The brand new Proving Grounds tournament is kicking off tomorrow (March 30, 2021). It’s going to be a long, intense competition, with 16 teams from Academy and the amateur circuit battling through a double-elimination bracket to try to reach the Finals at the end of April and claim the tongue-in-cheek title of “Academy World Champions.” It may not be a marquee international event, but winning Proving Grounds is a great way for these players to take a step forward in their careers!
If you haven’t had time to keep up with all of the Academy and amateur action so far this year — and I don’t blame you; there’s been a lot — then here’s your quick overview of the teams competing in the event, by alphabetical order, and one or two key players from each team to keep your eyes on.
Tournament Favourites
If you want to just get a TL;DR, here’s the cheat sheet.
The three favourites to win the tournament are 100 Thieves Academy, Cloud9 Academy, and Team Liquid Academy.
Kenvi, Jojopyun, Tenacity, 5fire, Shiro, and Prismal are the top NA prospects in the event (in my opinion).
100 Thieves Academy
Roster: Tenacity, Kenvi, Damonte, Luger, Poome
Qualified: 3rd in Academy Regular Season
Player to Watch
Every player on this team can make a strong claim for your attention. You should already be familiar with Poome, and of course Damonte is spending some more time in Academy after being demoted in favour of Ry0ma, but you may not know much about Luger, whose late arrival after visa delays made some big waves for the team — he’s one of the best players in Academy, overall — and if you want to watch some of the strongest NA prospects outside of the LCS, you should absolutely have your eyes on Kenvi and Tenacity. Watch every one of this team’s games, if you’re interested in upcoming players.
Barrage Esports
Roster: PCL, Fanatiik, APA, Gorica, Winter
Qualified: 2nd in Nerd Street Power Play
Player to Watch
Fanatiik is the star player for Barrage, an Academy alumnus who probably should have still had an Academy spot this year. He likes to gank and can take over games. His year has had some ups and downs, but he’s still a top amateur prospect looking for that next Academy call-up.
Cloud9 Academy
Roster: Darshan, Shernfire, Copy, K1ng, Isles
Qualified: 1st in Academy Regular Season
Player to Watch
Watch Copy if you want to see emerging NA talent, or watch Oceanic Bot laner K1ng if you want to see one of the best players in North America outside of the LCS.
CLG Academy
Roster: Thien, Keel, rjs, Katsurii, Hooks
Qualified: 1st in Nerd Street Power Play
Player to Watch
Katsurii has been the most solid, reliable member of CLGA. Thien is flashier, and can pop off with the right setup and resources, but Katsurii anchors the team.
Pay attention to Keel, as well. He started the year with the team while Griffin was playing in the LCS to cover for Broxah’s delayed visa, and CLGA briefly dropped Keel once Broxah arrived and Griffin was sent down to Academy, but CLGA recently ended their contract with Griffin and re-signed Keel. He’s the rawest member of the team, and worth watching for that reason.
Dignitas Mirage
Dignitas Mirage is the org’s amateur team, recently announced as a partnership with the Mirage esports organization based out of Quebec.
Roster: Dragoon, Hyami, DNA, Meech, King
Qualified: 3rd in Nerd Street Power Play
Player to Watch
Absolutely Meech. The team as a whole has a wide range of levels to their performance, but you can always count on Meech to do his job and show up the best he can. Look out for Dragoon’s Darius (who am I kidding; it will always be banned), too. And Dragoon isn’t just a one-trick; he’s a decent player in general, and DIGM will need both Meech and Dragoon to play well if they want to advance.
Dignitas Academy
Roster: Lourlo, Akaadian, Yusui, Spawn, JayJ
Qualified: 4th in Academy Regular Season
Player to Watch
Spawn is the only player on this team without extensive LCS and/or Academy experience, so he’s the most interesting player to keep your eyes on during DIGA games. Not to be confused with TL Academy’s Oceanic caster-turned-coach, Spawn is an emerging talent with a wide champion pool.
Evil Geniuses Academy
Roster: Tony Top, Contractz, Jojopyun, Shoryu, Mystiques
Qualified: 1st in Giant Slayer Gauntlet
Player to Watch
Jojopyun is a Grade A prospect who will be in the LCS soon. He’s still learning a wider range of matchups, and how to stabilize his play in different game scenarios, but his highs are incredibly high, particularly in mid/late game situations. Follow this guy’s career!
