Giants Gaming jungler and former ESL UK Premiership champion Nubar “Maxlore” Sarafian has spoken about the standard of competitive UK League of Legends.
He told Red Bull: “I think the British scene has improved a lot since the introduction of the UK Premiership, but it still has some room for improvement.
“I think if the salaries and prize pools increased enough for people to see that playing LoL competitively in the UK could be a job, that would improve the scene.”
When asked why the only UK players in the EU LCS are currently himself and Raymond “KaSing” Tsang, Maxlore replied: “I don’t know, to be honest, but I know a few players could make it if they changed their mentality by accepting mistakes and learning from them as well, as putting time into studying the game.
“70% of the time you spend on League should be playing, the other 30% should be studying the game, watching replays and watching your own games to spot mistakes.”
Analysis: How UK League of Legends jungler Maxlore helped Giants beat Fnatic 2-0
Maxlore also said that his former teammate Barney “Alphari” Morris has the potential to make it to the very top.
“He has a good mindset and he’s hardworking when it comes to League,” Maxlore said.
The pair played for Team Infused and won the ESL UK Premiership together last year, before Alphari joined the Renegades Banditos and won it again. Alphari is still playing for them now in the EU Challenger Series, though they’re now known as Misfits.
You can check out an old video interview we conducted with Maxlore and Alphari here.
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
