What is your name?
My name is Anthony “Gungnir32” Ruggiero.
Where do you live and what do you do for a living?
I’m from East Meadow, New York. I’m 27 years old and currently an assistant deli manager with aspirations of working in human resources.
Do you have any pets?
No pets.
How did you start playing LOL?
I started getting into League of Legends in college back in 2012 when one of my roommates started playing and was obsessed with playing it all the time. I found myself watching him all the time and my only regret is not caving in to temptation early! This was my first ever game of the MOBA genre and truly my first PC ever since I played consoles all my life. Needless to say I was absolutely awful but thanks to my roommate, playing with someone I knew made it more fun and enjoyable. Soon I showed this to my friends and we were all hooked! The magic of league captivated me because not only was it a video game, but it was also competitive team game as well. As someone who watched sports and played sports all their life, the game really fired up my competitive spirit every time when I played. It was such a struggle in the beginning but laughing at my failures with my friends also gave me the drive to get better and better. Even though I never became a “good” player after all of these years, league is just a game that I can never quit. After a lot of my friends stopped playing, there was one friend who ended up moving away but we remained connected through duoque. I’m forever grateful to still have that bond with him and for league for keeping us connected even though we are so far apart.
As much as my roommate loved playing league, he also loved watching league. Before the LCS existed, there were qualifying tournaments in season 2 that got you placed into the Worlds tournament. My friend was a big Moscow 5 fan and my 2 favorite teams at the time were Fnatic from EU and Curse from NA. It didn’t seem strange at all that the two of us were watching people play video games because it felt so much like a real sport. There was 2 teams trying to win a game while casters announced the game just like any other sport would. It truly felt right at home. When the LCS started in 2013, it was amazing to have teams competing every week. I was still a Curse fan and always rooted against TSM. They were very much the New York Yankees of the original LCS and if you weren’t with them, you were definitely against them. However, this all changed when Cloud9 entered the scene in the summer split. They just came in and dominated the league like no one before them. The original roster had such stand out personalities that it was difficult not to cheer for them. I was quickly swept up and dropped my Curse alliance and am very happy to say that I am an OG Cloud9 fan.
Throughout the years, I’ve been blessed every time the LCS came to New York’s very own Madison Square Garden. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to go to the grand finals match up where CLG historically lifted their first trophy against TSM, but I was there for the third place match up of Team Liquid and Team Impulse. I’ve been to the Garden for a few Knicks game, countless of Ranger games and a lot of concerts too but this was something special. Watching my favorite video game of all time sell out Madison Square Garden simple just to watch a game absolutely blew my mind. It was like watching any other sport that would normally be there and the excitement was second to none. It was even better when it came back the following year as the semi-final destination for the World tournament. One of the greatest things I can brag about is how I was there live for arguably the greatest series the league have ever seen, SKT vs ROX Tigers.
I can still remember like it was yesterday, and even being there in the moment when SKT started to turn the series you knew this was going to be a part of history. As an SKT fan, it was truly one of the best days of my life. In 2017, I actually traveled to Boston to watch the summer finals. It was amazing because I had never been to Boston before so the entire trip was really wonderful. Even though I was rooting for Immortals, it was still cool to see TSM establish themselves as a true dynasty of North America and becoming the winningest organization in history. League hasn’t been to the east coast for a number of years now but I eagerly await the chance to go to California and watch the LCS live again once the pandemic is over.
What does the LOL community mean to you?
As you can probably tell by now, the League community means a whole lot to me. There’s so many facets of league that extend far beyond the game itself. When I first got into League in 2012, Twitch was nothing like the way it is now. While streaming existed, most of the league content creators were on Youtube. As my love for league grew, so did my desire for consumption of all things related to league as possible. There were so many league Youtubers that I followed, some that are still around to this day! I even went to a fan meeting in New York City to meet two of the big Youtubers at the time. I became connected with people who were artists, singers, cosplayers, and overall just super entertaining people. Aside from the hype of going to live LCS games and watching the exciting matches play out, it was just as fun to be surrounded by a community who cosplayed as the game characters and went all out to dress up and cheer for their favorite teams. As Twitch took off and became more and more popular, I found myself my favorite streamers and remained engaged in that way. When Cloud9 announced the Stratus membership, 500 dollars seemed kinda crazy but it was honestly everything I ever dreamed of. Instantly I was connected with people who were connected to Cloud9 just as much I was and just as passionate about our players and their success. I’m so grateful to be a member and so happy to have friends who feel the same way as I do. I have full confidence that League of Legends truly changed my life and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
What are your passions in life, how do you spend your time?
Aside from my complete and utter addiction to League, the things I enjoy most in life are music, anime and manga, and sports. Growing up, I played nearly every sport until I became a runner in middle school through high school. Being a part of a team that I was able to grow with and form real bonds with was definitely a fundamental part of who I am today. Watching sports became second nature as someone who played them as well. Football became my biggest passion of all of the sports and I’m still waiting for the Super Bowl to be a National holiday haha. Music is something I’ve been listening to all of my life and I cannot fathom how some people go without it. There’s song I enjoy from nearly every genre although at heart, I’m simply a rock and roll man. International music is something I’m so grateful for expanding worldwide because there is some much great music from outside of the country that deserves its time in the spotlight. As a Colombian, I’ve always liked Spanish music and then I discovered music from Asia. I personally think that Japanese and Korean music is some of the best that there is. The JPop and KPop communities are something that I have a great pleasure taking part of and connecting me to so many people around the world. I grew up watching Toonami and Adult Swim and eventually watching anime was just as normal to me as watching any other TV show. I became infatuated with the Japanese culture and I cannot wait to go there once the pandemic is over. I could go on forever but I will leave it at this!
Wow, I think we have a LOL and LCS megafan! I could feel your joy for the game and the community oozing from your answers. Thank you for sharing your story with me Anthony, Love LeicesterLadyPerkz xxx
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