Evil Geniuses Prodigies
Prodigies is EG’s amateur team, featuring some exciting talent that has made them the most successful LCS-backed amateur team of the year so far.
Roster: Srtty, Tomio, Aspect, Shiro, Mist
Qualified: 3rd in Giant Slayer Gauntlet
Player to Watch
Shiro is the strongest Bot lane prospect outside of Academy, which is really saying something given the volume of other solid candidates for the title. Tomio and Srtty have some great moments and high potential, as well, but Shiro is the one to watch, and he should have a spot in Academy in 2022 as he works his way up and absorbs more information from the EG coaching staff.
Flyquest Academy
Roster: Kumo, Nxi, Triple, Tomo, Dreams/Diamond
Qualified: 6th in Academy Regular Season
Player to Watch
Nxi is a fresh face out of Scouting Grounds 2020 and can be a very exciting player to watch. Tomo is also worth looking at as a prospect, coming off a strong showing with C9 Academy last Summer and now trying to stake his claim more firmly outside of the C9 organization.
Golden Guardians Academy
Roster: Tally, RoseThorn, Yunbee, Prismal, Chime
Qualified: 2nd in Giant Slayer Gauntlet
Player to Watch
Prismal is the best player on the team, and not far from being good enough to claim and LCS spot. He and Chime form one of the stronger bot lane pairings in Academy.
Immortals Academy
Roster: Topoon, Potluck, Pretty, Keith, Joey
Qualified: 5th in Academy Regular Season
Player to Watch
Pretty has really impressed me this year, even though I was told coming into the year that the Greek player was well worth watching. He could definitely steal some games for IMTA during Proving Grounds.
No Org
No Org are the strongest amateur team, featuring some ex-LCS talent in V1per, AnDa, and Big as well as arguably the strongest amateur player in the scene, 5fire, and another strong prospect in Bot laner Value. Their games are a ton of fun to watch, assuming you can stomach a rapidfire barrage of snowballs and throws and comebacks.
Roster: V1per, AnDa, 5fire, Value, Big
Qualified: 1st in Unified Grand Prix
Player to Watch
5fire looked good in his brief stint in Academy last year, and he’s overcome some occasional slumping this season to retain his title as the strongest NA prospect outside of Academy right now. He gets creative with his champion pool at times, but isn’t reliant on that creativity. His performances can snowball very hard in both positive and negative directions, just like the team as a whole.
Team Liquid Academy
Roster: Jenkins, Armao, Haeri, Yeon, Eyla
Qualified: 2nd in Academy Regular Season
Player to Watch
Eyla is probably the best all-around player in Academy right now, and would not look at all out of place in the LCS. Jenkins and Yeon are both interesting as NA prospects, with Jenkins doing his best to show that he still has another level to reach despite a few years already spent in Academy, and Yeon growing into a more assertive role as a carry after developing a reputation as a supportive/utility player on 100 Thieves neXt last year.
TSM Academy
Roster: Hauntzer, Babip, Swordd, Cody Sun, Yursan
Qualified: 4th in Unified Grand Prix
Player to Watch
Yursan finally joined TSMA at the end of the UGP tournament and helped them sneak into Proving Grounds with a 4th-place finish. He’s an intriguing player who will need to have some great performances to justify using an import slot if he wants to make it into the LCS.
Wildcard Gaming
Roster: Qwacker, Panda, Xeno, TeamLuke, Daption
Qualified: 4th in Giant Slayer Gauntlet
Player to Watch
TeamLuke had a stint on CLG Academy as a substitute and showed there, and in his time with Wildcard back in amateur, that he deserves to be included in the strong group of amateur Bot laners trying to fight for limited Academy spots in 2022. He can make it!
Zoos Gaming
Roster: Allorim, RBM, Darkwings, Raheen, Rhino
Qualified: 3rd in Unified Grand Prix
Player to Watch
Darkwings and Raheen are both interesting prospects with potential to reach Academy if they continue to learn and improve over the rest of the year. Rhino is also worth peeking at, since he’s still getting comfortable as part of the team after joining later in the split, and since strong Support talent has been difficult to come by in NA lately.