The Run
Josh “ElChuckles” Bruce on Coaching SMITE’s Most Improbable Championship—Twice
Josh “ElChuckles” Bruce watches as his SK gaming team competes in the season six SMITE World Championship Grand Finals. Image courtesy of Hi-Rez Studios.
“I cannot believe what I’m witnessing. How did they manage that?”
— Graham “Hinduman” Hadfield on SK’s season six finals game 3 victory
The grand history of any organized competition will be punctuated by brief moments where the entire foundation seems to shake and crumble—a weekend, a day, an afternoon where the rules are suspended. The seeding numbers that each team spent all year earning suddenly cease to matter. If you’re lucky, and if you play long enough, you may be able to snatch one of these moments away from the hundreds of other hungry, motivated, and talented competitors who want to stop you at all costs. If the odds are stacked against you, you’d be ecstatic just to do it once.
The Pittsburgh Knights did it twice.
When speaking with Josh “ElChuckles” Bruce, you could easily miss his sharp competitive spirit. The two-time World Champion coach is infectiously easygoing and hardly passes for any of the traditional super-serious coach stereotypes. It is fair to say, also, that Bruce is neither completely immune to the pressures of high-level competition. In photos, he is seen with an anxious, concerned expression as he helplessly watches his team compete. In conversation, he admits of no unwavering belief in spite of the odds. As a coach, he reminds us, you have no control. You ultimately just have to watch the games play out.
But Bruce does believe in process; in results that show up in scrims that may not make it to broadcast matches during the regular season; in VOD reviews, team meetings, and rigorous preparation. Maybe these things won’t be enough to lift his team to victory, Bruce concedes, but they are a part of showing up and rising to the task.
Every competitor will tell you they believe they will win—that is simply a feature of the landscape. Often it sounds like wishful thinking from the mouths of lower seeded teams. In SMITE’s history, a team seeded sixth or lower has never won a World Championship. That is, except for the SK Gaming-Pittsburgh Knights team who won as the 6th seed in seasons six and seven. The historical championship win rate for a 6th seed was 0%. For the Knights, 100%. The ‘we can win’ was more than competitive posturing. The Knights were doing something right behind the scenes. They toppled heavily favored competition on razor-thin margins, pulling out victories with tight team-fight micro and bold objective macro—the sorts of calls and plays a team can only make if they’re prepared to strike when the moment arrives. For the Knights, those moments came and they seized them every time.
Bruce had a difficult, somewhat forgettable tenure as the coach of the Oni Warriors. Marred by COVID and visa restrictions that kept the team separated throughout season eight, Bruce’s Warriors never seemed to recover from their early stumbling. Now, he coaches the Eldritch Hounds who are eerily similar to his old SK team—a hotshot rookie jungler, a loose cannon mid laner, a selfless support, and a veteran solo laner. Bruce is arguably the perfect voice to help the young, inexperienced Hounds make a run to the top of the SMITE world. And if history is any indication of things to come, you absolutely shouldn’t count them out.
I sat down with Bruce to discuss his improbable back-to-back championships, his struggles with the Warriors, and his future with the upstart Eldritch Hounds.
[The following interview has been edited for clarity.]
The Long Lane: You've had a pretty successful career, obviously winning two world championships with the SK-PK team, and you had some lows with the Warriors, but overall solid performance for that roster. Coming into this season, you didn't make one of the auto-admit teams. How did you wind up with the Hounds?
ElChuckles: It took some getting there because after Worlds all of the auto-accept teams pretty much had a coach. I obviously can't muscle in on Biggy or any of those teams. I think I was talking to a couple of people but ultimately just ended up looking at having to go through play-ins regardless. Originally I wasn't even going to be with the Hounds. I was going to be with the Gladiators with Kyrmi and Ronnie (ScaryD) at the start. And then Sharks quit, and he was with the Hounds. [The Gladiators] not having a roster solidified, and obviously this Hounds roster, which was pretty established, had a pretty good shot at getting in because at that point, the other team was the Wargs, who everyone thought was going to make it. At that point, there's probably one spot left. Am I going to go with a team that's tossing up a bunch of people we don't even know if they'll join, or go with the Hounds? I know Coast, I know Benny, they're all really good players. So I went with them.
TLL: It's coincidental that both the Hounds and Glads ended up getting in, but the Wargs, like you said, were the favorites for that tournament. Everybody seemed to think between Stuart, Sam4Soccer2 and Crimson that the Wargs were the most talented roster at that event. What do you think went wrong with that team that they weren't able to make good on that potential?
