Bwipo ready to grow personally and professionally on Team Liquid

Pro gamers start their careers at a young age, growing up in a spotlight that is as exciting as it is stressful. Being one of the best League of Legends players in the world is difficult enough, but competing every week in front of hundreds of thousands of fans ready to tear you apart at a moment’s notice is another beast entirely.

Team Liquid’s top laner, Gabriel “Bwipo” Rau, like most of his peers, grew up in the spotlight of Twitter, Twitch chat and stadiums of roaring fans, and it’s shown a bright light on his accomplishments, but this year Bwipo only wants to do better both in game and out of it.

“The thing about being a pro player in general … you’re what … 17, 18, 19 [years old] and then you have a pro career,” Bwipo said. “If you’re successful, you have a couple of years, and if you’re very successful, you have six or seven. You grow up as a human being. These are the years where you’re growing as a real human being. You actually have responsibilities and have to take care of actual things.”

As a fervent young pro, Bwipo experienced plenty of success early on in Europe with Fnatic from taking over as the team’s starting top laner to competing against China’s Invictus Gaming in the 2018 League of Legends World Championship final. Bwipo was only 19 at the time, and it has been a roller coaster of a career since. Last year, Bwipo role-swapped to jungle, and after Fnatic finished 1-5 at the 2021 world championship, it hardly ended on a happy note. Still, though, it was all those experiences that made him the person and player that he is today.

“It’s been a long journey, but I feel like now that I’ve landed here in LA, I’m mentally prepared to be the person and player I’ve always wanted to be thanks to a lot of the hardships that I went through over the years both personally and professionally,” he said. “I think you have to really, really, do your best to value the things that are important to you in your life. As a player, I have to value what I think is the right way to play the game. I have to value the right champions.”

More than that, Bwipo has learned to value the things in life that keep him going. Bwipo grew up a pro gamer -- and that’s still a key part of his life -- but there is so much more than League of Legends.

“As a person, I think it’s really important that you find the energy to keep going wherever you find that,” he said. “Obviously, I have my own sources and I’m very happy with them. It’s just … ah, just thinking about it makes me smile, right? And that’s what I think is most important in life.”

Bwipo’s professional goals in coming to America

At the end of the day, though, Bwipo is in North America to make a difference on Team Liquid, and his impact is already being felt. Team Liquid largely dominated the Lock In tournament and Bwipo didn’t miss a beat en route to his first big LCS win. Bwipo’s transatlantic move is a chance to really grow as a professional.

“I want to be recognized as a different player than I always was,” Bwipo said. “I don’t like the complacency that I was promoting in Fnatic. I really felt like I was a complacent player where I just stuck to the identity that I was given, stuck to what was comfortable for me, and always just did my best within that confined space rather than truly opening up my horizons.”

Bwipo made his mark as one of the most talented top laners in Europe over the last few years and even made a successful transition to jungle, but he developed a reputation for being a “loose” player with “crazy picks.” He especially wants to move forward from that reputation -- stability is a keyword for him now as he looks to excel.

“I don’t want to be ‘hurr durr Bwipo. He’ll do crazy s--- whenever he feels like,’” Bwipo said. “I want to do crazy s--- because I know that it works 100% of the time. I intend to be the best top laner in the league, indisputably, across all metrics. I really want to be the guy where he picks Jayce and they’re like ‘f---, that’s not good.’ I want to be elite and be recognized as a Western top laner that can compete with the best.”

Achieving a better work-life balance

On the more personal side of his move, Bwipo is already enjoying America and Los Angeles. He hasn’t had the opportunity to enjoy too much of the city’s wonderful food, but he’s “working on it” and will explore even more with a special person once a “very important event” comes to pass. With that in the works, Bwipo couldn’t be happier to be on Team Liquid, because he truly feels supported.

“I really wanted a team that understood the difficulties of life. Personal relationships are f---ing hard, man,” he said. “Finding a team where I actually feel supported and my choice to be in a personal relationship is supported positively, constantly … feels amazing. I really feel like I can be myself here and strive to be a better person.”

Although, he added that there wasn’t any bad blood on his past team.

“And that’s not to throw any shade on Fnatic or whatever -- there is a difference between something being positively reinforced and simply accepted,” Bwipo explained. “That’s the biggest difference I feel here in America. I feel positively reinforced.”

Between scrimming, managing a personal brand and actually competing every week, it can be difficult to find the time for personal improvement, but LCS teams have only improved when it comes to promoting work-life balance. Bwipo never felt that he was treated poorly in the past, but there’s a certain mindfulness on Team Liquid that really appeals to him. As bright and jovial as ever, Bwipo is ready to be the best Bwipo he can be during the 2022 LCS season.

Lead photo credit: Riot Games