Akaadian

Matthew “Akaadian” Higginbotham currently plays for Team SoloMid, a behemoth in the North American garnering worldwide recognition. Akaadian began his journey in 2014 as a top laner, only switching to the jungle role in 2016 with team Top Dog Gaming.

Entering the eyes of the major teams

Akaadian may have begun his career in early 2014, however, he only garnered attention in his time with Dream Team. While the Dream Team failed to attain any spectacular results, Akaadian had been highlighted as a key force in the team. This led him to later being picked up by Team Liquid Academy, his first experience with one of the major organisations. Unfortunately, Team Liquid Academy failed to perform, leading Akaadian to return to Dream Team only after a single split.

Joining the NA LCS

January 2017, Akaadian finally entered the big league, joining the ranks of Echo Fox and for the first time, competing in the NA LCS. Echo Fox may have had a rough year, placing 8^th in both the Spring and Summer splits, however, this was crucial to Akaadian’s development.

Later signing with Optic Gaming at the end of 2017, Akaadian competed in both the NA LCS and NA CS, constantly switched between the academy and main team.

Joining Team SoloMid

Once again failing to find success with yet another team (Optic), Akaadian signed with Team SoloMid’s academy team, where he planned to develop in for 2019. However, through a stroke of luck, he was given the opportunity to enter the main team following Grig’s wrist injury which side lined TSM’s starting jungler. While Akaadian had been launched head first and pushed with some of North America’s top players, he performed well, paving the way for the rest of his team. His competence in the Spring split of the 2019 NA LCS makes it unlikely for Grig to completely replace Akaadian.

Previous Report:

Akaadian Domestic Career

2014

Akaadian began his LoL career as a top laner. His first notable showing happened on Zenith eSports. Zenith took part in the 2014 NA CS Summer Series #2. They won their first group stage match against GamesterGear and advanced further thanks to a forfeit from Also Known As. But their Quarterfinals series against Team8 ended in a disastrous 0-2 loss. With that, they were eliminated from the tournament.

2015

Akaadian later attended the 2015 NA CS Spring Qualifier as a part of Roar. Unfortunately, his team fell short in its first match against Cloud9 Tempest. Akaadian came back in summer by subbing in for Maelstrom Gamin in the second round of the 2015 NA CS Summer Qualifier. But his team crumbled against CLG Black and was knocked out of the competition.

Afterward, Akaadian went to Winterfox to replace Avalon in the top lane. He joined in the middle of the 2015 NA CS Summer Split and managed to put a stop to Winterfox’s losing streak. But he couldn’t keep the momentum going, and his team finished the regular season with a 1-9 record.

2016

In the off-season, Akaadian switched to jungle and joined Top Dog Gaming. His team attended the 2016 NA CS Spring Qualifiers and clashed with Astral Gaming. The series came down to the wire, but in the end, Akaadian’s team lost with a 2-3 score.

However, his jungling prowess caught the eye of Team Liquid, and he was recruited to its academy lineup. Together with his new teammates, Akaadian took part in the 2016 NA CS Spring Split. Once again, he joined the lineup in the middle of the regular season, and Team Liquid Academy struggled to work as a unit. And while they made it to the playoffs, they lost 1-3 in their first match against Apex Gaming.

2017

Akaadian joined Echo Fox in the 2017 NA LCS Spring Split. He made his presence known as one of the best junglers in the league, and he routinely challenged seasoned veterans with his aggressive playstyle. But even though he secured countless early game leads, Echo Fox couldn’t translate them into actual victories. With a 6-12 record, they finished the regular season in eighth place and couldn’t qualify for the playoffs.

Echo Fox’s performance didn’t improve much in summer. During this time, Akaadian was frequently subbed out in favor of the Challenger Series jungler—Grig—for no apparent reason. He wasn’t the only one either, and Echo Fox’s haphazard roster changes led to another eighth-place finish.