EC: Wargs were a sad case. I mean, entirely coach diff. I think that NeilMah guy just absolutely tanked them. He could not get it together. Real sad. Real sad to see. But in all seriousness, I think with a team like that, when you've got those experienced players but they haven't played together, a lot of them have been on lower seeded teams. Obviously they're all incredible players, but I think they would have been in their own heads a little bit. Not to cast my own interpretations on them or anything, but there's a lot of meshing that needs to go on for a team, especially in such a short period of time to come together. And on the Hounds, our first week of our scrims was pretty dismal. We were kind of clueless, but eventually we figured out what we wanted to do, and I don't think the Wargs ended up doing that.
TLL: So what was that prep like? You said scrims started off poorly, but of course by the time the tournament comes, you all looked head and shoulders above the rest of the competition. What was that preparation like and what was your role in preparing for the play-in tournament?
EC: Our prep was mostly just figuring out the whole new meta, whole new season, whole new team. It was a lot of figuring everything out, like how we wanted to play, what our team identity is. So that's what I provided the most, I would say, just direction and ideas. It's just about figuring out the meta. I think especially for a tournament like that where super high stakes, not a lot of prep time, you don't need to be perfect. You just need to know enough that you know how you want to play, right? And I think we figured that out. We just cracked what characters were good, what characters we were good on, and we made sure to stick to that. I think Wargs and Glads as the other two top front runners did that to a decent degree, but I think we did it the best.
TLL: I know Hunters were notoriously bad at that event. Was that an adjustment for Coast to play those assassins? I know that assassins in duo lane were a really big part of that tournament.
EC: I don't think he played that many assassins, but definitely for Coast, in that lead up, scrimming on ping as an ADC is the worst role to be playing on ping with. And Hunters were in that iffy spot of like, ‘oh, are they good? I guess you kind of just have to play Cern/Ishtar every single game or you lose.’ So I think he was treading water as best he could. But then quickly, once the season started, my god that guy is a ping monster, I guess. I think he took some time to adjust, but he definitely figured out his role in the team and how his role interacts in general. I'm very happy with how far he's come.
TLL: So during your time with the SK/PK team, you were with them when they kind of transitioned from this new, up-and-coming team to a real heavyweight, of course, always turning up at those late-season tournaments. Then, of course, all veterans on the Warriors. And now this team with the Hounds, three rookies. I think they're the only rookies in the league this season.
EC: Yeah, I think so.
TLL: Quig, Oathhh and VaporishCoast. And then BennyQ is a second year player.
EC: Duck3y's an old man.
TLL: Between you and Duck3y, just thinking about your experiences on other teams, has there been a bit of a lag in the experience, trying to catch people up to being in the pro league? I know you've had a really great start for such an inexperienced team, but what has your impression been?
EC: Compared to, say, SK with when you've got Zapman just being the guy. He knew everything. He whipped Paul and Sam and everyone into shape really well. I think back on PK-SK, I mean, everyone did, but Zap especially provided that experience. And then obviously come Warriors. Everyone has just been around so long. So the experience difference is there for the Hounds, but I would say even back when we were starting scrimming, Quig's mindset, approach to the game has been very impressive to see. I rocked up. I'm like, 'okay, I'll be on Hounds this year. Sure. And we'll have to do some whipping into shape or whatever. We'll have to figure out all this stuff.' And we started scrimming, and Quig's, like, taking the reins. He's directing everyone. He's doing all this stuff that seasoned SPL vets, veteran supports have been doing for so long.
And obviously, we don't have that baseline of SPL experience, which is just straight up invaluable. It's kind of how most of my teams have won their games or Worlds back on a PK-SK, just relying on that experience and tenacity. But everyone on this team has been really surprising to me. Like, Coast has been an incredible player. Benny especially, I think, for a guy that's only played one year of SPL. He talks and thinks about the game like he's been playing for so long. He's he's very considered in what he does... when he isn't slamming Atlas, running it down. But yeah, everyone's just so good. Oathhh, of course, is a little monster just running around getting a million kills a game. And Duck3y is just such a strong, seasoned player like you never really have to give him pointers on 'hey, in SPL we need to ward more or we need to rotate more,' stuff like that. He gets it. Everyone just kind of gets it on this team and it's really good to see.
