On April 29th, Michigan High School Esports League(MHSEL)’s finals were held in Kalamazoo. Many Novi teams reached the playoffs, however only one made it to the finals and took the trophy home: the League of Legends team.

League of Legends matches have five players on each team, each playing a specific role. These roles are Top Laner, Jungler, Mid Laner, Support, and AD carry. What’s important is that each role must be fulfilled equally well for a team to succeed. Similar to traditional sports, a team can have more than five players in their roster, just not more than five in the “field.”

The League of Legends team, comprised of Conner Kirkman, Julia Lin, Robert Floros, Nihal Dongari, William Diaz, and Andy Li, was the champion of MHSEL’s fall season tournament, and was back to defend its title in the spring season.

According to Lin, the team’s Support and three-year long League player, the team faced two main struggles.

The first was a change in scenery. Playing on stage “is more nerve racking for sure, and you’re not used to the pc as if you were playing at home”

An early loss to Northville was another hurdle the team had to overcome. 

“Building that [positive] mentality after was pretty tough but with each others’ support we were able to recover and learn from our mistakes,” Lin said.

However, the team pushed through. Lin said the main reason the team overcame this struggle was because “we cooperate well and have a good bond.”

Junior Robert Floros, the team’s Mid Laner, who’s been playing since 2017, expressed a similar sentiment.  

“Our synergy and communication is definitely our biggest strength,” Floros said. 

This is particularly important in a game like League of Legends due to the emphasis on teamwork.

Similarly, most of the team enjoys participating in esports for a similar reason. As Floros puts it, the most fun part of esports is “spending time with the team and getting better at something we all love to do.” 

Lin agreed, saying that the two most fun aspects of esports are “playing with other people and the competitive aspect to it.”

As the year comes to a close, the class of 2023 make their leave, including Kirkman, the team’s captain and two other members. However, during last season’s tryouts, there were many non-senior students trying to make their way onto the team.

The team will look quite different in the upcoming season. While it’s hard to tell how strong the team will be next year, the league team has shown they’re worth keeping an eye on.