Heretics Academy Lurox on improving ahead of summer: “We have to not hold back in our feedback and not be scared about potential setbacks…We might as well try our best, actually push each other, and take the risk that you might hate each other for a few days when the feedback becomes rough.”

Home > Articles > Heretics Academy Lurox on improving ahead of summer: “We have to not hold back in our feedback and not be scared about potential setbacks…We might as well try our best, actually push each other, and take the risk that you might hate each other for a few days when the feedback becomes rough.”

After joining Team Heretics Academy towards the end of LES 2026 Spring, Lurox helped lead the team to an LES title, securing a spot at EMEA Masters, where they finished top 8. Ahead of the summer split, we sat down with Lurox to discuss competing at the top ERL level, his path to pro, and his advice for solo queue players.

You joined Team Heretics Academy for the last two matches of the regular season before helping the team to win the LES 2026 Spring Playoffs. How did the opportunity to join the team present itself? How were you able to mesh with the team so quickly?

Lurox: I got benched by Kaufland, so I was kind of just playing solo queue, staying ready for the game and not doing much. Then Heretics ended up promoting Daglas from academy to the main team, which meant they were looking for a new jungler. They contacted me, I did a tryout with them, and then there were some negotiations contract-wise. I think it was probably a two-week process overall from contacting and first tryout to actually joining them. From the first tryout, I enjoyed playing with the guys a lot because it felt like there was a lot of energy in the team and people were trying. It felt good, I would say.

You reached top 8 at EMEA Masters before falling to Eintracht Spandau in a close 2-3 series. What are your biggest takeaways from the recent tournament? What are the top priorities for you and your team going into the summer split?

Lurox: I think on another day we could have beaten Eintracht Spandau, but looking at the tournament and how we played, the odds that we would have beaten the top LFL teams are very low. I do think we could have taken a game off them. It wouldn't have been embarrassing to play against them, but they're for sure on a different level compared to us and pretty much everyone else in EMEA right now. The biggest takeaway is that to actually challenge for EMEA in summer, we have to make a big step. We have to not hold back in our feedback and not be scared about potential setbacks. If we don't really try and push each other, there's no way we magically become better than top teams anyway. We might as well try our best, actually push each other, and take the risk that you might hate each other for a few days when the feedback becomes rough.

In EMEA Masters 2026 Spring, LES teams performed substantially better than in the Winter edition, with the two LES representatives finishing top 8 and top 4 in Spring versus no better than top 12 in Winter. What are your thoughts on the strength of the LES versus the Prime League, LFL, and TCL?

Lurox: I think Misa from the TCL is looking to be around the same level as the top Prime League teams, but with the team kind of falling apart it seems for the next split, I'm not sure how that's going to go. In regards to the Prime League, I felt at least we are around the same level as Eintracht Spandau. But I would say that UCAM surprised me by beating Karmine Corp. I felt like Karmine Corp would be stronger than UCAM easily, but UCAM did well. My feeling is that our league is a bit weaker than Prime League. And then there's LFL, where Solary and Galions are on the top. The third seed, I would say, was a bit disappointing for this EMEA strength-wise. But I would assume that will change for summer. I have no idea what the format is going to be, but I think if there are going to be more teams again, it's just going to favor the LFL. While we and the Prime League have two teams that can be on the same level as the top LFL teams, the LFL just has even more teams coming that are on a similar level. It's just going to favor them more and more as the tournament gets bigger.

Let’s take a step back from recent events and discuss your career from the beginning. What was your introduction to gaming in general? Was League the first competitive game you played?

Lurox: My introduction to gaming in general was playing Need for Speed 2 on a Windows 98 when I was like three, four, or five years old. I was playing games like FIFA 98 and racing games like Need for Speed 2 or Lego Racers. Before League, I was just messing around in browser games pretty much until I got peer-pressured by my classmates to start League. Since then, I've been mostly playing League as my main game. I started when I was 13, so it's been quite a few years now.

How did you choose “Lurox” as your IGN?

Lurox: I was playing some MMO before League and I was just thinking about a name. I wanted it to be something with my real name, Lukas, so I was thinking about something with “Lu”. I came up with Lurox, and I just stuck with that since forever.

How was your initial climb to high elo? When did you realize that pro was an option for you?

Lurox: I didn't really see it as an option until I actually had the chance. Back in Season 7, I was Master, and I had to fight with really bad internet all the time, which was hampering my League of Legends grind a bit. During that time with school and everything, I thought it would be nice to play pro, but I didn't see a realistic path because I wasn't insane in solo queue. I was just on a good level, but nothing where teams would be fighting over me. Then I got pretty lucky with a spot in the German league and played a split there. I convinced my mom to give me one year to try it before I started studying, and I actually won the winter split with that team, which gave me some reputation and interest. Since then, I've found a team every split. After I got my first team, I hit Challenger for the first time. Only after I joined full-time teams was I able to grind solo queue properly.

