TLR WELCOMES BACK COACH LETHALKALE | ROCKET LEAGUE
We welcome Kalle Valtteri Lehto aka LethalKale for the 2nd time as our Rocket League Coach for RLCSX and the foreseeable future. Kale is a 27 year old Finnish competitive player who recently transitioned into the coaching side of things but still competes in national Rocket League tournaments for teams. Insightful and experienced, his talents extend as far as a 116 seconds record in Minesweeper on expert.
He previously worked with us during the EU Fall Split when we still had Rehzzy on our roster. Though it was a month and a half before he was confirmed to the team, we already saw the positive changes from his influence before it was official. Read his Q+A below to find out more about him:
◾️ Previous esports XP?
“As a Coach I have worked with Godalions. As a player for teams such as BOLO and Game Fist. Other than that nothing really except if you count competing in games like Elasto Mania and this one old minigolf flash game.”
◾️ What’s your favourite thing about RL? Why did you choose to pick up coaching?
“Playing in a team that rotates well and makes good decisions. I’ve always been extremely demanding when it comes to my teammates’ and my own rotation as a player. I fell in love with ex-pro Espeon’s RLCS analysis videos and I learned so much from those. For the past year I’ve been dealing with health issues that makes playing a little bit harder so it felt natural to start focusing more on coaching.”
◾️ What type of Coach are you?
“Definitely more of an analytical type, but I’ve already learned a lot about the psychological side of things when tournaments are going on etc. I think my biggest strength is my experience as a player. Rocket League still doesn’t have that many coaches because the game is pretty new and it takes a lot of time to understand how 3v3 works at a high level. Understanding the ins and outs is extremely difficult without having played at a high level yourself, although it definitely is possible.”
“I still have some stuff to learn as a Coach but I’ve always been really good at analyzing games and teaching people how to make better decisions on the field.”
◾️ Do you think players get worse with age?
“I don’t really believe that getting older makes you worse, especially in Rocket League where the meta doesn’t change that much so there’s not much new to learn. I think the learning speed just gets slower but you can still be nuts at games all the way to your 40s. I think as you get older factors like sleep, how you eat and how you are feeling that day effects a lot how you play and then it gets harder. In Rocket League everyone is young because its a new type of game; most players are 15-22. I bet in CS:GO players could play until they are 35-40 but they usually want to move on to something else like coaching.”
◾️ Why did you join TLR?
“I was looking for a team to coach that I saw potential in. I think I wanted to coach TLR from the start.”
◾️ How have you been finding it so far?
“Really fun. I find it easy to talk to the team and give them feedback. They are all really motivated to get better.”
◾️ What do you want to achieve in the org and as a Coach?
“Qualifying for the (RLCSX) Major. We were pretty close making it the last time.”
◾️ Did you know our players previously and what made you decide you’d make a great team?
“I think I only knew BoyScHool Q personally but I definitely knew all of the players from their previous results in the competitive scene. I’ve been a huge fan of Sebadam since 2016 when I saw him give a memorable interview in RLCS. I noticed right away that the players and I had a similar vision of what should be improved on so it was an easy decision. I was a bit nervous to ask them at first but once I tried coaching other teams I started feeling more confident about my skills as a Coach”
◾️ Favourite Car? Map?
“Diestro and Urban Central.”
◾️ Do you think current events have influenced their competive options so far outside of not being able to attend LAN?
“Hard to say since RLCS and the whole RL esport changed so much during this summer. Impossible to say what things would’ve been.”
◾️ Biggest achievement to date in RL?
“Making it to the Renegade Cup Finals as a player and getting the Renegade Cup Elite title. I would say Top 16 in RLCSX with TLR but I think we literally only had one coaching session before that so I can’t really take credit.”
◾️ How do you think RL going F2P will impact on the esport?
“Most people think it will have a positive impact. It’s just gonna bring more viewers, more tournaments and more money in to the scene. I don’t really think there is any negatives. I guess in the future there could be more annoying micro-transactions but I’m hoping for the best. Some people are annoyed about ‘RL going mainstream’ but I think the people who love the esports side of RL actually want it to go mainstream.”
◾️ What games do you enjoy other than RL?
“Cuphead, Minesweeper and nothing else really lol.”
Kale used to play PlayStation 1 and 2 games every day A LOT alongside all kinds of old school Console and PC games which were mostly more physics based. He played early Call of Duty in single player story mode on PC back in mid 2000s and hasn’t dabbled in shooters for 14 years.
“At the time it was pretty mind blowing honestly since all the previous FPS games kinda sucked except Counter-Strike 1.6 and Half-Life of course.”
◾️ What else do you do for fun?
“I just started to play bass and make music again after a long break. I also watch a lot of YouTube and Twitch.”
We’re happy to have a Coach like Kale, one equally capable on and of the server, back with us to match the strong work ethic of our players. We’re confident in his capability of providing adept direction to help hone our rosters natural and seasoned talents.
Follow Kale on Twitter @LethalKale for top notch coaching content. Follow us @TheLastResort to stay up to date with our RL team and org activities!