Talkin' With Truedough Ep. 4 - JClaus33 on the LGHL and eSports Scene

Discussion in 'Leaguegaming Hockey League (LGHL)' started by truedough28, Dec 12, 2020.

  1. truedough28

    truedough28 Well-Known Member

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    Hello everyone!

    Most of you don't know me, but I write articles for CHL media on the PSN side of LG. While I have mostly interviewed players in the CHL or done posts pertaining to the CHL, I am very interested in the LGHL and competitive 6s. The competitive scene has always interested me, and while I am not good enough to play myself I routinely watch games because of the gameplay and how well structured it is.

    Anyway, I wanted to interview a player that has experience in the highest levels of NHL, which is why I reached out to @JClaus33

    Josh was kind enough to answer my questions and he went really in-depth. This is easily one of my longest interviews but it has a lot of information regarding the LGHL, tourneys like Caps Gaming/Pacific Cup etc.

    We all know Josh is a vet of the game which is why I thought he would provide great insight into the entire scene - which he did.

    Again, thanks to Josh for answering my questions and being so thorough. If there are any other players in the LGHL community you all would be interested in me interviewing please don't hesitate to reach out.

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    Truedough28 - Before Competitive 6s, you were a well-known talent in the Versus world. What made you make the change to competitive 6s?

    JClaus33 - Yeah honestly it was so long ago at this point sometimes I forget that myself. Back on Old Gen, I really loved 1v1, and for a couple years I was on top there. Played in and won a lot of tournaments on the EA Forums and elsewhere. Was on top of the leaderboards for a few years, when things like that actually mattered to the player base.

    Only thing back then was I couldn't compete in the big end of year tournaments cause I wasn't 18, which sucked.

    Anyway, basically when the game switched to PS4 in NHL 15, HUT was so bad I just completely lost interest in the game after a few months of playing 1v1 tournaments, and obviously there was no EASHL that year on PS4 so I just didn't really play much NHL. When NHL 16 came out, I asked the guys I had gotten to know through the 1v1 tournaments I played in if they wanted to try playing EASHL together. That's basically where the switch happened.



    Truedough28 - How did you get your first start in competitive 6s?

    JClaus33 - Frankly when I first started playing NHL on old gen I barely even cared for EASHL in general, but one of my friends played in SPNHL or something, and at that time I thought him leaving club to go play in leagues was the dumbest thing ever. I enjoyed playing club here and there but I really didn't have any affinity towards leagues. The first start I had in competitive 6's was PSN Pro Series in NHL 16. My friends and I actually found this site through the old 1v1 league that HowToChel ran, and after exploring the website a bit, found some other people on here that I knew from the EA Forums, where we came from. They suggested we sign up for Pro Series, and we all decided to give it a shot. Sometime between that starting and finishing, the 2nd season of PSN LG rolled around and I signed up for that. The rest, I guess you could say, is history.



    Truedough28 - How much pressure do you put on yourself to play at an elite level, whether it's ESHL, LG, or any event?

    JClaus33 - I'm not sure if at this point I really put much pressure on myself. I have high expectations for myself and I want to be the best player on the ice every game that I play, but I'm not in a place anymore where I'm stressed about what people might think of me, or if there's a certain level I need to be at. I just try and put the time in to make sure I can improve and learn new things each year, cause the game changes a lot so, have to adapt. That being said, of course I want to win everything that I play in, whether that's LG, ESHL or any other type of tournament, so in that sense I put pressure on myself to perform the best every single time, but I don't sweat the small stuff so much.



    Truedough28 - Whether it's eSports or LG, you've accomplished pretty much everything you can in LG. Is there a goal you're still striving to reach?

    JClaus33 - I like that question, it's pretty cool to be able to be at this point and look back and see that at one time or another I've been able to win at every level I've taken part in. For LG my goal is just to have a fun season with the guys I bring in and try and win more cups. I have a few but I've also come very close and missed out a few times too. So just trying to stay on top or get back to it every season. For eSports it's a clear team goal after last year. Stay on top.



    Truedough28 - Do you find it difficult to juggle owning at the NHL level on both Xbox and Playstation, as well as spending your time in the eSports world of NHL?

    JClaus33 - 100% yes, I really would not recommend it to anyone. Before this season I would've said it's not too tough, especially when all 4 teams (AHL included) are good, and to this point all of mine had been like that. However this season with there being eSports events every week on Wednesday and Thursday, and now Friday and Sunday too, it's just too much. Obviously I'll fulfill my commitments this season, but if I'm being honest with myself, it's probably my last season playing both consoles, for the time being at least. If not for Covid still being so prevalent in my (and everyone's) day to day life, there's absolutely no chance I'd have been able to juggle it this season. So in short, before all the new eSports events were announced, no it wasn't too bad, in fact it was a really enjoyable experience for me, but now I definitely don't think it's something that's viable going forward.



