Illinois Esports

Player Spotlight: Luis “SLK” Salik

Illini Esport’s Rocket League team is starting to take form this year stronger than ever and at the helm of it all is Illini Esport’s Rocket League competitive coordinator and varsity player Luis “SLK” Salik. Luis is a current sophomore studying aerospace engineering and I had the pleasure to have a chat with him discussing his personal journey through Rocket League and how the current Rocket League team is shaping up for this upcoming season. 

His journey in Rocket League all started when he was browsing the PS3 store as a kid and stumbled across the game called “Super Sonic Acrobatic Battle Cars.” While the game has a very strange and long name, he was instantly hooked on looking at the previews and decided to download the demo and try it out. He was instantly in love with the game and ended up buying the game as well. I mean, who wouldn’t love soccer with flying boosting cars? The rest is history, as he kept playing the game until the sequel, Rocket League, was announced and released. He ended up buying the game and a pc to play it on and has been playing ever since. He was always interested in esports as he was always motivated to play the best he could. As such, when deciding on a University to attend, Illini Esport’s Rocket League team at the time really impressed Luis and was a factor in his decision to attend the University of Illinois. He wasted no time after committing to the University and joined the Illini Esport’s discord server. He ended up trying out, made it onto the Rocket League team, and has been competing for Illini Esport’s Rocket League team ever since then.

The most recent season of Rocket League did not go as well as Luis hoped for as the team struggled through remote play during the pandemic. In particular, there was a lack of focus from the team and motivation was at an all-time low. While Illini Esport’s Rocket League team ended up not qualifying for the National Rocket League competition (Collegiate Rocket League), there were many moments in different tournaments where the team did stand out and showed their potential, including winning against some high standing teams and getting upset victories as the underdogs. Not only that, but with many students coming back to campus this semester, Luis believes that classes being in person will heavily help the issues regarding focus and motivation within the team. Moreover, Luis is looking forward to getting his team to use the physical resources from Illini Esports, such as the Esports Lab, and getting green-screened photos taken. Luis is really confident about the upcoming roster for the Rocket League teams and is excited for the future. 

What is fascinating about Luis is his strive to play better and his motivation within the game. Compared to other sports, Rocket League is much more of a mental game rather than physical strength.  As Luis said in our chat, “The whole game is in your head, I really would compare it to something like Chess for example.” As with any other sport or esport, the question of drive or motivation is very important. In particular, there are examples of even pro esports players burning out from a game and losing all motivation to continue competing at the top level. It is something we all have experienced before and could be devastating. For Luis, the key to motivation is knowing your own limits and taking a step back when you feel like you are hitting your limits. From talking with Luis, it is clear that Luis is very passionate about what he does here at Illini Esports and is very motivated in pushing himself and the rest of the Rocket League team to greater heights.

For this upcoming semester, Luis and the rest of the Rocket League team are continuing to offer coaching for any Rocket League players at the University of Illinois. Anyone is welcomed for coaching, at any levels, and are encouraged to join the Rocket League specific discord. In particular, it’s a great way to meet some other people who also enjoy the same games as you do (again, rocket powered flying cars hitting giant soccer balls, who wouldn’t have a good time playing that?). In particular, Luis is very proud of the Rocket League community here at Illini Esports as it is a very close-knit community and very dedicated to what they do. It’s going to be very exciting to keep a watch on the Rocket League team in this upcoming season as Luis and the rest of the Rocket League team show a lot of potential and I’m sure they will achieve a lot in this season. 

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Thanks again to Luis for taking the time out of his day to do this interview/spotlight. If you’re also interested in following Luis, his Twitch handle is slkRL and his twitter handle is @slkrl_. Again, to keep up with Illini Esports and the Rocket League team, follow our social media accounts (Twitter/Instagram/Facebook) as game announcements and results will be announced there! Also if you are also interested in Esports be sure to join the IE discord at https://discord.gg/illiniesports. If you’re interested in specifically Rocket League, be sure to also join the Rocket League discord server at https://discord.gg/z8vAPpy. See you there!

Geoffrey “Maybe” D.