Immortals ended Week 3 of the League of Legends Championship Series 2021 summer split with a 2-1 record, putting a stop to the team’s four-game losing streak. Before the dip, this IMT lineup came into the season swinging with a 3-0 start, looking like a rejuvenated and better-realized version of its spring-self. A quick recovery from their recent slump has fans and analysts alike wondering just how far they can go.
Worth it to stay up for the @Immortals game. 5th best team atm?
— Martin Lynge (@Deficiolol) June 21, 2021
Immortals’ two impressive victories over Cloud9 and FlyQuest this past weekend give definite weight to this newfound praise, but the team’s rising stock has just as much to do with their work out of the game as it does on Summoner’s Rift. Following IMT’s win against FlyQuest on June 20, Upcomer caught up with top laner Mo “Revenge” Kaddoura to learn more about the strong bonds that have helped carry the team through their exciting start to the summer, as well as his personal progression as a player.
“We’re like a group of brothers.”
How did a 7th place team become one of the most interesting LCS teams to watch in only a matter of months? According to Revenge, the answer has to do with more than just a few good performances to start off the summer split.
“We spend a lot of our free time that we have with each other outside of the game,” Revenge said. “It just feels like we’re as connected outside of the game as we are in the game. It’s not forced, it’s just natural for us.”
Immortals is one of three teams still competing in the summer split with the same starting lineup from the spring. The team barely missed playoffs, but according to Revenge, they took full advantage of their long offseason and some newly lifted COVID-19 restrictions by building up their relationship as a team. For Revenge, personally, he’s gotten much closer with the team’s bot duo Quin “Raes” Korebritz and Mitchell “Destiny” Shaw. Now, the team is comfortable helping each other through the various stresses and emotions that come with competing in the LCS.
“We have such an advantage, especially when things are getting more stressful,” Revenge said. “Like, when we were 0-4, we can come together outside of the game and help each other get through tough times. Awesome. That’s really important right now.”
Losing yesterday was super devastating to me and it was really hard mentally to go into today on a 4 loss streak so I’m really glad we could pull it back as a team
— Revenge (@Revengeleague) June 19, 2021
Revenge added that even when it comes to fulfilling more mundane player obligations, like recording content with sponsors or content creators, the positive team atmosphere makes it easy to have a good time. According to Revenge, recording content mid-split can sometimes be stressful, so he and his teammates try to view it as an extra opportunity to pal around outside of spamming games.
“I don’t know if most teams do have something like we do,” said Revenge. “I would say probably not.”