TLL: You had a really impressive phase, of course, the 5-5 for a team with these expectations, especially the way things accelerated in the latter half was extremely impressive. But then on the other hand, getting bounced at Path to Masters. What's the overall vibe on this opening to the season? Are you all feeling good about the way things have gone? Maybe a little bit disappointed as expectations shifted with how things went in playoffs? And what are the expectations for Masters?
EC: Yeah, it's impossible to say that the tournament didn't impact and reframe our expectations. There's things you can say about the format, but at the end of the day, it never feels good to lose a tournament like that. It's lowered the vibes a little bit, but more like within expectations, I'd say. I think we're still striving to play as well as we can, learn as much as we can, and we're still extremely confident for Masters. Even though we do have to play probably the hardest route in two best of threes, one of them against the second seed—assuming we beat SCC, that is. Our expectations are decently high. As long as we pull it together, I think Masters will be hopefully a bit of a resurgence for us.
Bruce (second from right) with his teammates during the Oni Warriors’ team introduction, SMITE World Championship season nine. Image courtesy of Hi-Rez Studios.
TLL: Is Coast going to be in person and is that going to help team environment?
EC: Coast and Quig are flying in today, actually. Having everyone in person, it's just night and day. Having been on Warriors in that first year where it was mentally taxing, one could say.
TLL: No kidding.
EC: Having your entire team in Europe and Fred just becoming sadder and sadder as the days went on, it never feels good. Coast isn't in Denmark so his ping is better, so it's not as terrible for him. But being on ping definitely wears you down. And being not with your team, especially when everyone else, all the other teams are together, it's hard to develop. It's hard to fully realize your team's potential without everyone here. But everyone is going to be here for LAN, so fingers crossed.
TLL: A lot of what people mention about coaching is really keeping the team mentality afloat, being a steady voice that can help the mentals of the players. And you coached during the two hardest seasons for mentality to be a player, season seven, everyone's stuck inside, and then season eight even worse. People who, like most of the Warriors that year, couldn't get back to the States to be in a team house. So how did that impact your role? And was there a sense of helplessness, I suppose, with being able to keep spirits up?
EC: The PK year, everyone was in America, we were just all there. Well, actually, with PK, I think COVID only really kicked off at the end. It was the first year of warriors that it started really kicking off. But with PK, you're in the house, everyone's sharing the house except for Steve, of course, living by himself. But it's definitely a lot easier to keep a gauge on your players, on the general vibe of the team when you do have everyone there, you can talk over dinner or just as you pass in the house and stuff. That experience on PK kind of carried through for Warriors, I think, when we were just getting absolutely slammed by Joe Biden and his gosh darn visa policy. Because once you have that familiarity with having lived with Neil, having lived with Fred, it's sort of like a lifeline, I guess, to keep that gauge on how the team's going. You have that familiarity. You can be like, 'okay, things really suck right now, but let's just get through it. We're mates, we'll get there.' Everyone else on the team is really good. It's definitely tough to keep everyone together mentally in situations like that. But you've just got to tough it through and trust that for things that are so out of your control, you've just got to trust that your guys will be able to soldier on and put up with it until you get through and everyone can be online. Eventually we did, so, it worked out.
TLL: It's interesting about that Warriors team. It's almost like a sort of continuation of that PK team and obviously the core from the Space Station team. How did the environment shift when you, Qvo, and Neil merged with that core from Space Station?
EC: It was super easy. I love those SSG boys. They're just so easy to get along with. Fred and Neil instantly started making up nicknames for Dardez. He's Baba now. We never call him anything else. You know, personally wise, it's so easy to mesh with people like that.
TLL: That Warriors team that kind of sprung out of Space Station, going all the way back to the Renegades in season six. They had Funballer in season six and then added Vote in season seven and then have tried a handful of new junglers and supports. The latest iteration, of course, being PolarBearMike and LASBRA. They've had a bit of a history of disappointment. So now that you're coaching a different team, outside looking in, what do you think of that team's decision to stay together for another run, even with all this disappointing history?
