Team Secret's Hamez Reveals Why He Switched From League of Legends PC to Wild Rift
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James “Hamez” Santos is the team captain and support specialist of Team Secret’s League of Legends (LoL): Wild Rift team. In a recent livestream Hamez revealed his reasons for shifting from LoL PC esports to Wild Rift. According to him, the Philippines barely receives the necessary tools and support needed for LoL PC esports teams to thrive. As a result, this has led to the downfall of its esports scene within the region. It did not help that the the LoL PC server is region-locked. This makes it hard for teams to scrim with other foreign players. He added that Riot Game’s latest mobile MOBA title, Wild Rift, may be the fresh new start for LoL PC esports pro players in the Philippines.
Hamez compares LoL PC and Wild Rift’s esports scene in the Philippines
Hamez is a former member of Liyab Esports’ LoL PC esports team. When Wild Rift was released, the pro player decided to shift his esports career to the latest mobile MOBA title. According to Spin.PH, he felt that only the top-performing Philippines esports organizations have the greatest advantages when it comes to the LoL PC esports scene. Even then, these organizations are still struggling due to the limitations that the server has in the region.
“During practice, it’s always Philippines vs Philippines. Having a scrim session with other regions is very rare and we (Liyab Esports) are the number one, the only team who has access (Scrim Sessions) to other regions,” stated Hamez.
He added that this is very unfair to other teams that possess potential but do not have the necessary support to improve their team roster. This is why most teams get left behind and could not compete to the best of their abilities.
“When it comes to competitions, we (Liyab Esports) still lack training because we barely get to do scrim sessions with other regions,” stated the team captain.
Each LoL PC server in Southeast Asia (SEA) is region locked, so it only allows players to be matched with other players in the same country. This makes it hard to test your skills against other foreign teams. Other MOBA titles like Dota 2 allow players to switch servers at will and even Wild Rift has a server that is dedicated to the SEA region, allowing players from different nationalities to converge in matches.
Hamez added that since Wild Rift is new, this was the perfect opportunity for aspiring pro players to dive in as everyone is on an even playing field.
“In Wild Rift, we all start at the beginning. The advantage we have now is we are slightly ahead in learning about the meta and we apply it in tournaments,” stated Hamez.
He added that Wild Rift’s esports scene is not like LoL PC, where regions like Korea and China are heavily dominant and tend to be ahead in the meta.
“When you mention the two (Korea and China), you get scared because they are always the champions (in LoL PC). But in Wild Rift, we all learn at the same pace as China and Korea so it’s not that scary and we can keep up with them,” stated Hamez.
Team Secret is currently one of the most dominant teams in SEA. The team secured 3rd-4th place in the Wild Rift Horizon Cup 2021. While the team did fall to the Chinese team of Da Kun Gaming in the semifinals, Team Secret did manage to establish that the SEA region is a tough contender within Wild Rift esports scene.
