When the North American League Championship series began in the spring of 2013, the mid lane was a position of pride for the region. Andy "Reginald" Dinh and his creation, Team SoloMid and William "Scarra" Li, on Dignitas were the original standouts. A season later, in the summer split, the future esports empire known as Cloud9 would make its first imprint on the competitive video game scene, captained by the ever-confident mid laner Hai "Hai" Lam. When a new North American mid lane talent would come up through the ranks, it was cause for celebration, the fans wondering if someone like Zachary "mancloud" Allan Hoschar could be the next Reginald or Scarra. Could Danny "Shiphtur" Le be a star in time?
Nowadays, when a new mid laner from the North American region shows up on stream, its met with a wave of "NA mids LUL" in Twitch chat. Once a position of pride is now a husk of its former self.
Reginald eventually passed on the torch to Danish-born Søren "Bjergsen" Bjerg. Hai has attempted to retire numerous times, but like a detective on his last day, he somehow always gets dragged back in to do one more job. Probably the current best NA-born mid laner, Eugene "Pobelter" Park, has been in the scene longer than almost anyone, having been on the professional scene since he was still in high school back in early 2012.
Currently in the NA LCS, there are four South Korean mid starters, three from Denmark, and then there is North America, barely at three with Team Liquid constantly rotating its mid position. There are as many starting mid laners from Denmark as there are from North America, and that number, if Liquid decides to go in a different direction midseason, could drop to a pair: Pobelter and Hai.
ESPN spoke to former No. 1 NA Challenger ladder player and current No. 3, Allen "Linsanity" Lin, 20, about the future (or lack thereof) of the endangered North American mid laner.
ESPN.com: How did you get into League of Legends, and what year did you start playing? Were you also attempting to be a Challenger or possible pro, or was there a certain point where you flipped the switch?
Linsanity: I started playing League when I was a freshman in high school. A lot of my friends were starting to play it and asked me to play. I am a competitive person so naturally, as I started to play, rank winning and improving was just second nature to me. Initially, I was playing League to keep in touch with friends who I moved away from but they started to quit playing and that was when I started my rank climb. I plateaued at around Diamond 1 for a long time until I watched Season 2 Worlds, and that pushed me to try to go pro.
ESPN.com: What type of mid laner would you consider yourself?
Linsanity: As a player I play really aggressive in-lane and look to fight a lot with my enemy. As such, I prefer to have a lead, whether thru ganks or vision or just solo killing my enemy. I then try to split push or roam after having an advantage.
ESPN.com: Right now the NA LCS has as many Danish starting mid laners as there are North Americans. Do you think it's because teams are afraid to try out or trust North American-born talent in what many consider the most important role in the game, or is it more due to the fact you think that the mid lane talent in NA is just shallow compared to other positions?
Linsanity: I think it's both. Teams aren't willing to invest and train a NA mid to be able to compete with Jensen or Bjergsen because it would take too much time and there haven't been any standout NA mids in solo queue or NACS.
ESPN.com: As a player, how do you think you compare to the likes of Hai, Pobelter and Goldenglue? Do you think you're good enough today to start for a team in the League Championship Series?
Linsanity: From playing versus them in solo queue and a couple of scrims, I can lane perfectly fine versus them individually. I will win lane when I should and never be a liability when I am playing at my standard level. I don't think anyone of them will give me a hard time in lane. However, all three of them are much more experienced than me which gives them an advantage at knowing how to work together with their respective teams. I do not think I am currently ready to start in LCS due to my lack of experience; however, I do think I am [North American Challenger Series] ready.
ESPN.com: Do you think when franchising does occur in 2018 and NA LCS teams don't have to fear relegation anymore, they'll be more inclined to sign NA talent in the mid lane and other positions instead of importing, mainly from South Korea?
Linsanity: I think franchising is really good for NA players as teams won't have to risk losing anything when trying out NA players in their academy teams, and this gives a chance for players ... to showcase their skills outside of solo queue. However given the level of solo queue mid laners I've faced, I doubt any NA mid will get signed on an LCS team soon. Maybe after some time and coaching some players will be good enough.
ESPN.com: As a mid laner yourself, do you think that South Korean mid laners or even European mid laners hold some sort of advantage over a North American mid laner? Is that they face better competition in their home servers?
Linsanity: I think both Europe and [South] Korea have better ping and solo queue, so they have a better practice environment than NA players. However, I don't think a random Europe or Korea mid will have much of an advantage versus me, if any.
ESPN.com: Who are some mid laners that you look up to while coming up the amateur scene? Who is a player you would consider similar to you in terms of style and how you play the mid lane.
Linsanity: I watch all the top three mids in every region when trying to learn a champion/matchup. My favorite players would be Crown, Faker and Perkz, in that order. I think my playstyle is a lot like Jensen where I focus on getting a lead in lane before making team plays.
ESPN.com: Why do you want to be a pro player?
Linsanity: I don't have too many things that interest me other than playing League, and even though I do really well in school [3.8 GPA], I never felt the drive to be the best in anything other than when I was playing League. I think it is better doing something that you can give 100 percent to than doing something everyone else does just because it is easier.