Excel UK’S Jungler Taxer: “The goal is to win UKLC and EU Masters”

LVP’s UKLC has been a tale of two sides. Fnatic Rising and Excel UK. Both of the LEC sister teams have been battling it out all split long. As the regular season starts to wind down, neither side has cemented themselves at the top of the table.

Excel UK’s jungler, Taxer, has always been confident in his side’s ability this season. When asked about his clashes against their LEC rivals, he believes that his side is the best. It’s just a mentality issue that stops them winning some crucial games.

He says: “After losing with an insane gold lead to Fnatic (on tower four), it feels nice to be back on top coming into tower six. I always feel like it’s on us to lose our games against Fnatic Rising. We are usually the ones controlling most of the game.”

The jungler, alongside top laner Sendo0, has been a constant starter for Excel UK this season. Last split the organisation failed to deliver when it mattered, resulting in them failing to reach EU Masters. However, with only two more weeks to go in the summer split, they look to be the heavy favourites to win the entire competition.

But what changed? Well, according to Taxer it a simple fix, they need to translate their actual ability in a competitive scene. Clearly, it seems to have worked.

“I think we were really good last split, but our practice level didn’t seem to transfer to our competitive matches and I think this split we are playing well in practice and in competitive matches. Also, having the same coach through the entire split is a lot better for this split. In the end, the goal is to win UKLC and EU Masters.“

The biggest issue with this split’s UKLC tournament is the lack of diverse competition. MnM Gaming has been the best side who aren’t affiliated with the LEC. Nevertheless, apart from them, all the other rosters don’t seem capable of beating the top two. According to the jungler, this was eventually going to occur due to the academy teams having bigger organisations backing them.

“I think it’s pretty obvious that LEC academy teams will most likely be the strongest teams in national leagues and that’s just what we are seeing in the UK league. The level of players on the academy teams is just higher than on the other teams.”

With all that being said the Dane still hasn’t confirmed a spot at EU Masters yet. With Fnatic Rising making some major roster changes, MnM Gaming knocking at their door, and the new gauntlet format this split. Excel UK will know that the real challenges have yet to come.

Make sure you tune into the UKLC this Wednesday Live on Twitch at 6pm to see some of the UK’s best talent in action!

By Tom Daniels