Interview: AGSB Esports on reaching two British Esports Championships semi-finals, having a student in the UKLC and why they owe thanks to Team Vitality manager Gregan

Altrincham Grammar School for Boys have done very well in Season 2 of the British Esports Championships so far, having made the semi-finals in both League of Legends and Rocket League.

What’s next for the teams, which classmate is playing in the higher-tier UK League of Legends UKLC against teams like Fnatic Rising, and what have they learnt so far? We find out in this interview with Rocket League player Tom Hurrell.

 

Please tell us about your team name, logo and a bit about the school.

We’re all students for Altrincham Grammar School for Boys, but for short we just call it “Alty” or “AGSB”.

After bouncing three team names (eGSB, AGSB Esports and Alty aTTaX) around for a while, we eventually settled on AGSB Esports, however because staff in school started referring to it as the “esports club”, we changed the name to accommodate it, hence, AGSB EC.

 

Which games do you participate in and how are you doing in the British Esports Championships so far?

We participate in the schools division for Rocket League and League of Legends. So far neither team has lost, however the Rocket League team definitely had the shakier start as we replaced our third player twice in two weeks due to availability problems.

 

Who are the players in your teams?

 

League of Legends (pictured, top)

• David Chen
• Leo Chiu
• Theo Johnson
• Wesley Choi
• Yaser Halim

Rocket League (pictured, bottom)

• Tom Hurrell
• Dhyem Khan
• Max Howarth

Please tell us about your practicing methods.

Fortunately, PE lessons are the last lesson on Wednesdays for most of us, which is just before we play.

The League of Legends team tend to play ranked modes as a five-man team, whereas me and the other Rocket League players play 2v1s to work on defense, at least, when I’m paying attention to the game and not the LCK results from the morning before.

 

What’s the most memorable or funniest moment in the team so far?

Definitely watching our former top-laner Harry “Akkers” Akrill getting smashed by Fnatic Rising in Week 1 of the UK League Championship after we secured top of our group against Wycliffe.

“Make Caps Akkers wish he had a time machine” is now one of my favourite quotes from our Discord.

 

You guys are through to the semi finals in both Rocket League schools and League of Legends schools. Congrats! How far do you think you can go?

Of course I’d love it if we all went to Insomnia, however Ep-Esports (Easthampstead Park Community School) have been looking really strong on the Rocket League front, certainly enough to unsettle us as we may have to play them in the grand finals. Top two is doable for both teams this season.

 

What are your general thoughts on the British Esports Championships and what have you learnt so far?

I’ve loved every minute so far. For three years I stayed quiet about my passion for esports, but the competition has made me feel more comfortable talking about it.

I’ve learnt that if you try, absolutely anything is possible (although I’m still working on flip resets).

 

Is there anything else you’d like to add?

I’d like to give a special thanks to the manager of Renault Sport Team Vitality (and British Esports Rocket League game adviser), Mike “Gregan” Ellis, for drawing my attention to this in the first place, to Mr Cummins, the only teacher I know that would be crazy enough to go through with all this, and to my schoolmate Raheem.

Without Raheem telling me to buy Counter-Strike back in 2015, I may never have watched that fateful first map of the ESL One Cologne 2015 major grand final between Fnatic and EnVyUs. If you haven’t already, watch the second half because comebacks like that are few and far between.

 

Follow AGSB on Twitter here and check the latest results on the British Esports Championships website“Our most memorable moment so far is definitely watching our former top-laner Akkers getting smashed by Fnatic Rising in Week 1 of the UK League Championship.””For three years I stayed quiet about my passion for esports, but the British Esports Championships have made me feel more comfortable talking about it. I’ve learnt that if you try, absolutely anything is possible (although I’m still working on flip resets in Rocket League).”