EC: It's a hard call to make. Listen, Neil, Fred and I wouldn't have teamed with them if we thought they were bad. And even after the Warriors, as disappointing as that run ultimately ended up being, I think that team had so much potential and even in the worst of times, I was still super excited to see, maybe this will be the time. And there were flashes. I think we had some good tournaments here and there. We had some good stretches of win streaks in the regular season. Unfortunately, it never coalesced into any Worlds or big tourney runs. But I think, yeah, they're extremely good players because keep in mind, before Warriors, their disappointment came from losing to PK and SK who ultimately ended up winning Worlds. They've gone through a number of supports and junglers, I guess. I wouldn't say they need a change, they might need a change, who knows? It's ultimately up to them. But I think they're all super high caliber players. I think on Warriors, it was just always that one little thing that didn't click. We were really close so many times. I think if we just had that little extra push, if that first year wasn't so awful, if we had time to properly mesh as a team at the start, come out guns blazing, maybe get a few more wins early on, it could have really helped confidence.
TLL: It's almost like that roster gives you just enough to keep believing.
EC: Yeah, and it was there. We were close. I think ultimately it really sucks for them having never won. That was part of having come so close, I guess, but never quite making it. And it felt so good. On PK winning, helping Fred win his first Worlds, that felt so incredible. Going into Warriors, we were like, 'let's do that for these boys.' They really deserved it and they still do really deserve it. And I really hope that they do end up being able to show people that the narrative of Vote, Dardez, and Nika sticking together is a little overblown. And I've got hope for them, at least even as individual players, for sure.
TLL: In your mind, is there more of a rivalry between you and the Dragons or with the Ravens who have your friend NeilMah over there?
EC: NeilMah. That f—ing guy. I wouldn't say there's a rivalry of any sorts. I'm good mates with Neil, obviously. I'm still friends with Liam and Baba and Nika every time I go into the studio as well. I wouldn't say rivalry. I'd say just to make that NeilMah guy stop yapping at me on Twitter, I'd like to get a couple more dubs against him. But yeah, I'm just happy to play against both of them and see how they do. I was really sad when Neil didn't make SPL [at first]. Because at the tail end of Warriors, Neil said, 'I'm probably going to take a year off, maybe try coaching.' We were living together in the lead up to [his time with] Wargs, and just seeing the way he talked about it and how much fun he was having as a coach on that team, I was really looking forward to seeing him in the league and obviously disappointed when he didn't make it with Wargs. But I'm really happy he gets to strut his stuff as a coach with the Ravens.
TLL: Was there anything teaming with NeilMah that he brought to the table that you thought ‘this could be somebody who would make a great coach as well?’
EC: Neil has been, in my mind... Obviously, it's a giant team effort. We couldn't have done it without anyone, but if we didn't have Neil on PK-SK, I think those teams wouldn't even come close to Semis, even. He's such an important part of every team he's on, just the way that he talks and directs a team. So I think his style of play naturally lends itself to being a coach. So, yeah, I think that transition is good for him.
TLL: I want to talk about the two obviously legendary runs at Worlds, and we'll start with season six. The team kind of struggled all season. I think a lot of people saw the potential of the team in season five when they knocked off EUnited. People were surprised, since EUnited were the defending champs that season. Trifecta was the team that would go on to be SK. They had a really good performance against the defending champions and then were knocked out by Splyce, who won that season. So I think hopes were pretty high for SK going into season six and they were just really never able to perform in the regular season. And that was the season that you joined the team. You won the play-in for the main Worlds bracket, but it was a little bit difficult.
EC: A little bit dicey. Yeah.
TLL: So to go from that [play-in performance] to putting together that insane run at Worlds. How did you all manage that?
EC: Yeah, it was a pretty magical run. Like you were saying, that year on Trifecta before where they beat EUnited, really put them on the radar, I think. When I was watching that as not a coach, then I was like, oh damn, OCE just died. I kind of want to see if I can get into coaching. I'd love to coach that team just as a thought in the back of my head. And then eventually it panned out after some unfortunate business related things that I don't really want to get into. But yeah, we got there in the end. That Worlds run was so good. Everyone came together and clicked. Scrims the week before, there was no coming together. That could have gone a little bit better, but I think after having such a 'whatever' season--I think we finished like, 7th, right?--we just had a talk, we were down at a pub, I think. Just talked it out. I had everything out and just like, 'okay, let's just go, man. We're an incredible team. We've had flashes all year of the team we could be. We know what our issues are. If we just overcome those, we can make such a good run at this Worlds.'