What were the biggest challenges transitioning from solo queue to pro play?

Lurox: I didn't really feel back then that there were too many challenges because everything was at a lower level. I didn't know what to do better, my teammates didn't know, and my coaches didn't know. Back then, the gap to the LEC was huge. It wasn't like nowadays where the gap becomes closer and closer and you have former LEC players sharing knowledge. It didn't feel like there was a real challenge because you didn't know what you could do better. Then with time, I became more comfortable and better in competitive games, but it never felt like there was a weird transition from solo queue to pro play.

You first reached LEC relatively early in your career with Schalke 04 in 2020. With the benefit of more experience, what advice would you give your younger self when it comes to the pressures of competing at the professional level? How has your approach to practice and teamwork changed since then?

Lurox: I have to think, I don’t want to give my younger self shit advice. I guess the advice I could think of now is to take better care of my sleep, sleep a bit more consistently, and don't grief the schedule too much. Other than that, I probably should have full-cleared a bit more and been more consistent, done less random stuff, and been in control more through that. The biggest advice is that experience doesn't matter. There are just good and bad players at the end of the day. It doesn't matter if you have, on paper, more experienced teammates or less experienced teammates. In the end, it just comes down to doing what you think is needed to win the game.

You’ve reached EU/EMEA Masters in 8 of the 9 years of the tournament’s existence and won championships in the Polish, German, and Spanish ERLs. What factors have contributed to your consistently high level of performance as an individual? Apart from individual skill, what are the most important elements of success at the team level?

Lurox: A big factor is that I'm aware I will always need to play solo queue a lot and put in the effort in scrims to actually be good. I didn't become delusional at some point and feel like I didn't need to do as much anymore just because I already won something or have played for a long time. At the end of the day, it always comes down to how much effort you put into the current split. I think that's probably one of the biggest points for why I was able to be somewhat successful consistently. Other than that, I think there's always some luck with teams. For example, in 2022, if Russia hadn't started the war with Ukraine, I wouldn't have gotten Sheepy as a coach for summer and probably wouldn't have won Prime League that split, and who knows what would have happened after that. It's really random, but it's a big part of why I ended up winning Prime League three times in a row.

What would you consider to be your signature champions? What about your least favorite jungle metas?

Lurox: If I look at my gol.gg, it's Sejuani, sadly. But other than that, the signature champions are probably Lee Sin, and maybe Rek'Sai as a secondary. My least favorite meta was in Season 14. It was the tank meta for like five months, and it was just awful to play. Back then there was no Fearless Draft, and it was just the same tank every single game, so it became really sad to play jungle. But nowadays with Fearless, I don't feel too worried about certain metas because it's just going to be two games of the same champs and then there are always going to be more champions to play. It doesn't matter too much to me if there are certain champions being too OP or oppressive in the meta.

What’s one element of your approach to League (whether mental or in-game) that you think would be most helpful for solo queue players to adopt?

Lurox: Not getting affected by others in your solo queue games. It's not going to help you improve if you rage at someone or complain about someone. It's just taking away energy from your own improvement for no reason. I think that's probably the biggest thing: actually focus on yourself in solo queue and see it as a way for yourself to improve, not to think about others.

If you could choose 1 piece of advice to share with lower elo junglers in particular, what would it be?

Lurox: Just mute everyone in the game. In higher elo, people seem to understand a bit more about jungle, but in lower elo, they for sure don't know anything about it. So yeah, mute everyone and play for yourself. Don't go around the map trying to extinguish random fires. Just make sure you clear your jungle and get strong in the game.

Outside of League, what other topics/activities/games interest you? If you weren’t pursuing pro, what career would interest you?

Lurox: Outside of League, I'm a really big nerd. I like Europa Universalis and the Anno series. Other than that, I like to spend my time watching Formula 1 or watching football, because that's something I can do during the split to get some time off the game. Before League, I was probably going outside with friends a bit more, but at the end of the day, I'm fortunate enough that all my friends are also playing video games, so I'm just socializing online with them, which is good for me. If I didn't become a pro, I probably would have studied something in IT. I don't think I would have really enjoyed it, and I don't know if I would have finished those studies or changed paths, but probably something in that direction. Some office job is what I imagine I would do right now if I didn't go for League.

Any shout outs/thank yous?

Lurox: Thanks to my agent, who has been carrying my offseasons for a few years now.

Lurox and Team Heretics Academy are currently competing in LES 2026 Summer. If you want to improve your own League gameplay, whether in the jungle or any other role, check out League of Legends coaching from pros like Lurox on ProDiff.

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