This is Jacob “SilverRitter” Demos, a senior at UIUC majoring in economics with a minor in business. He is the ADC (Attack Damage Carry) player for the Illini Black League of Legends team and a sub for the Orange team. I had the opportunity to talk to Jacob about his general thoughts on esports and what led to his passion for it.
Jacob has played League of Legends on his high school team since season 5 in 2015. There, he had opportunities to play the game at a competitive level. Prior to attending the University of Illinois, he attended William Rainey Harper College, and he still coaches for them from time to time. His experience and skills gave him a massive advantage while trying out for the Illini Esports team.
Jacob has played on the Illini Esports team for 2 years now and still enjoys learning and improving at LoL. As the ADC of the team, Jacob needs to keep his mechanics and micro abilities at their peak to be able to fulfill his role on the team and output as much damage as possible. His training and practice include VOD reviewing, coaching, and scrimming other competitive teams to keep his micro and macro abilities as fresh as possible.
Jacob is extremely well accomplished in LoL ranked and peaked at Masters 201 LP. He understands the game very well as he watches professional games frequently along with his father, who has been involved in Jacob’s love of gaming in general. His love of esports and League of Legends remains strong despite issues with toxic players, and he finds motivation through playing with 4 other like-minded players. After college, Jacob plans to ease off on competitive playing, but he wants to keep coaching and find a job in esports.
Some other games Jacob enjoys playing are Apex Legends and Teamfight Tactics. He considered switching his main game to Apex Legends last summer, but found that there were fewer opportunities to play competitively compared to the already well established competitive scene for League of Legends.
Jacob recommends that prospective gamers who want to become involved in esports should join clubs, keep a good attitude and mentality, and play ranked. He and his team joined Illini Esports’ other LoL teams at a St. Louis LAN a few weeks ago, and they are playing in UML soon. Show them some support and find out more about Jacob through these socials linked below!
twitch.tv/Silver_Ritter
Twitter: @JacobDemos
Instagram: srjacobdemos
Derek “yoon” Yoon