TLNP Spooder: “I'm very confident we can make it to the top 2 in LFL. We’ve had good results against lots of really strong teams.”

Home > Articles > TLNP Spooder: “I'm very confident we can make it to the top two in LFL. We’ve had good results against lots of really strong teams.”

Before joining TLN Pirates in the LFL this year, Spooder competed in ERLs in Northern Europe, Spain, and Greece, qualifying for EMEA Masters twice. After narrowly missing out on qualification at the 2026 LFL Invitational with a 4th place finish, Spooder and TLNP are hoping to convert their 2nd place finish in the Spring Split regular season to an EMEA Masters appearance. We sat down with Spooder to talk about his career up to this point and his hopes for the future.

What was your introduction to gaming in general? 

Spooder: I got introduced to RuneScape when I was young, about five years old, from my older brother. I’m still playing it a bit these days. After that, I played all types of games, like Minecraft, CS 1.6 and CS:GO, and then I played League when I was around nine years old.

When did you realize that pro play was an option? How long did it take for you to hit Challenger, and what was that journey like for you?

Spooder: When I was young, I got to platinum after playing for a few years strictly for fun. Some time after that, I decided to take it seriously, and I went from platinum to Challenger on EUNE in a year or two. I swapped to EUW to play during school just a bit here and there, but after school I decided to try hard and I got Challenger. Some teams started hitting me up, so I decided to try to go pro.

How did you decide to play top lane in competitive?

Spooder: I was actually an ADC main. I played both ADC and top lane to Challenger on EUNE, but I decided to go to top lane because I didn't like playing with supports. I felt like they were not matching my aggression. I figured I'd rather just go top and play for the fistfight 1v1 there. 

You went to the top lane island.

Spooder: Biggest mistake of my life.

What were some of the biggest challenges or changes you had to make as a player when transitioning from solo queue to competitive play?

Spooder: In solo queue as a top laner, you often have to play to get a big gold lead and snowball the game. In competitive, it's almost the complete opposite. Right now, the meta has some more carry top laners, and you're allowed to play more aggressively. But, a lot of the time during competitive, you're meant to be playing a weak side. You're meant to be playing more of a tank champ or a bruiser champ. In top lane, there’s also a lot of very high sustain champs with Doran’s Shield and Second Wind. You don't really have the opportunity to snowball the games the same way as in solo queue.

Prior to TLNP in the LFL this year, you played in the NLC in 2023, you reached the finals of the Spanish League in 2024, and you won the Greek League in 2025. What are your thoughts on the parity between the different ERLs you’ve played in?

Spooder: So, I started playing in NLC because it was my long-term residence league, but the level there was really low, especially because the year I played in NLC Div 1, it got demoted to a minor league. A lot of the better players left, so it was really low-level. I decided to go to the Spanish League at that point and it was pretty decent there. I played with and against a lot of veterans, so I got to learn a lot of things. Then I played in the Greek league, where the level was lower. You're playing against a lot of Master and GM players, and only the top teams are actual Challenger players. So, it wasn't very difficult to win there. But now I'm playing in the LFL, which is the best region for sure. It's not just because it has the best players; it's the region where the people with the most hunger usually go.

TLNP was seeded into the LFL Invitational as a Nexus League team. You reached top four in the Invitational, promoted to the LFL, and now you finished second place in the spring split regular season. What helped you go from seeded outside of the LFL to now competing for the title?

Spooder: I think we all kind of knew each other. The players, we all had some form of connection. We talked before, and because of that, it was really easy for us to click and get into a really good vibe and environment. I think that that is a really important thing because when you have a good environment, it's so easy to bring 100% out of each other. We don't have  massive arguments and we don't have trust issues with each other, which I've seen happen in a lot of teams before. I think because we know each other, it's easy for us to trust each other and just give 100%. We're not the best team in scrims right now, but we're working on it. We're playing really good teams, so I think it's fine to not be winning as much as we did before.

Your team recently bootcamped together. What was your favorite team bonding activity? What were some of the things you learned about your teammates that you didn't know before?

Spooder: Just that they're crazy. I think I'm the one with the most normal routine and sleep schedule. I'm like, "Guys, I'm going to bed.” Then at 3:00 a.m, I hear them playing the piano to wake me up. I wanted to kill them, there's no way they’re playing a piano at 3:00 a.m. to wake me up. We didn't have any special activities in mind. They played paddle a lot, but for me, I just like talking to them and chilling with them. Playing Arena was pretty fun, and chilling and watching League games was also nice, discussing proplay games together.

Sounds like there's some interesting sleep schedules there.

Spooder: They're cooked. It's crazy. The gamer sleep schedule is completely out of sorts.

The LFL is very strong right now, which is one of the reasons why your regular season finish was so impressive. Going into playoffs, you’ll need to repeat that performance to grab one of the slots to EMEA Masters. What do you think of the new format for that tournament?

