new york fortnite tournamentNEW YORK -- Rogue support Adrian “Trymbi” Trybus walked into the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden to a sea of thousands of League of Legends fans in the crowd. He took four steps toward his seat, taking in the ambiance of pregame chants and chatter as a smile formed on his face. He put on his noise-canceling headphones as all of his attention shifted toward the game ahead of him.
It was Trymbi’s second time on the international stage, only this time, he was at the League of Legends World Championship with Rogue as Europe’s first seed instead of the third or fourth seed. With all the pressure to perform, the League of Legends European Championship’s No. 1 seed is currently atop Group C with a perfect 3-0 record. For Rogue fans, the team’s third consecutive trip to the Worlds stage has been their most successful yet. However, even with their astounding Week 1 success, it was a moment that Trymbi couldn’t fully enjoy just yet.
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“First thoughts on my mind are that it feels amazing to be 3-0. We are the first seed from the LEC and we are actually doing well on the international stage,” Trymbi said following their victory against Top Esports. “But everything has been moving so fast that it’s really hard to fully enjoy it until we solidify our spot in the quarterfinals.”
The importance of fan support
Photo credit: Riot Games
Amid the chaos of the Worlds 2022 group stage, something that Trymbi could not ignore was all the chants from the fans in the crowd. It was something that Trymbi took in despite the stress of Rogue’s high-stakes matches.
“I really want fans to cheer for Rogue as much as possible because it really makes me happy to see fans giving us support,” Trymbi said. “Whenever I receive messages from Rogue fans in my Twitter DMs it makes me so happy and pushes me to play great because I don’t want to disappoint them.”
He’s grateful for the messages and hopes more fans latch onto supporting Rogue.
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“I respect orgs like Fnatic and G2 Esports because they have fans that will always cheer and support them, but I want to play so good that people start becoming Rogue fans,” Trymbi said. “I want people to really cheer for us and become fans of us because that’s a part of what makes esports so great.”
Trymbi definitely noticed how much the crowd was in favor of Top Esports when they faced Rogue. He noted the numerous neon signs that decorated the arena with support for their favorite League of Legends Pro League team. It inspired him to perform to the best of their abilities.
“Seeing all those neon signs in the crowd was so cool and would love to eventually get to a level where I can glance at the crowd and see Rogue one day,” Trymbi said. “That would make me very happy and will continue to play well so I can see that for us.”
Finishing strong
Photo credit: Riot Games
At Worlds 2020, Rogue were eliminated in the group stage with a 1-5 record. At Worlds 2021, they barely missed out on the quarterfinals with a 2-4 record following their loss to Cloud9 in a tiebreaker. At 3-0 so far, Rogue are likely just a win away from solidifying their spot in the quarterfinals. Once that quarterfinals spot is secured, Trymbi believes Rogue can then focus on taking things further.
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“Even though we are undefeated going into Week 2, we still need to stay really humble and play our own game,” Trymbi said. “If we get to do that, then I hope that we can make it out of groups with a 6-0 score, but let’s not move too fast and solidify our spot in the quarterfinals first.”
Rogue and the rest of Group C will compete on Saturday, and the top two teams in the group will qualify for the Worlds 2022 quarterfinals.
Lead photo credit: Riot Games