I don't think anyone was like, 'oh yeah, dude, we're making finals for sure' and definitely not... well, you always have like that hope of 'let's win Worlds,' but I think you kind of just take the games as they come, on the other hand, as well, in those situations. But everyone was super confident. I think the way that everyone meshed and the way that everyone played, especially, I think all five of them had such incredible individual performances, as well as just insane macro and mental calls as well. Everything just lined up and we kind of just said, 'okay, enough f—ing about it's time, let's go.' But it was a tough run for sure. PK and SK, like, back to back, had to be some of the hardest brackets a winning team has ever had. I think even as we were playing, it's like, 'oh, look at this bracket we've got ahead of us. These guys are tough. God damn.' Obviously that was SSG as well back then, both times, I think. As a coach, you have that little bit of disconnect where you're kind of allowed to secretly think, 'oh man, this might be real tough.' So you always have that little bit of doubt in the back of your mind, but once everyone got on the field and started playing like that--I still think of Neil's Serqet game where he just went absolutely buck wild.
TLL: I'd forgotten about that.
EC: Yeah. And chaining that into the rest of every other game that we played that tournament. It's just so impressive.
TLL: When you're having those conversations leading up to tournament as sort of a lower seed and you're like, hyping yourself up, getting that confidence up. Does it feel a little bit like coping? Because to be frank, it sounds a little bit like coping, right? Nobody else thinks you're going to win. But somehow you have to convince yourself that you're able to win without the foresight of knowing that you actually pull off a crazy run like that twice. But how are you able to sort of move past that 'it feels like I'm lying to myself' part?
EC: I can't speak for everyone. I think it's definitely about having that competitors' mindset. Personally, I don't know, my brain is weird. I always temper my expectations. Like going into a game, it's okay if we lose, whatever, hopefully I've done everything I can, but man, we sure can win here, and I really hope we do. So I don't know, you kind of just approach it, at least I do, as like some sort of Schrodinger's cat situation. You're like, ‘will it, won't it? Who knows? We just have to find out and hope that our prep everything has been solid enough to be able to carry us through.’ But it also helps, I think, to have a team that, you know is really good because on PK-SK, sure, we stunk it up in regular split, but having watched them scrim for a full year, in the games that we're on, we can definitely just be the best team in the league if we manage to capture this. It's just, can you make it apparate on the day? And luckily enough, on PK-SK, we did have what it takes, and we definitely put it together on those days.
Bruce (middle) making teammate ScaryD smile. Image courtesy of Hi-Rez Studios.
TLL: After a run like that, was it a little bit surprising to lose your jungler Sam4Soccer to the team you just beat?
EC: It was definitely surprising for sure. There's definitely issues that a team goes through and, you know, I think sometimes you need a change. Sam obviously thought he needed a change, especially because our team was such a weird one. Right? Because we show up as 7th seed and we win. As a player, how do you temper your expectations there? It's a hard choice, obviously, because we did just win Worlds. It would be nice to see where we could go like that. But also, coming in 7th seed, it's understandable to say ‘okay, let's go for the more sure thing with Ghost,’ because they were such a dominant team the entire year. So you can't begrudge, or you can at least understand why someone would make a choice like that.
TLL: And then I remember just thinking how perfect a fit QvoFred was when you all announced getting him. And I remember in a preseason interview with Zapman, something he said that was really hype that has stuck with me, he said, 'I'm just trying to win one win a ring for Qvo,' which, setting up the narrative for the season is always a good idea. But how did you all arrive at that decision to get Qvo? Obviously it worked out so well.
EC: I can't remember exactly how it went down because Sam said he was leaving within a week, I would say, of winning Worlds. So we were shopping around before that. I think Fred was always the front runner. I can't remember how every other team was exploding back then after Worlds because seven seed sweeping through and taking it kind of puts a wrench into a lot of people's plans. There was a lot of roster instability back then. I think Dig was done at that point, so we were just like, 'okay, Adapting is the best jungler, fred has been also the best jungler. Fred's available.' I didn't know Fred that much back then, but having teamed with him for a couple of years, I'm pretty confident saying he's an outstanding young man. One of my best friends, I would say. He's kind of got it all. He's just a great player, great person, brings an insane amount of energy. That was part of why we wanted him. Like, oh, this guy has been playing for longer than some people have been alive. So he's got the juice. He knows his stuff.
TLL: You mentioned the crazy brackets, and that season seven tournament in particular was insane. You had the 3 seed and then the 2 seed and the 1 seed all in a row, and each set went the full five games. And I remember watching that reverse sweep of Space Station especially, just seeing how long those games are going. Every game 40 minutes, a couple of those wins were 50 minutes. Like playing a 50 minute game three, winning that, knowing you have to win two more. You've got everyone in a room sitting at their desks for going on five hours. How do you stay sharp in an environment like that?
