Calid “Moita” Reis, coach at LOS Academy, clarified to Olhar Digital that mechanical proficiency is only a fraction of the training required for a professional League of Legends player, highlighting the role of coaches, the relevance of Tier 3 in the GG League, and the obstacles faced in developing new talent in Brazil.
Although reaching the highest levels in the League of Legends ranked queue is an achievement that demands deep game knowledge, countless hours of practice, and the ability to apply it all during the match, this does not automatically ensure readiness for the professional scene.
According to Calid “Moita” Reis, good performance in Solo Queue only demonstrates that the player has good mechanics, meaning they know how to operate their character, execute actions, and use the game's tools individually. However, the competitive environment demands much more.
The transition from individual skill to collective performance depends on factors such as effective communication, the ability to make decisions under pressure, tactical understanding, discipline, and aptitude for learning. It is in this gap between playing well and being ready to compete that grassroots tournaments and technical support offered by professionals, many of whom work outside public broadcasts, like coaches, come into play.
Moita's own journey in League of Legends began with practice. He tried to enter the competitive scene for about six months but discovered a greater interest in studying the game. An opportunity to change roles arose when an acquaintance, who lived in the United States at the time, invited him to be a coach for a team made up of friends.
While attending college, Moita balanced his studies with an exhausting routine dedicated to League of Legends. Team training sessions (scrims) took place at night, and he often stayed awake until four or five in the morning studying to help his players. Thanks to this effort, the team progressed from the promotion division to the first division of the competition.
This intense routine resulted in a burnout for Moita during the second split. The beginning of his career as a coach coincided with the Covid-19 pandemic, an event that profoundly altered the dynamic of online interactions. Moita confirmed that the forced migration of activities to the remote environment influenced the interest in competitive play, as, with the drastic reduction in face-to-face interactions, games and virtual activities became a central space for socialization for him, who had just started college and had few offline contacts.
Esports championships managed to remain active remotely, taking advantage of an inherent characteristic of electronic sports: a League of Legends match does not require all ten participants to be physically in the same location to occur.
Although the individual ranking is an indicator of good mechanics, it does not reflect all the demands of a competitive team. In Solo Queue, five players compete in isolation, but at the professional level, these five must operate as a cohesive unit. This implies not only knowing how to execute a play but also understanding the right moment for it, how that action affects the overall team plan, what data colleagues possess, and how to coordinate the decisions of five people.
Moita also helped moderate the belief that simply placing a talent under the tutelage of a good coach is enough to make them professional. He emphasized that the athlete's age is a relevant factor in this process. Working with young people requires managing not only League of Legends knowledge but also aspects of maturity, behavior, and communication. Despite this, Moita attributes the greatest responsibility for evolution to the player themselves, estimating a ratio of 75% for the player and 25% for the coach.
The coach's role is to point out flaws, teach concepts, analyze decisions, and structure training, but there is a limit to teaching if the player does not convert the guidance into practice. Moita made a crucial distinction: not every good coach possesses the same skills. There are professionals focused on tactical and strategic analysis, dedicated to studying opponents and planning matches. However, there is an equally vital competence: interpersonal skill. The head coach must balance these two areas, and Moita points out that the lack of experience in the scene lies precisely in this second dimension, as managing human beings is much more unpredictable than the game itself, especially in youth categories with teenagers.
The concept of Tier 3 gains importance in this context, representing the entry level of organized competition, below the major competitions. This is where players experience team structure, unlike in Solo Queue, where only mechanics are tested. In Tier 3, real competition begins: structured training, preparation against opponents, communication, game analysis, dealing with defeats, and the pressure for results.
Besides developing players, Tier 3 also shapes coaches. Moita's trajectory, passing through smaller teams before reaching LOS, illustrates how recognition comes after years of study and dedication in the scene. Creating this path, however, faces structural barriers. According to Moita, Brazil still has deficiencies in fostering the local scene, aggravated by the country's vast territorial size, which disperses players and concentrates opportunities in specific locations.
Fostering the base, therefore, transcends holding a championship; it requires establishing pathways for talented players to find teams, teams to find competitions, coaches to develop these athletes, and for standouts to be noticed by higher levels. Moita's own story demonstrates the importance of these connections, as he had to actively seek experienced professionals, receiving guidance that integrated his development.
This raises the question of knowledge circulation. Moita confirmed the existence of professionals who retain their knowledge instead of sharing it. He also reported finding professionals willing to teach. This exchange is fundamental because developing a competitive region means accumulating knowledge, not just gathering five mechanically gifted players. Moita cited an example of a Brazilian player who discovered a mechanic in international training, but whose members from a Korean team informed him they had known about it for eight years.
For those starting to follow League of Legends, Moita suggests focusing less on kills or damage and more on observing the minimap and player movement. It is necessary to analyze when they leave their lane, where they go without apparent combat, how they position themselves relative to teammates, and how they react to movements on the map. Observing these decisions reveals aspects that isolated statistics do not show, summarizing the main message: while mechanics attract attention, forming a professional requires the ability to see everything that happens between plays.