An Interview With Bensin, a Diamond 1 ADC Main From OCE

Earlier this week I had the chance to talk to Bensin, an Oceanic Diamond 1 player who also acted as an admin for a large Oceanic based group named QLD LoL. He shared his thoughts and advice regarding the Oceanic Community, his playstyle, the effects of the meta on high Elo ranked play, and his suggestions for beginner ranked players.

So to start off, tell us a little bit about yourself.

Bensin: My name is Benson "Bensin" Dicks, I'm 19, and I live in Brisbane, Australia. Im studying a diploma of Business and I'm very active within the oceanic league community; organising meet-ups for a 5000+ member group named QLD LoL, and making sure everyone can enjoy their time on the rift by meeting new people with the same mind-frame. I'm a Diamond 1 ADC main on the Oceanic server, and I'm a podcaster for an organisation called "Duoqueue".

 

So when did you start playing League of Legends?

Bensin: I started playing League of Legends just as the beta ended, so I was in the first initial wave of people trying to understand such a different game as opposed to titles like HoN, and DoTA. So you've been playing since the end of beta, what's kept you interested in the game?

 

So you've been playing since the end of beta, what's kept you interested in the game?

Bensin: Honestly, it's the community, and the friends I've made. As I stated before, everyone knows each other, and the people I've played with multiple times have grown to become either friends, or enemies of mine, and it adds to the competition.
That and the amazing staff riot has + the ever changing meta-game, I adore it.

 

What role would you describe as your best/favourite?

Bensin: I'm a massive fan of Vayne, so ADC has always been a massive thing for me. The way it's played is very mechanically intense, and it can rattle your brain knowing that if you're 1 pixel too close you die and if you're 2 pixels too far away you won't do nearly enough damage. I find it very challenging, and enjoy it quite a lot.

 

Do you think the community changes, either for the better or worse, as you climb into higher and more competitive divisions?

Bensin: I don't think the community really changes.. at least for the Oceanic scene. You have your good games and you have your bad.. The only difference is, is that people are more mechanically superior, and everyone seems to know each others strengths and weaknesses, so it becomes incredibly fun VSing someone you know quite well a few games in a row. Games are more intense, and are either over really really fast, or last 40 minutes. It's all about who gets the lead first.

 

What are some of your suggestions for some of the newer players trying to get into the ranked scene?

Bensin: Just don't stop having fun. The moment you stop having fun is the moment you need to focus on something else for a little while. A break never hurt anybody. Keep improving through persistence and be ready for big let downs, and losing your promos over and over. Be ready to adapt, and be ready to deal with feeders.. suck it up, and carry on, always trying to be better then you currently are is key.

 

How much do current meta champions affect your champion pool in solo que, are you more likely to stick to what you know and are good at, or try the newest/most effective strategy?

Bensin: They very much so affect my champion pool. As I mentioned earlier, I'm a massive fan of vayne. But vayne is the kind of champion that either wins really hard or loses really hard; it's a gamble to play her.

I generally steer towards whatever is strongest at any point in time, which generally means lots of Lucian, lots of Caitlin, and a lot of Corki. I enjoy those champions because of how strong they are, and nobody likes being the under-dog, so I find very little point in playing a champion that gets out classed, especially if you're looking to gain elo. The meta is constantly changing, so always be ready to adapt.

 

How do you feel about the community in Oceania, when compared to other servers, not so much skill wise, but their attitudes to each other, what is your opinion on the statement that "Oceania is one of the most toxic playerbases."

Bensin: In every single region, much like every single town, there is good and bad, and they are only made prevalent when someone becomes a victim of said abuse. One oceanic troll could torture 5 people consecutively and all of those people could be active on social media, be that facebook, forums, twitter, etc, and give everyone else a bad outlook on the server.
The only reason people don't hear about it as much on a lot of the other servers is because the population is a lot less concentrated as opposed to Oceania. We are tiny, and everyone knows everything about each other.

 

Thank you for taking time to do this interview, if there is anything else you wanted to share feel free to say it.

Bensin: Nothing really, big shout-out to my boy Imaqtpie for inspiring me to play AD, and a massive massive shout out to my friends back on QLD LoL, amazing community.

 

You can follow Bensin on twitch.tv/sadasianman. Thanks again to Bensin for taking the time to do this interview, I hope it has helped those of you who might have been considering playing ranked, or were struggling to understand some parts of the game.

GLHF to all of you
Thanks for reading, BloodWalk