EC: It's tough. I think Neil did a really good job of keeping everyone focused. He loves doing his little speeches. That's a guy that loves to yap. And boy, does he have a way with words when the going gets tough. In the first couple of games that we lost and even the sets before that, it's like, okay, the games that we're losing, they're on us. We're just making mistakes at crucial moments. It's just about knuckling down, not making those mistakes or making less of those mistakes and exploiting the other team when they inevitably start messing up too. And as someone watching from the sidelines when you're down two, game three is going 50 minutes. It's bouncing back and forth, unfathomably tense. Like, you get to the end of that and it's like, 'god damn, we have another two to go.' But then you look over and you see Fred jump up and beat the hell out of his chair and you're like, oh, I think we can win this though. It's kind of corny, but it's really just about believing that your team has got what it takes. Believing in the people that are around you and believing in the plans and prep work that you've done beforehand. And then just white knuckle praying that it all comes together.
TLL: There's no way that they could have made some of those plays that they made if they didn't think that they were still in it.
Bruce (back left) celebrating a victory with his SK teammates, SWC season six. Image courtesy of Hi-Rez Studios.
TLL: Particularly, both in season six and season seven, to quote Aggro, you had a lot of staunch base defenses. Was that something you all practiced going into it? Did you, as a coach, go over that with them or talk about 'here's how we're going to defend sieging?' It's something that has been a long time problem for a lot of teams in SMITE and even a lot of games have been thrown this year on the siege. But that team had the defense down. How did you get there with that roster?
EC: Honestly, you do only learn how to defend a base, by getting dumpstered a fair bit in the first 20 minutes of games. It was definitely something that we were paying special attention to because I think the way the meta was back then, a lot of the time, if you held on just long enough, the game was always winnable. That's kind of always how SMITE is, I think. But especially back then, if you got to a certain point and you weren't too far down, you've had enough Phoenixes up, you defended your base well enough, the game was always winnable, and that was something we recognized and were always confident in being able to pull off. So when we were starting to get down a bunch in some of these games, it's like, 'okay, we'll just go back to our phoenixes and beat them there because that's our specialty.'
Actually figuring out how tp perform those sieges to that degree was definitely a collaborative process. Steve, I think, had incredible insight and direction on how we want to play those sieges. Neil as well, everyone really just chiming in, noticing different things, adding it to the repertoire. And then I provide replays and that third person view of 'this is what they're doing, this is how we should be playing around that.' It's definitely a collaborative process. It obviously panned out because other teams have been really good at defending, but the way that we approached it on PK-SK was really measured. I was really impressed by the way we focused on such an important aspect of the game and pulled it off to such a high degree. So, yeah, I always love that about those teams.
TLL: So it's interesting you come from OCE and there are a couple of coaches who have also come from OCE. Rowe and Biggy who have all been really successful and have been part of some of the more impressive teams in SPL history. So what is it about OCE that produces these super successful coaches?
EC: It's mostly just that we're not able to play, so we have to coach by virtue of being born in the wrong country for SMITE game, I think. There's not a lot of SPL or SCC teams rocking up being like, 'oh, let's pick up some OCE players.' So the pathway is you do have to end up coaching. Biggy basically got his in with Dignitas when he went over the first year of OCE for Worlds. And then Rowe basically piggybacked off Biggy into getting his job. I did the exact same thing. And Sharks, of course, obviously came through SCC. Can't forget him.
TLL: I knew I was forgetting someone. I'll fix it in the edit so he doesn't come after me.
EC: That's cheating. But it's a shame what happened to OCE. I think if there was a little bit more investment or attention that region could have been really good. I was always on the top one, top two teams, and I think after those two there was a pretty significant drop off. But the way I think that those top teams approached the game, thought about the game, I think it was always really impressive. The players in OCE, just because they're born in OCE, born in Australia, and don't get to play against SPL players or get those opportunities, doesn't mean they're terrible or can't can't think critically about the game. So I think it's just based on the opportunities you get.
TLL: That makes a lot of sense. As someone from another region, I'm interested to know your thoughts on this. I watch a lot of Valorant, and obviously Riot has a lot more resources than Hi-Rez. But seeing what they do with the regions in Valorant and in League, and what some other esports do with regions, is there a little bit of a feeling that we're missing out on what we had in Smite, dropping the different leagues in other regions in favor of this centralized LAN League?
