"I have a good chance to play for Immortals LCS": IMT Academy player Joey talks NA league of legends, ADC role, and more
The LCS Academy is full of hopefuls and excellent League of Legends players trying to make their way into the pro scene, like IMT Academy's Joey. A skilled gamer and one ready to playfully troll his teammates, he has been active in the game since 2016 working with Team Checkpoint.
He has played for several teams, at least briefly, over the years, but is presently a member of Immortals' IMT Academy’s squad as a support player. His contract will last until November 2023, and he recently spoke to Sportskeeda’s Jason Parker about his time with the LCS IMT Academy.
The support player spoke about the recent collaboration with DXRacer, how he feels about his future in the LCS, and more. He also had some advice for up-and-coming support players to improve their gameplay.
LCS Academy support Joey talks about being a support for Immortals
Q. Joey, first of all, thank you so much for taking the time! How does it feel to be staying with Immortals LCS as a support playing through 2022?
Joey: I’m really glad that I’ve been able to play at Immortals for so long, it makes me happy that the org has been satisfied with my development as a leader and support player in the academy system.
Q. We've seen recently that Immortals is partnering with DXRacer to be the official gaming chair of the org. How does it feel to know your org partnered with the gaming chair specialists?
Joey: The chairs have been really good, and I like how much customization there is on the chair’s arm. I can set it to the perfect height to prevent wrist pain.
Q. Has using the DXRacer chair improved your performance in League of Legends? Do you feel like it helps you focus on the game more?
Joey: I feel like it’s made me more comfortable playing the game. Having a good chair is important for pro players to prevent any injuries.
Q. As perhaps one of the best-known players for the IMT squad, how do you feel your prospects are to move forward into the LCS?
Joey: I’d like to think that I have a good chance to play for Immortals LCS at the end year, and I feel like I’ve put in a lot of hard work here over the past years, so I hope I get the chance to represent the org in LCS because I feel like I’ve done so well in academy.
Q. How do you think this partnership will help propel the players of the Great Lakes Region forward, on a national level?
Joey: I think it’s a great partnership and one that makes a lot of sense so I’m glad to be working with them.
Q. Are you familiar with the mockumentary "Players"? If so, how do you feel about the player Cream Cheese, and how do you think he represents the NA scene of the LCS?
Joey: I’ve watched the series throughout because my teammate stars in it, I think there are a lot of very good truths that are shown in the show but I don’t think that creamcheese himself really shows exactly how pro players act, but I thought the overall portrayal of esports was pretty good and funny.
Q. You're well known as someone fond of trolling; do you have any particularly fond memories of trolling your teammates?
Joey: I do really enjoy trolling my teammates from time to time, I don’t think I can think of one moment that really sticks out because I’ve done so many.
Q. It's impressive enough to be in the Academy, especially for a team like Immortals. What does it take to get from being a regular League of Legends player to the next level?
Joey: I think a lot of it is being able to dedicate yourself to the game when you're already able to get naturally to a high level of play (GM or challenger). And then from there, it's just focusing more on the specifics of the game, learning from other regions, and having a different mindset than I’m just going to queue up to have fun.
Q. As an excellent support player, do you have any advice for support players looking to improve?
Joey: There’s a lot you can improve on for support that isn’t that practicable in soloq, but from outside of the game itself just from studying there are a couple of exercises I do to make sure that I stay in form when I’m in season.
Supports at home I think the biggest thing is understanding where you need to be on the map and understanding what your opponents want to do because support is very much a facilitator role in the early game. Looking at good supports from all regions and seeing how they move and trying to understand why is important.
Q. What about ADCs? Is there anything you'd like to let up-and-coming ADCs be aware of about support players to improve their synergy in the bot lane?
Joey: I think in NA, ADCs are kind of just too passive. I off-role ADC a lot and I just don’t feel like they understand their matchups that well and what the supports want to do, as well as overall wave management is usually not ideal for setting supports up for success, I think trying to study these concepts would be good for them and kind of looking to understand the game from more than just the ADC pov.
That’s why I think arrow is really good because he understands support really well and sets me up to do great things.
Q. How do you feel franchising has affected the LCS? Does it make things harder for players and teams to come together and compete?
Joey: As a fan, I kind of miss watching relegations to be completely honest, but I think it has allowed NA to invest in rosters that showcase its talent a lot more and can take a lot more risks when making rosters so I like that a lot as well.
Q. If you could make a change to LCS' competitive scene to improve it, what would it be?
Joey: I think that the game should be more or less shorter as I feel like scaling just gets defaulted in big tournaments so I’d like to shift things more towards an early focus as well as make the jungle weaker.
Or maybe even remove the role. I just want to play 2v2 and I get sad when I see the enemy jungler show up to save my opponent's lane. I think faster games would just make things more exciting overall.
Quick Links
Ravi Iyer