Esports is set to be a Medal Event at Asian Games 2022, slated to take place in China's Hangzhou from September 23 to October 8. The seven official Esports events in which contingents from across the globe will compete are — Arena of Valor Asian Games Version, Dota 2, Dream Three Kingdoms 2, FIFA Online 4, League of Legends, PUBG Mobile Asian Games Version, and Street Fighter V: Champion Edition. The Indian contingents will be participating in four of these seven titles — League of Legends, DOTA 2, FIFA Online 4, and Street Fighter V: Champion Edition.
The League of Legends team comprises six players — Akshaj Shenoy (better known by his gaming avatar, Kai), Samarth Arvind Trivedi (CrankO), Mihir Ranjan (Lotus), Aditya Selvaraj (Krow), Aakash Shandilya (Infi), and Sanindhya Malik (Deadcorp). Shenoy is the captain of the Indian contingent for League of Legends and in an exclusive interview with ABP Live, he talked about how he entered the world of esports, climbed up the ranks, and how he now plans to make the nation proud in the tournament with the help of his team.
Q: How do you feel now that you represent India on a global stage?
Shenoy: It's a great honour to represent one's nation on a global level so I feel really happy that I could put my skills to use for this.
Q: Let us start with Akshaj and then move on to Kai. Walk us through your journey, which began from a household computer to professional gaming now.
Shenoy: When I started off, my house had a common PC that didn't have high specifications that could support heavy games and League at that time was a low-demanding game. Ever since then, League has been the constant for me that I have been playing for the past 11-12 years. I've played other games as well such as PUBG, Valorant, and Osu but, I never left League. Some four to five years back, I was playing League [of Legends] with an amateur team and slowly I climbed up the ranks. Then I started to form my own team with players that had both raw skills and experience. Since then, we haven't lost a single South Asian tournament.
Q: How did the scouting procedure look like?
Shenoy: It was a small community actually so mostly everyone knew each other. I was pretty well known too so I just contacted my guys and said "Hey, what do you feel about joining my team?" I sent them a list of players that I had scouted to see if they were interested in joining and playing with that set of players. That's how the team was formed.
Q: Where did you draw your inspiration from while gaming? You might've lost a few games as well so how did you maintain that spirit?
Shenoy: Earlier, I always used to look up to the Korean or the Chinese team. Specifically, there was a team called the 'SK' team in which there was a guy named 'Faker.' He is not only like the God of gaming but also the face of esports in itself. That guy has always been an inspiration for me. He has already won three League of Legends (Called 'Worlds'). He has been playing for like 8-9 years and to date he is one of the best players.
Q: Now that you're one of the best in the Asian region, have the role models changed?
Shenoy: Yes, role models have switched. There's one more guy called 'Chovy' from whom I draw inspiration. Since players of these regions (China and Korea) have been playing the game for longer than us due to server issues, they can outsmart us in some ways. So, we do look up to them to draw inspiration from.
Q: Esports is not really a 'conventional' way to earn your living. So, how did your family react when you broke the news to them of you turning into a professional gamer?
Shenoy: Almost every parent feels that too much gaming might destroy their child's future but in this matter, I actually had a good relationship with my parents. I didn't compromise my studies at all so they were fine with my gaming. I also started earning so they were like 'Okay let him do his thing, he's also good at it.' But, when they found out that I was gonna represent India then they were like 'Wait! What? There are actually events like this for games also?' And I said yeah it's a medal event now so now they are bragging to our relatives as well.
Q: Now that Kai is a well-recognised personality globally, if you had to teach newbies how to their gameplay, what would you tell them?
Shenoy: If you want to improve then you have to play the ranked queues but there's a lot of toxicity there. I would suggest you mute that out. Even when I was a kid and used to play then there used to be a lot of sledging and the use of foul language which personally affected me as well. I used to take some rash decisions after that as well. However, now there's an option to mute chats so you should not let that toxicity get to you. Also, you should watch some pro players as well. I look at the gameplay of Chinese guys to stay up-to-date. And most importantly, dedicate time to actually playing. You won't turn into a pro in just a week without playing much unless you have a lot of raw skills. So play to improve your gameplay.
Q: How much could a player expect to earn if they turn pro like you?
Shenoy: In India, the famous games where players make a fortune during live streams are PUBG and Valorant, primarily. With these games, one can expect to make a good fortune but, then with games like League of Legends or Dota 2, you won't make a fortune to be honest as they are not that popular. If we just talk about League of Legends, it's very random, so giving a figure might be a bit tough.
Q: How do you focus during professional matches? How do you stay in the right mindset, especially during tournament matches?
Shenoy: At the end of the day, believe in yourself, don't ego-inflate yourselves, and do not get frustrated due to others' toxicity. Sometimes that happens to me as well and because of poor gameplay during the last match, I am not able to perform well in the next match. It's a new game so start with a new thinking.
Q: How do you prepare yourself before matches?
Shenoy: In League of Legends, the game starts way before it actually begins. You have to scout your opposing team. You have to form strategies according to the strength of your enemy team and what they might do. So, we have to sit together and figure all that out, that's how I guess we prepare ourselves before the tournament matches.
Q: What's your personal strategy when you go into such matches?
Shenoy: I make sure that I understand my opponent. I try to think what he might think way before he actually thinks. So, I try to calm myself down and ensure that I am only thinking about the game and nothing else. In League, you have to keep your power in your finger movements so in that sense for any important match, I try to do some hand exercises to warm up my fingers and also get my brain active too. I meditate for some time to calm my mind down.
Q: How do you train with the team?
Shenoy: If you're bad at the game and your other teammates are carrying you throughout then that's not good, right? So getting better individually is probably the most crucial aspect. So, when we practice, we focus on getting better individually and then we come together to make the whole team's gameplay better. We try to meet (virtually) four to five times a week to play together or have meetings to discuss steps to move forward.
Q: What does your role in the team look like since you're the captain?
Shenoy: There's no such hierarchy but since I'm the best so I call the shots. I tell the team what to do but, slowly, we have evolved so much that now everyone player can think for themselves which is exactly how it should be. We have delegated the work and assigned roles amongst ourselves due to which everyone is now like a 'shot caller'. So, I, as Captain, assign those roles to them and coordinate with them.
Q: Who do you think is your biggest challenger at the upcoming Asian Games?
Shenoy: China and Korea. Korea is the strongest competitor, they've won five out of eight times in the international championship for League. China has also won a fair share of times.
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