EC: Yeah. From a business sense, I kind of understand it. I'm not going to get into Hi-Rez financial decisions, but I think it's a shame the way that things panned out for the other regions in SMITE. Even EU ended up getting the short end of the stick. They kind of found out what happened to OCE and China and Brazil a little after the fact as well. It's definitely disappointing. I do think the LAN League is just incredible for competition. I think it's really good. It's just when that's all there is, I wish there really was a little bit more. When Worlds comes around, it's not quite as 'worldwide,' as it were, as some of those other esports. But you kind of take what you can get. I think what SMITE has for what it is, the pro league is great to be a part of.
TLL: You've been pretty active on Twitter, and you you often use your platform to be a champion for a lot of social issues like LGBTQ rights. How important is it for you to be so open about your stances on these issues in the public eye a little bit?
EC: Yeah, ultimately, all of those issues are very dear to my heart. Part of why I care so much about these social/LGBT issues on Twitter is because my little brother is trans himself. So even though my stance and beliefs were pretty solidified before he came out, now I have skin in the game, you know? I'm kind of just a nobody on Twitter, just yapping into the void, so it doesn't feel like I'm sacrificing or exposing myself or anything. But I keep up with a lot of news, read a bit of theory here and there, but those matters are very dear to my heart. So if I if I see something on on the TL and it resonates with me, I'm just gonna tweet about it. I don't really see the point in trying to filter my personal twitter.
TLL: One of the things that I like to do for the players who have a trivia section on the SMITE esports Wiki, is just to go through a couple of these and just fact check them. So it says your favorite game is The Last of Us. Is that true?
EC: Oh, man, trivia section. God damn, that was so long ago. I think when I filled that out... Oh, man. I think in the first year of OCE pro league, one of the guys running it was like, 'here's this form, fill it out,' and everyone's like, okay. So I think that's where those come from. The Last of Us, man. I mean, it's not my favorite anymore. I'd definitely say it's Disco Elysium at this point, and that's not close.
TLL: What game is Disco Elysium?
EC: Quaint little Estonian banger.
TLL: I'm putting it on the list.
EC: You definitely should. I think you'd appreciate it. It's politically coherent and emotionally sound, some would say, and the best gosh darn game I've ever played.
TLL: That's high praise. So I doubt you're currently studying journalism at university, but did you used to and did you finish?
EC: Yeah, I did. I finished that up like pretty much the year before I joined SK, I think. So I kind of just finished Uni, majored in journalism, minored in Film and TV and English, I think, studies like that. But when I finished Uni I was like, 'I now have a journalism degree. That doesn't sound too doesn't sound like the most job prospect-ful thing.' No shade, of course.
TLL: My degree is in English Literature, which is even worse.
EC: Yeah, that's what I minored in, baby. That's my bread and butter.
TLL: Rough out there.
EC: Oh yeah. So I definitely commiserate on that. But uni finished up the perfect time. I got a pretty good opportunity to come live in America and make money coaching video games. I might as well take that while the going is good.
TLL: It says you love Hades. Is that true?
EC: Hades was my OG back on back when OCE didn't have any servers. It was like 300 ping every single game connecting from OCE. Man, that sucked.
TLL: A lot of circles on that character.
EC: Yeah, Hades had some big circles and I'm like, 'damn, this guy's so cool.' So I just slammed Hades every game. I think he's still my highest played character, but he's just near and dear to my heart as a SMITE character.
TLL: So last question, I'm going to put you on the spot. Maybe get you in a little bit of trouble. Who is rookie of the year so far for you this season?
EC: Rookie of the year? Man. Coast and Oathhh have had really good years so far. It's hard to say after one split. I think Coast being on ping is obviously a little tough, but what he's done, even in those circumstances, has been really impressive. Oathhh is obviously putting up double digit kills every game, so it's a tough one. Maybe Coast for now, but we'll see. This Masters I think will be a nice little barometer for where we're at.
TLL: Well, I certainly look forward to seeing you all play. Anyone you want to shout-out at the end here?
EC: Shout-outs to all the usuals, my mother and my father for believing in me, my brother who I love very much. My dad's a big reader actually. He loves the Long Lane, reads every article. Yeah, just shout-outs to the homies, of course.
Bruce and the Eldritch Hounds will compete in SMITE Summer Masters this weekend at Twitch.tv/smitegame.
