by Jorge “Caldo” Calderon
With the successful victory against Team Coast, the players of coL.LoL proved to the world that they are indeed LCS material. The team was formerly known as Determined Gaming before compLexity acquired the roster on February 7th, 2014. Since their relegation victory over Team Coast, the players have been focused on moving into a new team house and training hard for the LCS Summer Split. With their first LCS matches just days away join us in learning a bit more about the talented and interesting players of compLexity Gaming.
Ram “Brokenshard” Djemal is the 20-year-old Israeli jungler for compLexity Gaming. A veteran of the scene, Brokenshard has previously played with notable teams like TCM Gaming, DragonBorns, and Absolute Legends.Omega. With DragonBorns he qualified for the LCS Europe, but had to step down due to an illness, and was replaced by Malunoo. After joining compLexity Gaming, Ram has been instrumental to the team’s successes, including turning the tides against Team Coast with two Baron steals, and leading his team to victory on the back of stellar Lee Sin play.
Caldo: How long have you been playing League of Legends, and what brought you into the game? Secondly, what brought you into the competitive scene of League of Legends?
I started League in the very first beta, but after a few weeks I stopped playing it. I rejoined the game when Olaf was released due to a friend linking me the site saying “Hey, this game is essentially like DotA, go ahead and try it.” I got hooked.
After watching Dreamhack Season 1 Finals, I essentially knew I really wanted to play the game more and try to become pro, so after returning home from Sweden, I started taking the game way more seriously.
Brokenshard. compLexity. LCS.
Who was the first champion you ever played and what were your initial thoughts?
First champion I played when I came back to the game was Nasus. I liked the whole mechanic of stacking his Q, so I tried it. However, I played almost exclusively Katarina and Akali from levels 5-30, liking mainly the play style of roaming around and blowing people up.
Now that you are more experienced, who is your favorite champion and why?
Lee Sin is my favorite champion now. The champion has unlimited potential for playmaking, and is extremely entertaining to play.
Were you scared to take a chance like this – moving to North America to chase the dream of being a LCS player?
I wouldn’t say scared, but there was always doubt in my mind. It was a large risk and a very difficult task, and obviously moving to the US without any real secure future is going to be a bit scary, but I had confidence through the doubt that I would be able to make it.
What did you personally do to prepare yourself for Relegations?
I didn’t do anything for myself. I just trained with my team. Practiced hard in soloq, duoq, and scrims. Essentially, I made league the most important thing in my life coming into the relegations.
Going into the Relegation match against Team Coast, what was going through your head?
I knew that we had prepared as best we could, and it was all up to remembering our training and applying it. We were prepared physically for the game and mentally, I was confident but not too confident in our ability, and essentially we all knew our jobs and what we had to do playing the game. It’s a good feeling to be able to trust your teammates wholly coming into a match.
Brokenshard (compLexity) and Scarra (Team Dignitas). Photo Courtesy of Riot Games
Did you feel as if you and your team had enough synergy with each other going into it?
Absolutely. We played on top of our game in that tournament, and with more practice theres no other way to go than up.
What did you guys do to celebrate your victory over Team Coast and making it into the LCS?
FOOD! We went to a place called Flemings and I had a $60 bone in rib eye. Then pr0lly and I went into the hotel, I snuggled up with him in a bed and we re-watched the games.
Now that you are in the NA LCS, what are you looking forward to the most?
Being able to play against the best teams in the region and prove that I am a competitive player who deserves to be in the LCS.
Which jungler do you look forward to facing off against the most and why?
Against Dexter and Amazing mostly. They were both players who, at a certain point in time in the past, I considered myself better than. Now, they have grown so much. I want to see where I stand among them.
What do you feel you need to improve on as a player?
I want to consistently be relevant in my games, I don’t want to have good and bad games.
How is the coL.LoL team house shaping up?
Team House is looking good. We got our PCs from CyberPower PC which are amazing machines, so we are getting good practice
What are your expectations for coL going into the Summer Split?
I have no expectations, I just want to play the game and do my best. If we practice hard and train hard, we should be able to succeed.
You’re from Israel. How large is eSports on that side of the world?
As far as League of Legends goes, it’s a pretty small community.
Who is your biggest supporter in chasing the eSports dream?
My mom, most likely. She helped me so much with the move to NA.
Does your family watch big matches? Do they understand the industry and the League professional scene?
My mom doesn’t watch but my little brother does. He plays League just like me and loves watching my games.
Photo Courtesy of Riot Games
What are your thoughts on League of Legends eSports in the next 10 years?
If it keeps growing like this, it’ll probably be the largest in the world in 10 years.
What do you do on your off time, away from League of Legends?
It’s hard to have hobbies when a majority of my stuff is actually back at home, but I plan on bringing my electric guitar with me from Israel. Music was a huge passion for me before gaming, playing guitar and singing, so I hope to be able to play during my downtime.
What kind of music are you into?
Generally metal from the 80’s and 90’s and melodic metal/rock.
Have you ever been in a band?
Yes I was in several bands throughout high school.
What kind of music did you guys play exactly?
We were cover bands essentially, punk rock, some thrash metal, and some hard rock specifically from early 2000’s and late 90’s.
What were some of the names of the bands?
One of the band’s name was “The Big Bad Jews”.
Now that you are here in the United States, what is something you look forward to doing; visiting a certain place, eating certain food, touring, etc?
I guess it’s just being able to play the game I love. And eating In-n-Out!
Sources tell me that you are quite hilarious, can you give us a taste; maybe a joke related to League of Legends, or a funny experience you have had throughout your career?
If you like League of Legends puns, I got a Zilean of them.
Thanks for your time, Ram. Is there anyone you would like to thank before we close out the interview?
I’d like to shoutout to my fans first of all. Thanks for all your support. And then I’d like to thank compLexity and all our sponsors, Sound Blaster, CyberPower PC, Newegg, Creative, Twitch, L337 Gaming, DXRacer, Scuf Gaming, and PWNIT WEAR.