Benson said since winning the state championship, he has reached out to Ultimate Gaming Championship, or UGC, to find teams across the east coast to play online and hone Lambert’s Rocket League skills.
About 16 teams competed along the east coast, with Lambert coming in the Top 10. He said that he is speaking with UGC to host a competition on the west coast so that someday top teams across the country can play each other in “nationals.”
Pranav Devabhaktuni, a junior at Lambert, is the team captain for Lambert’s League of Legends team. Devabhaktuni said he began to play League of Legends in middle school and quickly climbed the ranks online.
“I thought [the esports team] would just be like a cool thing to try out and join the team, and I fell in love with it, all my teammates were awesome, and it was … a fun experience so I kept playing,” Devabhaktuni said.
He said that League of Legends competes with five-person teams consisting of a Top Laner (bruiser/tank), Mid Laner (typically assassin roles), a Jungler (looter), Attack Damage Carry (ADC) and Support.
Like Rocket League, one of the most important facets of League of Legends is the ability for teammates to communicate.
“Even if you’re like super good, it doesn’t matter much if you can’t work well with your teammates, because teamwork is kind of very important, just like in traditional sports,” Devabhaktuni said.
