Claudia “Superelchi” Hoang interview on how she reached double Challenger EUW: “I dumped my boyfriend, quit my job, and started streaming LoL full-time”
After reaching EUW solo queue Challenger on 2 accounts simultaneously, Superelchi talks about herself, her achievement, and her future plans
Claudia “Superelchi” Hoang has reached EUW solo queue Challenger on 2 accounts simultaneously! The German-Vietnamese girl is one of Europe’s top Vel’Koz players and streams regularly on Twitch. We had a few words about her achievement, what streaming means to her, and her future plans.
Congratulations on your achievement! When was the first time you reached Challenger and what is your next goal?
Thank you! I’m very proud of myself for achieving this milestone. The first time I reached Challenger was when I was 18 in Season 6, playing midlane Vel’Koz. Now that I’ve got two accounts in Challenger, I want to get to 1k LP and maintain Challenger for the rest of the season. I'm also about to compete as midlaner in the Equal Esports Cup again, so I want to practice some midlane gameplay.
When did you start playing League of Legends? What made you try it out?
I started to play League in Season 2. I was on vacation to Vietnam, visiting my family, and saw my cousin playing. It seemed fun, so when I got back to Germany I tried it for myself.
When did you decide to start streaming and why?
I’ve wanted to stream since Season 4, but couldn’t do it properly because the internet in my area was terrible. In July 2022 moved in with my then-boyfriend. He lived somewhere with better internet, so I was finally able to stream! But I was not streaming consistently because he was jealous about me streaming. It was a big problem in my relationship and made me sad, cause streaming was what I wanted to do for years. After 9 months I dumped my boyfriend, quit my job, and started streaming LoL full-time.
How was the experience of playing competitively for NNO last year?
I was really motivated at the beginning, but it was rough roleswapping to mid and learning new champs. I tried to stick to my playstyle with control mages, which went pretty fine, but I could have performed much better. I was also affected by some rough personal stuff going on. Playing in the team environment was a cool experience since we got along pretty well and I made some new friends.
How difficult is it having to balance being an active streamer and a competitive player simultaneously?
The main problem last year was the roleswap I did. I didn't really enjoy playing midlane in solo queue, so it was kinda rough for me to stream midlane gameplay. I don’t want to stream when I don’t enjoy the game I’m playing. So I still played support in solo queue when I was streaming, but that meant way less practice for competitive play.
Since when have you been a Vel’Koz main? What about Vel’Koz do you find appealing?
I have been maining Vel’Koz since Season 6. That's also when I hit Challenger the first time, back then playing midlane. I used to be an Aatrox OTP but I switched to Vel’Koz because I didn’t enjoy playing Aatrox anymore.
I especially like the Vel’Koz Q. Because it’s reactivatable and has high range, you can always control when and where to land it. If you are good enough, you can consistently land it. I really like the feeling of outpredicting high elo enemies and hitting them!
What are the biggest differences you felt between playing support and midlane?
The biggest difference is that you have to farm on midlane while trading. My habit from playing support is to just poke the enemies without CSing, which of course is bad in midlane. Also, on midlane you have to manage the wave properly when you farm. You get used to playing for waves and trading less as a control mage, since you run out of mana fast and don’t really have kill pressure. Even if you poke your opponent down, they can just recall and TP to lane.
What are some players that you find interesting playing with or against in solo queue and why?
My biggest idol is Hans Sama, and I actually got to play a few games with him during my grind to Challenger! He is one of the best ADCs I have ever played with, and I love playing with good ADCs since you can actually carry games 2v8. Good players in higher elo also tend to ping a lot more, so you learn about macro very fast. I like to play against good players in general because I improve mechanically very much when playing against better players.
For more from Superelchi, check out her social media!