    Truedough28 - Now that competitive 6s is being played on both consoles, do you find a difference in skill level between the two systems?

    JClaus33 - In terms of top end skill definitely not, the top players on PS4 are top players on XBox. There are quite a few teams of PS4 guys that have competed in ESHL for a few seasons now and they always do well. No question the top talent is there. The gap I'd say, if there's any would just be in terms of the depth on Xbox. To me that's to be expected though, since that's where every tournament has been, naturally the top people will gravitate over there. If you look at my LG stats last year though they're pretty nearly identical between the two consoles, a lot of times I find XB to be easier just based on the different play styles on the consoles.



    Truedough28 - With the Sharks Pacific Cup, CBJ Gaming Showcase and other events, ESHL is gaining momentum in the competitive esports world. What do you think the ceiling is for competitive NHL?

    JClaus33 -I think we're just scratching the surface of what competitive NHL could be, given the new injection of interest and resources from a few different NHL teams now, I feel like it's just the beginning. In the immediate future I think the ceiling that many people would like to see would be a league similar to that of the 2k league that's run for a few years now. When I talk to other guys who play this game at the highest level the sentiment is pretty much the same there, that we'd all love to see something like that. My guess is that NHL eSports will be bigger than I can imagine it right now, after my time with this game has come and gone. If EA actually supported tournaments and events financially and on social media, like most other companies do with their games (And EA does for FIFA and Madden) it could grow even more.



    Truedough28 - Entourage won the Caps Gaming Showcase, which was one of the biggest CHEL community competitions at the time. What went through your head during that tournament, and did you feel any pressure playing in front of your competition?

    JClaus33 - During that event I was really just enjoying getting to meet the guys that I had played with for a couple of years. It was cool to explore DC and meet some of the other guys that I've competed with and against over the years. This was literally days before the pandemic really hit so we had no clue what was to come afterwards, but the event and experience were both great. I personally didn't feel pressure so much as just excitement. It was a really cool opportunity and I wanted to make the most of it. Obviously it went pretty well considering we didn't drop a single game but I just think our team was best suited for a LAN environment. The interesting dynamic was the in person smack talk, and having to come up with various ways to call out face-off plays and where we were looking on the breakout, cause the other team was right across from us and could hear us. So that was an added element we didn't think about at first.



    Truedough28 - How does playing in-person differ from playing in a remote location like your house, especially for competitive contests?

    JClaus33 - It's just so much more rewarding, and on top of that it's a completely even playing field, connection wise. So there was no team with a 30-40 ping advantage on everyone else while we were there. We were all in the same conditions, and it's so much more exciting making a big play or scoring a big goal when the guys you're playing with are just feet away from you, instead of hundreds of miles. I'm not sure how much people remember from watching that event, but I was on one of the ends for seating, and there was this big TV style camera right next to me just out of shot the entire time. That was a bit weird at first but once we got going you just kind of zone out all of the things going on around you. It's very cool to be able to say that I won the first 6's LAN in 10 years, and hopefully there are many more to come in a post-Covid world.



    Truedough28 - Entourage is a team that is well-known and the roster has remained the same over a number of events. How did you and your team find the right group, and what is the process like in finding a potential new player for the team?

    JClaus33 - We've been together as a main core for 2 or 3 years now, and we actually initially came together after playing with each other in CanAm.

    Hendry Fisher and myself were a forward line in CanAm, back in NHL 18 I think. We did really well in that event, and decided to form Ice Breakers along with Grim, Briere and J$. I believe we won an event or two the rest of that year, but Fish Hendry and Grim all got banned from LG between the middle/end of NHL 18, and start of NHL 19. So I left them to join a new team for NHL 19 with some PS4 guys, but after a few events, it was CanAm that again brought us together. Myself Hendry Fish and Kcut did that together and played really well, so we decided to team up and added NYR as well, and Scheckel and I had wanted to team up together, so he was brought in as our G. Thus, Entourage was born. KCut was on the roster for the rest of NHL 19 and start of NHL 20, but left to join BBB. We added Regs and that turned out to be a great choice, he's improved a ton since we added him and is extremely good now. He was still really good back then as well, just was not as into 6's and took a little bit to get used to it.

    The process when it comes to finding a potential new player is someone who will fit the positions we need, typically it's a utility guy. So someone that can fill in whenever needed, will be a positive presence and is a good player. We do cycle through utility guys a lot, outside of our main man CJ, cause guys understandably want a chance to start elsewhere. So people that can play multiple positions at a high level, and are good teammates with good availability is really the key.

    For other people who might be wondering how they can get onto a team or form a team, I'd say your best bet is to find a group of people you like first and foremost, that you also play well with, and just grind together. Part of what made us so good last year is that we stuck together and improved together. We don't even need to talk anymore to know exactly what we like to look for and it's just a matter of working on plays and figuring out where we can improve as a unit. For me it's so much more rewarding to see results with a group that you've grown with.

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    Thanks for reading everyone :)
     
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