Last weekend, Heroes of the Storm hosted its largest occasion of the yr to date: the Western Clash. Eight groups battled it out at IEM Katowice for a part of the $100,000 prize pool and regional glory, plus an additional spot for the staff’s area on the mid-season Brawl going down later this yr. Coming into the match, the European groups have been anticipated to dominate, however catastrophe struck for favourites to win, Fnatic: their captain, Dob ’QuackNiix’ Engström, fell in poor health, they usually needed to discover a alternative. Enter Rodney Anyani ’SonicLeBeast’ Kwaku.
At the time, SonicLeBeast was ranked each first and second within the European Grand Master leaderboards. He hadn’t simply risen to the highest in a single account, however two, proving he had expertise that surpass a complete continent.
Meet one other younger prodigy, one who’s rising up the ranks in the Overwatch League.
And but SonicLeBeast has by no means competed in a match like this earlier than. He has by no means even been to an occasion like this earlier than. SonicLeBeast, a participant whose earlier expertise was solely within the Open Division – a match for beginner gamers the place they’ll qualify for the pro-level Heroes of the Storm Global Championship (HGC) – got here into some of the aggressive Heroes of the Storm tournaments on this planet, and completed within the prime half.
“I’ve played like one or two cups on amateur level,” SonicLeBeast tells us, “so going into it I believed perhaps they have been simply going to destroy me with pure teamplay. Before coming right here, I performed one or two scrims with Fnatic, and it went fairly nicely, so I obtained a little bit little bit of confidence there, and once I hit the Ring of Frost within the first sport, on Jaina, I fully flicked. From there on it was simply, for me, a traditional match.“
In a press convention, Tempo Storm, North America’s highest-placed staff within the match, even gave credit score to SonicLeBeast. “Prodigy,” is how the staff’s Mike ’Glaurung’ Fisk described him, “like, seriously. For him to come to a LAN, and just play as well as he did? Prodigy.” Tempo Storm’s Fan Yang merely referred to as him a “mechanical god.”
Despite all this, SonicLeBeast by no means had HGC aspirations. He performs each League of Legends and Heroes of the Storm at this stage, and his solely actual objective was “to be a god in solo queue in each video games.” This is a participant who has not had the help of an expert organisation, has not had the expertise of pro-level scrims, and simply needed to be the perfect in ranked play.
He even mentioned that he beforehand “couldn’t take the HGC seriously” due to how he “destroyed” professional gamers in Hero League – Heroes of the Storm’s solo queue ranked mode. He introduced that throughout to Fnatic; a talent with the sport’s murderer’s characters that was unmatched.
However, Fnatic have been ultimately knocked out by Zealots. Turns out they have been nonetheless lacking one thing. SonicLeBeast realised his best weak point: he didn’t play that many heroes, and those who he did choose restricted the staff’s choices.
“I have, over the days, acquired somewhat of an ego, and I went into the tournament thinking me and Ménè are probably top two DPS players in the tournament, besides Poilk and Snitch,” SonicLeBeast says. “I just always had the feeling that I’m better than these guys, and I can beat them easily in a fair and square environment, but Zealots completely avoided the fair PvP: they picked stuff like Abathur and things to shut down one individual, they caught me off guard and taught me a lesson.”
SonicLeBeast could be some of the mechanically proficient gamers on this planet, however he proves that skilled esports are about extra than simply who can proper click on higher and quicker. Being in a position to talk, work collectively, and overcome in staff technique – not simply particular person talent – is essential. It is one thing SonicLeBeast is aware of he has to work on.
“I guess I’m still thinking about what I can improve on, but also I just have to work with the team,” he tells us. “I didn’t shotcall enough, I didn’t call for Divine Shields when I needed them just because you don’t do that in Hero League, and I guess that’s what keeps me from being the best, I’d say. If I work on that, I can be a real threat in the HGC.”
That is now SonicLeBeast’s objective – to be an actual risk to the professionals. Where he was beforehand content material being the god of Hero League, taking part in with Fnatic confirmed him the probabilities obtainable in professional play. He is aware of his errors and what wants to vary to compete on the subsequent stage.
In esports, we regularly give attention to the winners, the highest canines and the those who gained the best share of big prize swimming pools. Despite QuackNiix’s sickness leading to Fnatic putting decrease than anticipated, now we have caught a glimpse at how vital it’s for esports groups to continually be in search of the subsequent finest participant, and coaching them up so they’re prepared.
SonicLeBeast has all of a sudden gained over 500 followers on his nigh-empty Twitter account since his efficiency, he has gained followers and notoriety around the globe. Perhaps Glaurung was proper, and SonicLeBeast is a prodigy – the one to look out for. Is that SonicLeBeast himself needs, to be competing on the Western Clash subsequent yr, to show that he’s the perfect?
We requested him. His reply?
“Yeah, exactly.”
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