This 1-Trick just won the LCS - The Story of APA

#leagueoflegends #lcs #esports
The amount of work it takes to become a League of Legends pro can't be overstated. Years of grinding solo queue, refining your skill in your chosen role, all for the chance to one day hopefully land a spot in the LCS. While the story might seem familiar, APA's road to the professional scene was anything but typical.
In this episode of The Grind by Esports Illustrated, we'll take you through the highs and lows of the young career of a newer LCS name who bet it all on himself to earn a place in the premier NA League of Legends competition.
00:00 Aurelion Sol Guy
00:50 This is The Grind
01:55 No Life Pandemic
02:14 Support Main APA?
03:09 Climbing Out of Collegiate
04:14 Liquid Gold
05:25 "Supportive" Mid
06:30 Hero's Entrance
09:00 Challenging for Worlds
11:27 Worlds...
14:14 The Pressure of Mid
15:00 Betting on the Future
16:22 Outro
Interviewees:
Eain “APA” Stearns: Team Liquid Midlaner
Sean “Yeon” Sung: Team Liquid Botlaner
Jo “CoreJJ” Yong-in: Team Liquid Captain and Support
Jake “Spawn” Tiberi: Team Liquid Head Coach
Kim “Reignover” Yeu-Jin: Team Liquid Assistant Coach
Casters:
Steve “Kangas” Kangas
Marc “Raafa” Arrambide

[@shyguyezreal]

Who's here after he won LCS Spring Playoffs 2024?

[@jbennett8660]

I have never been a TL fan, but I really appreciate APA as a player. I hope he continues to shine and stays in the LCS for a long time. Also Spawn is the best coach in the league.

[@jeremybuckets]

so you are a TL fan, you just haven't come around to it yet

[@DullHarp]

We love Apa here on Bar Spica since his debut (costreaming from Spain)

[@antoninozappala9143]

There are players that have been coasting in lcs for years and people hate on apa when he only played less than a year it’s unbelievable

[@rustygray5058]

I think a lot of the expectations that fans have put on APA this season are unfair. Sure, he has a limited champion pool, and his best stuff isn't meta right now. But he's a nice guy and his potential ceiling is so incredibly high. Even if you don't like him at all, it's a great sign that a LCS team is finally developing local talent, because we'll never compete with the eastern regions if all of our best players are the people who weren't quite good enough to make those teams.

[@jerryswags79]

You can easily make a part 2 of this just with the playoff run APA had with TL this spring split. From struggling early in the season to all chatting his way to the trophy. Still part of The Grind. Great Video BTW!

[@lunar495]

Love what APA brings to LCS, hoping he succeeds and stays in the league for years to come

[@NilmarYT]

So proud to have supported this guys career since I 1st saw him play for barrage esports NA always knew believed in him and his dream

[@User-pu3lc]

“They should let collegiate teams into Worlds. The landscape would completely shift.” 😂 Almost fell out of my chair on that take hahahaha

[@jonathandavis-iv5tu]

What a great video. This is what i pushed for all last year with apa and this year people were just slamming him saying he was bad but no one seemed to relize that he was so new to pro. yet people were comparing him to bjergsen or jensen.

[@aminelalami8480]

bjergsen joined LEC at 17 and was already smurfing on everyone, then came to lcs a year or two later and kept smurfing on everyone. there is no comparing them, APA is hardworking, bjergsen is hardwork + talent

[@limittestresearchinstituti5801]

this is so dope thank you

[@To9R]

I've been following APA as a fan since the amateur days, and I remember Oracle's Elixir scouting him as one of the most promising NA mid talents. This video does a good job of providing a history of his career, but I felt like the tone was a bit disingenous, acting like he came in with a bang. When he first played in LCS, the consesus is that he was FAR from a ready made LCS mid, and the negative community feedback was objectively not inaccurate. His laning was very lacking, often down 20+ cs in equal matchups. His map play was also weird to say the least. I think you could have highlighted this more, because his story is even more impressive taking this into account. His improvement since then, and during this playoffs, has been massive, which makes his cinderella story more impressive considering his shaky start.

[@jerryswags79]

He was for sure very rough when he came into LCS but he completely changed how TL looked with only half of split of games. In that sense, he came in with a bang.

[@dankielmemer6028]

Great video!

[@pinoystudios]

APA's story was one that was really cool to highlight and am really excited to see where his career goes from here!

[@thomaswalsh6947]

Been following APA for years now, very cool to see his story put together in one video!

[@kktest1357]

Wow didn't expect this video to be so well made when i clicked on it.

[@esportsillustrated]

We aim to surprise!

[@HarmoniousChaos]

Well made video 🎉

[@wyettmunro470]

Were talking about apa but that coach is top tier

[@esportsillustrated]

Right?!

[@trentmurray7680]

Such a cool story, more like this please!

[@SirAstien]

APA is my G.O.A.T

[@theholyroman6283]

This goes so hard

[@stacy_marie]

I beg to differ on a few of those details 🤣 Great video! Thank you for putting this together highlighting my favorite mid ❤

[@esportsillustrated]

Glad you enjoyed!

[@feartheoldblood7222]

He just won the finals MVP... yap yap yap yap yap!!!!

[@KjtheGreatPro]

Hes the prototype for sure

[@acatwithwiskers9273]

I have always enjoyed mids that play some fun champions, thats why I liked Bolulu and APA in that 2023 summer split.

[@Jordidwaard]

Apa yip yip - aang probably

[@supitschillbro]

hes not a 1 trick tho. he has a good asol, a good Ziggs, and a good Taliyah.

[@dandarr5035]

people seem to have forgotten about most of his champ pool tbh I mean, he debuted in LCS on Tristana being one of his best champs, he's pulled out Cassiopeia before, not to mention his rumored Kled mid (which apparently was thanks to Spawn). The guy has a deep and non-standard champ pool, I'm guessing he just doesn't get the chance to pull out more unconventional picks too often. Aside from Ziggs and ASol obv, it seems he's just good enough and comfortable enough on those champs to make them work despite them not being meta.

[@foolwhodreams]

Of course he is from Ohio! XD

[@derekgraham9536]

Guys I didn’t watch the video but the answer is no

[@ryanthecaptain189]

TL blows. Fluke win. They will get stomped at MSI by a lower region team, mark it.