Interview With MaJicBear: ''Watch out RLCS season 10, here we come!''
Christopher "MaJicBear" Acevedo is only 15 years old and already a fan favourite. His performance in the recent Fusion tournament made his team and his fans hungry for more.
MaJicBear has shown in the North American Fusion tournament that he’s a surprisingly good all-rounder: he played for his team Affinity in the 1v1, 2v2 and 3v3 bracket and made it to the semi-finals in all of them. This is not the first time Affinity have shown they can make it to the top, after they finished in first place in last season’s RLRS, securing promotion to next season’s RLCS. With MaJicBear at the wheel, Affinity have moved from strength to strength, with the 15-year-old attracting many eyes from RLCS Fans. GGRecon reached out to MaJicBear to ask him about his name, his performance and what his talented team is capable of.
GGRecon: A lot of people like your name, MaJicBear. How did you choose that name?
MaJicBear: My name ‘MaJicBear’ was made in 2009 when I was 5. My brother got a PS3 for Christmas that all my brothers shared. I wanted to use my own account, so my brother asked me what I would like my Gamertag to be. I didn't know what to choose so my brother asked me what I liked. I said I like magic and Berry. I had a stuffed animal bear and his name was Berry. So he came up with MaJicBear. Magic is written with a ‘J’ because his Gamertag was BananaMaJic and he said that MaGicBear didn't look good with a ‘G’.
Being only 15 years old, MaJicBear lives with his family in Texas. Maintaining a career in esports at such a young age can be challenging for a player and the people around them.
GGRecon: What is it like trying to make it as a pro whilst living at home?
MaJicBear: Trying to become a pro is very time-consuming and takes a lot away from doing normal teenage stuff. But if you really want to make it as a pro, then work hard for it. My family is big so I tried to work around family dinners and gatherings so I could keep working on my game. But my family support me now and only want me to succeed.
With his large family, bandwidth and internet issues have been a problem so far for MaJicBear. In the 1v1 bracket of FusionRL, MaJicBear had to let Jordan play a game because of poor internet. Rejoining the series after one and a half games, it was clear he could not perform the way he wanted to.
GGRecon: Do you think your internet connection is holding you back as a pro player?
MaJicBear: I definitely think internet is very important for a pro player. I am talking with my parents about getting better internet. Meanwhile, I'll just have to keep on trying my best even with all the issues.
GGRecon: With these internet issues being prominent for you, are you looking forward to the competitive scene returning to LAN once things have settled, and hopefully featuring in your first LAN tournament?
MaJicBear: LAN is something I’ve always dreamt of and I'd be so happy if my team would be able to qualify for one. I've never been to a LAN yet, but I really want to play at one to see the difference between LAN and online play.
Affinity’s star player saw his popularity soar during Sunless Khan’s Longest Game in Rocket League history. He proved to be the player with the greatest endurance: 11 hours with only a 10-minute break is an incredible achievement, whilst scoring an incredible amount of high-quality goals.
GGRecon: How did you manage to play in Sunless Khan's Longest Game in RL history for so long without a break?
MaJicBear: The longest game in Rocket League history was really fun. It wasn't the first time I played a game for a straight 11 hours. ARK: Survival Evolved was a game that I used to play a lot and I’ve played it for 24+ hours straight multiple times, even though it is much more boring than Rocket League sometimes. Also during the sunless event, I was just going for cool shots the whole time, so that helped me with not getting bored as easily as the others.
Affinity ended up surprisingly high in Fusion, in third place, just below the established RLCS team Rogue. They were very consistent across the different game modes, too. Only Rogue and Affinity managed to make it to the semi-finals in every bracket and even to the finals in one bracket. Unfortunately, Spacestation Gaming was too strong in the 2v2 finals.
GGRecon: Did you expect that result and are you happy with it?
MaJicBear: We are really proud that we got third place, but we felt like we all could have performed a lot better. We didn't expect to get third but we knew it was possible. We want nothing less than to prove to people that we belong in high-level competitions and we are always practising and learning from each other.
With Cloud9 withdrawing from The Brawl Invitational, Affinity get a chance to show their skills in at least one of the tournaments in the off-season. But what’s maybe even more exciting is their spot in the next season of the RLCS.
GGRecon: What is the ultimate goal you want to reach?
MaJicBear: My ultimate goal in Rocket League is to become who I dreamed of becoming: to be one of the people to hold that trophy. Ever since I was 11 years old, watching RLCS Season 1 for the first time, I always wanted to walk on the stage and get that RLCS LAN experience. Whether we win or lose, at least I can say that we went and gave it our best shot. I want to deserve my spot at the world stage and show that we belong there.
GGRecon: What are your expectations for the next season of RLCS?
MaJicBear: I honestly don't know what is going to happen in terms of standings for the next RLCS season, but we want to get at least top 7. With this long off-season, we are trying our absolute best to improve together as a team. Jordan, Percy, Creamz and I are all very good friends and we all want to see is us succeed as a team. We are definitely excited to be in the RLCS and I personally can't wait till the season starts. Watch out RLCS season 10, here we come!
We’ve seen it before: a rookie who is just old enough to play in the RLCS comes in and shows everyone where so much talent and eagerness can take you. MaJicBear looks to be a perfect example of that. If he manages to grind his way through the off-season and to pick up some experience on the way, he will be a force to be reckoned with when the RLCS is back to challenge him.
Stay tuned at GGRecon for more exclusive interviews with your professionals across the scene, and all Rocket League Esports news.
Image via Rocket League