On the 5th of June (12:00 PM PST), Cloud9 announced that Blaberfish2 will be the starting jungler for their Academy team.

With recently graduating high school and joining the C9 Academy team, we decided it was best to get more familiar with Blaber. Being one of the youngest players on the team, Blaber brings curiosity onto the table. In an interview with Blaber, Blaber expressed his struggle in gaining his parent’s support and the goals he has set for himself for the upcoming split.

“My friends are extremely supportive. They for some reason (laughs) think I am going to be super duper rich (laughs). They want to cash in on me later in the future. Obviously, it is a joke. They are just messing with me. But yeah, they are super supportive. I told them that any time they want to come to LA, they can visit me. My parents are supportive also. They weren’t always supportive. My parents started supporting me after Scouting Grounds I would say. After that, they realized this was something I can do and something I wanted to do. They were all for it. My parents told me: ‘If you want to do it, you just go for it. You can always go back to school later.’”

While many professional players like MikeYeung dreamed of becoming a pro player at a young age, Blaber revealed that he recently found the passion to become the very best and join C9.

“It hasn't been my dream for my entire life, but it has for the last 3-4 years. I would watch Youtube or Twitch streamers, and I thought it was really cool. Someday, I wanted to be like them. Live in a gaming house and hang out with people who have the same interest as me.”

Most, if not all, League Of Legends players have a person they look up to. Whether it may be from a stream or live event, aspiring professional players are just the same. Watching Twitch and Youtube streams, Blaberfish tells us some iconic players he is a fan of and looks up to.

“The first player I really watched was Doublelift. He was my favorite player when he was on CLG for 5 years straight. He is still one of my favorite players. I guess for jungle role, it would be Dardoch. When Dardoch was rising in the scene, I thought he was an extremely good player. Although he apparently had attitude issues back then, I still respected him as a player. I just thought he was really good. He is someone I look up to when it comes to gameplay or when it comes to the professional scene.”

Clearly determined and passionate, Blaberfish claimed that, on average, he plays 2000 games a season. Sometimes up to 4000 games. Entering the Academy scene with fresh eyes, we asked Blaber where his eyes are set for the future.

“Long term, I want to get to the LCS eventually and go to Worlds. Going to those big competitions. Overall, my personal goal is to just be the best I can be as a player. For this split, I really want to win Academy and prove myself as a player. This is because I have a lot of weaknesses right now.”

The cliché saying of ‘Hard work pays off’ is applicable here. With the intense but yet rewarding schedule C9 is offering, we will just have to wait and see how explosively Blaberfish enters the scene. Blaber expressed his appreciations for his supporters and resolve for Cloud9.

“Thanks for the support. I’ll try my best not to let Cloud9 down, let myself down, and you guys down. Thanks a lot!”