27-year-old Maurice “Amazing” Stückenschneider is one of the most well-known German players in League of Legends. After a longer break and positions as a coach, he wants to re-enter as a professional player in LoL, but only on his own terms.
This is Amazing:
- The now 27-year-old Amazing is a “jungler” and coach in LoL. His biggest success came in 2015: He reached the semifinals of the Worlds with Origen. Recently, he played actively for Schalke and the US team 100 Thieves. In December 2019, he switched roles and worked as a coach at Misfits Gaming.
- Since December 2020, Amazing has not been active in the esports scene, but works as an “influencer” for Misfits Gaming: He is a YouTuber and streamer. He also frequently speaks about socially relevant issues such as online hate.
- In an interview, he now announces that he wants to return to professional play in a few months. He believes he can do it. However, he does not want to give up his newly gained freedom.
Burnout cured – Now Amazing wants to attack again
This is what Amazing says about a possible return: Amazing says in an interview with Inven (via inven): In recent months, he has had time to overcome some of the effects of his burnout he accumulated over the years. He had not noticed how burnt out he felt before: He has shed a lot of burden that weighed on him.
After having relaxed enough and recovered physically and mentally, he wants to re-enter the esports scene of LoL:
“I don’t know if I am already good enough for the LEC. I’ve been sitting at 400-500 LP for a while, but I still have 4 or 5 months to prepare properly for the next off-season, when new players are sought.
But I believe that I am at a point now, despite content creation, where I am still able to keep up with LEC players.
If I play again, I also want to perform, so ideally I want to be an 800 LP challenger and beat every other player I encounter about 40% of the time. Because I know that with my experience, I can then reach a 50% win rate in most teams […]
Amazing
Pro wants to keep his new freedoms, not get back on the treadmill
What are his conditions? Amazing makes it clear in the interview that he does not want to be a “pro” as he was before. He does not want to get back into the treadmill of an “LoL career”. He wants to maintain control over his life:
“I know that scrimmages are important, but I want to be able to: as soon as the scrimmages are over, manage my time freely and not depend on anyone. As far as the training programs are concerned: I would probably participate in them, but do my own thing and control myself, not depend on the team.
And of course, I would make sure that my social life is intact while I play.”
Amazing
Amazing clearly sees his expertise in “actively playing himself”; that is where his focus lies.
At 27, many pros think of retirement – He wants to start anew
What’s behind it: Amazing would be considered a relatively old player in LoL at 27. The junglers of the current top teams in the LEC are in some cases 8 years younger than him:
- the Spaniard Eloya at Mad Lions (21)
- the Pole Inspired at Rogue (19)
- even the star jungler Jankos from G2 is only 25 years old
The probably best jungler in the world, the Korean Canyon, is only a tender 20 years old
While there are players who still have an active professional career beyond 25, most are already thinking about retirement at that age. Last year, the mid laner Bjergsen retired at the age of 24.
Doubelift also ended his active career at 27.
Whether Amazing can revive his career after a few months of retirement remains open.
In LoL, there has been a certain “youth craze” lamented by veterans in recent years. In the USA, established pros complained that they could no longer find a job because every team prefers to hire a rookie with a lot of potential rather than a seasoned pro.
But from China it was said: American players are weak in LoL because they hold on to their old players for too long. The teams overestimate the recognition and advertising value of the “older players” and forgo the necessary performance, criticized a world champion player from China:
