to exceed all of LMQ’s expectations. The humble attitude that he was able to obtain from AGeNt and his staff at RMU will serve him well, particularly since he will be building synergy with a new AD Carry. On November 23, 2014, LMQ’s former AD Carry, Li “Vasilii” Wei-Jun tweeted that he was returning to China. That vacancy will need to be filled, but thanks to the talent and drive of the new LMQ support, the future looks bright for the new LMQ bottom lane.
Image credit to Robert Morris University
