UCManny

Emmanuel Cruz, better known now under the pseudonym UCManny, is a professional eSports player whose main game is the NBA2K series of games. 

Emanuel is from New York, USA. The boy showed interest in various sports from his childhood, but after a while, he stopped at basketball. In the early 2000s, the first game consoles and some of the first significant PC gaming projects became widespread. It was at that time that Emanuel had a new favorite business - video games. They played everything they could get their hands on then, but later, he noticed only a growing series of NBA2K games at that time. This combination of his favorite sport and favorite at the time was a real gift of fate.  

Although he loved video games, he was rarely interested in serious competitions. He played to his satisfaction by constantly improving himself. 

This attitude to games changed in late 2017 - early 2018, when the first season of the esports league "2018 NBA 2K League" was announced, and the selection began. Emanuel understood that his game was already at a high enough level, but if he made every effort, he could get on the esports scene. 

Having decided to test his abilities almost immediately, he encountered several serious obstacles on the way. First - the lack of experience in competitive games. Unlike most of the other players who submitted their applications, Emanuel was never interested in competitions and only played for fun. The second number of such competitors was as many as 72 thousand people! Such a gigantic competition made it clear to Emanuel that it is impossible to give in, and it is necessary to show everything that he is capable of. 

Selection for the league took place in several serious stages. The main stage was the main selection, in which players had to play a certain number of matches, by results of which were decided whether to pass the players to the next stage. Emanuel coped with this stage, showing a decent score and an even more impressive style of play. This was followed by personal conversations on the knowledge of basketball and drawing the characteristics of the player himself. As a result of such an interview, Emanuel also passed, and now there is only the last stage - the draft. It was here that players were selected for their teams and assigned their roles.  

On April 4, 2018, the initial draft process began, during which teams, regardless of their role, recruited players to the team for 6 rounds. Despite the lack of professional e-sports experience or lack of competitive games, Emanuel (already under the nickname UCMANNY) was chosen in the 2nd round (27 pick) for the role of PF (Power Forward). For an almost complete beginner, such a result was something beyond reality. The professional e-team Magic Gaming selected him. Along with UCMANNY, the team includes Kontrul, SUPREME PULLER, NachoTraynor, MARLEY213s, and KingCamRoyalty.  

The regular season started on May 1, 2018, and on May 3, Magic Gaming had its first games. The first few games for the team were unsuccessful. They lagged behind their opponents by a few points, but defeat is defeat, despite a decent game by the team. If usually such a start can greatly upset the team, and lower their level of play even more, then Magic Gaming did the opposite. Already in the 2nd stage of the games (starting from the third week), they dramatically turned the situation around. Their game became more coordinated, and each member of the team played the full role of all 120%. Such an unsuccessful start was followed by many victories. UCMANNY himself showed his signature - a set of 3 points. He performed such complex throws with more than a 50% chance of getting into the basket, which is an incredibly high chance.  

The season lasted until August 25. Despite the incredible game in the 2nd and third stages, Magic Gaming did not have only a few points to get to the next round. In their case it wasn’t that bad because the whole world has already seen their potential. The average PPG in 2018 was 17, which is for a beginner in the e-sports scene, and whose primary role is to protect more than a decent result. Other static data of the PF role did not lag behind or even were even better. The management liked UCMANNY's game so much that they recommended him to stay for the next season. Going forward, in the second season, UCMANNY was one of the 2 remaining players in the Magic Gaming team along with KingCamRoyalty.  

As Emanuel himself admitted, participating in such a large-scale esports tournament was an incredible experience. This allowed him to look behind the scenes of such large-scale events, meet many famous people in the field of basketball, make strong friendships with all members of the team and test yourself in what he was fascinated by most of his life. At the moment, Emanuel continues to do his favorite thing and pays a lot of attention to his family.