Interview with Crumbzz from Team Dignitas

June 28th, 2012

Author: Aaron “Vigilante” Gilmore

Vigilante has a chat with League of Legends top laner player from Team Dignitas, Crumbzz, for Alienware Arena.

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You recently switched from Team Curse to Team Dignitas? What was your biggest motivation for the switch?

Team Curse was going to have a gaming house in L.A. in which players would have to make a year-long commitment. I am currently a University student, and I did not want to put my career on a hiatus, therefore I felt that leaving Team Curse was my only option, lucky for me Team Dignitas was looking for a new player and I just so happened to be in the right place at the right time.

How is life since you joined Team Dignitas?

It's been great. We are all very committed to improving our play and we are all so devoted to our goal, winning the Season 2 Championship, and that is something which is great. As for life with the team, in a couple of weeks, we will be living with each other for three months in Korea and I will know by then.

You were a jungler on your previous team and you made the switch to top lane when you joined Team Dignitas, how are you finding it?

Loving every second of it, I have no preference in the roles that I play with the exception of support, all I ask is that I play heroes that I can kill with and I'm good to go. I just thoroughly enjoy League of Legends and playing most of its heroes, so I would say the transition was a bit rough at first, but it’s getting better and will continue to improve.

Did you want to switch to top or did you switch because you wanted to join Team Dignitas?

I switched because I wanted to join Team Dignitas, whichever role I was placed in was not a factor in my decision.

You went from being the person that ganked when you played jungle to the person that gets ganked, what is your attitude towards this and how has it affected your game style?

I think the transition from a jungler to a top laner is one of the easiest in the game to pull off. Both have a similar champion pool as well as perform similar roles during a team fight. In that respect, it was an easy swap. Going from the ganker to the ganked is really nice to be honest. Since I know the mentality of a jungler inside and out, I am able to think in the enemy jungler's shoes and that helps me know when I’m about to be ganked. Just a quick look at the map and I can think to myself "If I was the enemy jungler, would I be ganking me?" and whichever answer I come up with directly correlates to how I play in the lane.

What champion do you find to be a pain to play against in top?

Nidalee, it's not that laning against her is impossible, I learned how to do it, it is just a pain in the ass, she has sustain, harass, poke, burst and mobility, it all makes me cringe, as well as those infernal traps.

You played against your former team recently how was it to be on the other side, was it strange?

It was not strange at all. I am friends with all of Team Curse since we did not part ways on negative terms, but playing against them is not weird. When I am in game, I do not even bother looking at the names above the heroes, all I see is 5 champions versus my team. I am not someone who is very emotional or has grudges of any kind, so there really is nothing strange about it, at least not for me. 

Are you also going to Korea with the rest of the team? Are you looking forward to it?

Yes, we are going to the summer OGN in Seoul, South Korea. I am very excited about it and simply cannot wait as we leave for in 2 weeks. I have trouble sleeping every now and then, and that is just a sign of me getting anxious for it, but that's about as far as excited as I’ll get.

The Korean scene is very tough and growing very fast, how do you see yourselves doing there?

I think it's going to be an incredible experience, not just for the living component, but for the playing. I see it sort of like a boot camp. Getting three months to play against literally the best teams in Asia and some of Europe's and North America's finest, it is a chance to really polish our game and prepare ourselves. We will be looking to get the most out of it, and I think we won't be enjoying Korea itself as much as we may have hoped. It's not often one gets an opportunity like this to improve and prepare for the Season 2 Championship, so playing for as many hours every day is a definite priority.

Out of all the teams that are playing in the tournament, who do you think will be the biggest challenge?

In the OGN, I don't think any one team is going to be the toughest, everyone there has earned their spot and for good reason. I consider all of the teams competing in it, a tough opponent.

Is the Korean playstyle different from the NA style?

The playstyle difference between NA, EU, and Asia are as different as eating your eggs poached, fried or scrambled. It is a completely different way of playing the game. Something to look forward to is seeing the play styles clash and seeing which new play style is formed and which ones become obsolete.

There is a lot of talk about League of Legends passing over Starcraft 2 as the prime eSport, what’s your opinion on this?

Most definitely, yes. I read Carmac's blog, the head of Intel Extreme Master's and the points that he made on the subject have solidified my opinion on the matter. League of Legends caters to everyone, unlike Starcraft whose design is flawed for growth and caters to an audience that is able to adapt to its high individual skill cap. LoL is able to always increase its audience as well as keep the game fresh every 2 weeks, which prevents it from becoming old. And there is always the opportunity for new teams to come out of nowhere and take on established behemoths of the competitive scene. Something which is very appealing for those looking to make a career out of eSports.

Where do you see yourself in 5 years? Still playing League of Legends, casting or something away from eSports?

I couldn't tell you, but all I know is in 5 years I plan to still be enveloped deep in the world of eSports. A world most kids only dream of and I have had the luxury of being a part of it.

Thank you for doing this interview, any shoutouts, final words, anything?

Thanks to all my fans, and the fans of the game more importantly, as well as that I would like to give a shoutout to Team Dignitas and their sponsors.

Also, for those interested in following me in anything LoLe related, here are a couple my sites you can find me on:

www.team-dignitas.net

Facebook: @Crumbzz

Twitter: @dCrumbzz

Stream: http://www.twitch.tv/crumbzz

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GLHF to Crumbzz and hope you shall be cheering on Team Dignitas in the upcoming Season 2 Championships.

dVigilante
@ImJustVigilante