Interview with Pwnographyz, the One-Handed Diamond Player.

Marco 'Pwnographyz' Mayer is a Diamond player who climbed using one hand. Back in Season 1 he reached gold by playing mostly Kha’Zix, Lee Sin, and Renekton. Season 2 is where he claims to have made huge steps in climbing the ladder, going from Gold 4 and reaching Gold 1 in 2 weeks. Staying stuck in Gold 1 for awhile, he played a lot of Corki Mid and going 30-6 (80%) winrate.

Climbing through the ranks of Plat very fast, he reached and beat his Plat 1 promos on the first try. Nearly dropping down to plat 2, he was able to hold his plat 1 rank. Between then and now he has attempted to reach Diamond about 3 times before finally getting there. I had the pleasure of getting to chat with him about how he lost his hand, how he plays and why he believes his success is proof anyone can climb the ladder.

 

What got you into league?

Pwnographyz: After my accident I was looking for a game that would fit perfectly to play with one Hand, so without huge disadvantages. Through a friend I got into LoL and enjoyed it very quickly, also the competitive scene is probably one of the biggest reasons.

 

How did you lose your hand?

Pwnographyz: It happened to me on New Year’s Eve, to be precise 30 minutes before. On the street next to my friend’s house. We were only outside to celebrate new year’s and watch the fireworks, also to set off 1 or 2 rockets. However, I tried to launch a bigger rocket (a little bit not in accordance with regulations) so It exploded right next to my left Hand. My friend which protected the lighter of the wind lost one finger too. After about a one minute blindness of the brightest white light I've ever seen also a very loud whistle, I came back to myself and saw my Hand.

Did you play before the incident?

Pwnographyz: Yeah, the same amount of time I've spent playing like before.

 

What is your setup?

Pwnographyz: The mouse is the most important device in my Setup, the Logitech G600 I've got that one month after I came back home from Hospital and I'm trouble-free happy with it. Without It I wouldn't be able to play anything properly, or at least it wouldn't make fun in any case. My keyboard "was" a 15$ no-name Keyboard I haven't tried out other keyboards yet since I thought I wouldn’t be able to make use of more than 2, 3 Keys. My Headset is the Razer Kraken Pro, some issues with it sometimes but okay.

 

Are you restricted by certain build paths, such as those with many actives?

Pwnographyz: As long as I don't have more than 5 active Items not at all, so no I got every key I need bound to my mouse or Keyboard (CTRL, SHIFT, ALT and so on).

 

What champions are you best on?

Pwnographyz: I really like to play champions with a high skill cap like Zed, Lee or Yasuo for example. I mained Kha'Zix for about 400 games and did really well with an 80% win rate on him. Even after the 2 nerfs he got in the last patches. I continued to play him every time I was able to. After the third huge nerf I haven't touched him in ranked yet, maybe in the future again. Otherwise I really like to play Lulu, Yasuo, Ezreal and Rengar.

 

Is there any reason you like to play higher skill capped champs?

Pwnographyz: It's about to finally master a champion which is actually hard to play also the many possibilities you have to shape a varied game, and for sure the awesome Plays you can make with them.

 

Do you think your success is proof that anyone can climb the soloQ ladder?

Pwnographyz: Yeah, for sure. Everyone is able to climb the soloQ ladder. In my mind there's no such thing called elo hell. You can't win every game for sure. But you can win the most of these by yourself. It's all about practice.

 

What are the biggest disadvantages you face when playing league?

Pwnographyz: Since I'm using only my thumb to access 12 Keys It's definitely to cast a longer chain of spells in a very short amount of time.

 

How do you work around that while playing high skill capped champs like Zed or Lee?

Pwnographyz: Actually it only takes more time to practice. It took some days until I was able to perform a usable Insec (Ward > Jump > Ult) for example, and then the usage of Items like Ruined King made it even harder, but like I said. It's all about practice.

 

Is there anyone (streamer/pro/etc.) that you learn from, if so who?

Pwnographyz: Most of the time I'm watching something on Twitch it's the LCS or OGN sometimes, many things I learned from Nightblue or Voyboy in the good old days for example.

 

Do you have any shout outs?

Pwnographyz: Uhm, not specifically but mostly a billion thanks to all the guys that sent in so many congratulations and stories about themselves I haven't even answered yet because they are just too many.

 

You can keep up to date with Pwnographyz on twitter at https://twitter.com/Pwnographyz. Good luck on Summoners' Rift!