A factor that any professional esports player will tell you is that gaming will never be the same once you go pro. For teams like UPSET Lions, the time between games is about more than just relaxing, charged up, and scrimming. It’s a time to reflect on past successes together with failures, and to prepare for the matches to come, both mentally and physically.
“I try to approach training holistically, meaning that we look into many different aspects of a person’s life, and try to figure out how we can most effective help them to grow and develop in whichever way is most needed, ” explains MAD Lions’ head coach Harry "Mac" MacCormack.
Sophomore Year
Last year, Mac took your team made up almost entirely of rookies and advised them all the way to the League of Legends World Great, muscling their way into the upper echelons of the EUROPEAN UNION scene alongside established juggernauts like G2 Esports and Fnatic. While it would be unfair to say that this stunning accomplishment is entirely down to Mac’s management of the team, them wouldn’t be a stretch to say that his integrated techniques for training and lifestyle enabled MAD’s young roster to get amazing results.
“I place a great emphasis on making sure that participants are healthy, happy, and feel supported by the large business and the coaching staff, ” says Mac. “I seek to encourage a culture of self-betterment, where everyone in the team will help and challenge one another to push them front. In short, I want my players to be the best version about themselves in every aspect of their lives. I want them to give MAD as better people than they arrived. ”
A huge part of this culture of self-betterment revolves around located a healthy lifestyle. While players aren’t expected to start meditating or doing yoga, they are required to maintain a healthy diet, becoming plenty of exercise and sleep, and – as is more valuable now than ever – take care of their mental health.
“It's pretty important to be healthy, because you definitely notice that should you be bad or tired, your brain doesn't function as well while it should and you can't react as fast and learn like efficiently as if you were in good shape, ” says MAD’s service Norman "Kaiser" Kaiser.
Student and Teacher
Of course , you will find such a thing as over-management. One of the big challenges of Mac’s job is striking a good balance between offering his squad the freedom to manage their own time, and supplying each player the support and advice that they need to have.
“Trying to control every aspect of my players’ lives is not only over the budget, but also detrimental to their own growth, ” says Mac. “We, of course , have basic requirements for the health, fitness, as well as practice of the players. But these are not particularly stringent, which try to listen to player feedback as much as possible with regards to what they think helps them and what doesn’t. ”
He goes on to go into detail that giving players room to fail and subsequently make out their own solutions is a major pathway to growth.
“Personal development requires failure, ” he summarises. “It’s very difficult to learn without trial and error. ”
While the studio seats keep empty, MAD Lions are definitely showing up for the Spring Winter.
“[Mac’s coaching style] is very methodical, ” adds Kaiser. “He tries to focus on one or two things at a stretch, so we try to implement them into our gameplay eventually. We also try to build good habits when it comes to trying to play how we would play on stage. ”
Kaiser is now within the second year with MAD Lions, and from the understanding of training, he notes that the jump to an LEC party – which naturally has more resources at its disposable than lower-league teams – was a significant improvement.
“In MAD, we have more staff so they can research different plots or champions from other regions that we may not have grabbed or look for rotations that we have not seen or revised yet, " he explains.
Times Get Tough
Element of being a great coach is recognising when individual people or the team as a whole are struggling. Things get a bit of trickier when the whole team is experiencing a uncertain patch.
“All teams have runs of good and terrible form – peaks and troughs in their competitive operation which can be attributed to any number of factors, ” says Mac. Your dog goes on to explain that when players feel that the situation is out of their whole control, it becomes very difficult to maintain morale.
“Any competitive particular person on a strong lineup will hold a clear expectation associated with winning, ” Mac adds. “Managing this expectation in a run of bad form caused by situations outside of one’s own control, such as a shift in the meta or challenges in someone’s personal life impacting performance, is always exceptionally challenging. ”
Mac admits that low points like that are undoubtedly the hardest part of his job. When the wood chips are down, having a positive ethos to fall returning on is essential.
“When the pressure is on and goals are high, it takes grit, determination, and an undeniable drive to find solutions and be positive to get through these long-lasting periods, ” concludes Mac.
We’ll soon see if INSANE Lions’ preparation has paid off as they continue their 2021 Spring Season campaign.