Spooder: I feel like we were meant to make EMEA Masters last time, but then KC Blue randomly got our spot. That was a bit unlucky. This time, we're almost guaranteed to make the top four again, but then they made a weird format and placing in the top four doesn’t get you to EMEA Masters anymore. So, now we have to completely lock in and make sure we place top 2 in the playoffs so we can actually make the tournament. Otherwise, it's the second split in a row where we played well enough to get to EMEA Masters, but something changes and we don’t make it.

You mentioned you’ve been having tougher scrims recently. Solary and Galions eliminated LEC teams from the EWC qualifiers. Do you think you're ready to take on LEC-caliber teams?

Spooder: I think we're for sure ready. We played LEC teams, we played the top of every regional league, and we've been able to beat basically everyone. Maybe not 5-0. But there's a lot of LEC teams and top ERL teams we can consistently go 3-2 or even 4-1 against. I'm very confident we can make it to the top two in LFL. We’ve had good results against lots of really strong teams.

Individually, where would you like to see yourself going into 2027?

Spooder: I'd like to be either on a top ERL team or promoted to LEC, but I think promoting to LEC at this point is not very likely. I think it will depend a lot on the next split, but it could happen if I smurf next split. Right now, I've been having some weeks where I can play really really well; for example, the first week I played really well against Kryze in the Sylas against Gnar matchup, but my second week was bad. I have to find more of what works well for me and what doesn't. Once I do that, I think I can perform at a level where I would get promoted soon.

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

Spooder: I think it's trying to have a growth mindset or trying to be more positive. Throughout the time when I was climbing from Master to the top of Challenger, I saw a lot of people give up really easily in solo queue; even in comp it happens that people give up mentally. But if you have that mental fortitude and you keep playing to win and don't let whatever's happening trigger you, you will be able to grow a lot as a player and climb a lot.

Is there one piece of advice for lower elo top laners in particular that you think would help them improve?

Spooder: I've seen a lot of mixed bags when I've been coaching, so it's really hard to say one thing. I would say the most important thing for a top laner is to play only one or two champs so you get really good at them. But also, don't be scared to limit-test and make mistakes. If you're afraid of doing more than what you're comfortable with, you can never hard-carry games because you're always scared of making mistakes. You have to be willing to mess up in order to learn.

What has been your approach to improving as a player over the course of this season?

Spooder: Even though I'm really locked in, I think what I've been doing really well this past year is trying to not overwork myself and burn myself out. Every day I'm taking some breaks here and there, not playing solo queue only, but also VOD reviewing, watching pro games, watching the laning phase, and even playing other games and chilling a bit. That’s probably a couple hours every day. I believe that you have to be at your best mentally to play your best, and you will not be at your best mentally if you spend 10-14 hours a day playing solo queue. My mindset now is that you have to make the best of the time you have rather than only playing all the time.

What are some of the things you like to do specifically in those couple-hour periods that aren't League-related?

Spooder: Sometimes I’ll watch streamers, like watching an OTP. Well, that’s League-related.  Sometimes it's playing RuneScape, like I mentioned earlier, or playing something with the guys. We've been doing a lot as a team; we team build by playing whatever game we like. We’ve played Minecraft, Lethal Company, stuff like that. We just play to have good vibes. Sometimes we also have meetings between the guys and just decide on how we want to change our scrim mindset.

If you weren't pursuing pro League, what other career would interest you? What do you think you'd be doing right now?

Spooder: In school I studied nature; I don't know if it's called the same thing in English, but it's like the study of chemistry, maths, biology, etc. I really liked that. One thing I was studying in university was molecular chemistry, which is really advanced. It was really difficult, but it was fun. Outside of that, maybe I'd like to become a psychologist or something because I noticed I like to help people a lot. Psychologist, teacher, chemist, maybe something like one of those.

You mentioned you played RuneScape. What's your total level, and are you an Ironman?

Spooder: I’m maxed in RuneScape 3; in Old School I was 2,100 or something like that. Right now, I'm playing Ironman on RuneScape 3 and my total level is 1,600 or something. It's slow because I'm not playing a lot during the split, but it's slowly getting there.

How do you enjoy RuneScape 3 vs. Old School? A lot of League players are more Old School than RuneScape 3 players.

Spooder: Personally, I enjoy boss fighting and combat a lot. Old School didn't provide that for me. In Runescape 3, you have a lot of bosses, you have a lot of mechanics, there's a lot more skill in fighting the bosses. I enjoy that a lot more. But I mean I'd say RuneScape 3 is better in a lot of ways, but old school has that nostalgic feeling that you don't have in RuneScape 3. That's the biggest difference.

Any shout-outs or thank-yous? 

Spooder: Shout out to my teammates. It's been a real pleasure, and I'm pretty happy with them. We haven't had many bad moments or anything. People are giving a lot of themselves each day in scrims and in officials; we're also helping each other a lot. I'm pretty happy with the teammates I have.

Spooder and TLNP will face off against KC Blue as they continue their journey to EMEA Masters. If you want to improve your own League gameplay, you can get coaching from pros like Spooder on ProDiff.

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