Imaqtpie

Streamers > Imaqtpie

Name Michael Santana

Age 29

Birthday 21st February

Nationality US

Hometown Margate, FL

Aliases qtpie; qt, chowdog

Streams Genshin Impact, Valorant, Variety

Former Teams Rock Solid; Dignitas and Delta Fox

Family

He married his wife in 2018. They have three cats.

Name Origins

He chose the handle because his mom says that he’s cute.

Gaming Origins

Imaqtpie started playing video games at a young age. His high school friends introduced him to League of Legends (LoL) soon after its release in 2009, due to its being free-to-play. He fell in love with it and soon became addicted to and highly skilled at the game. A few months later, Scarra noticed him at a tournament and invited him to join his team, Rock Solid, as their starting AD Carry. He has since stuck with the role and although its been slow going, he still aims to achieve his goal of being the best AD Carry in LoL someday.

Rock Solid came fourth in the 2011 NESL Premier League Season I, but their skill still drew the attention of Team Dignitas, who invited them to join their professional team. They did so, resulting in Dignitas winning the 2011 IGN ProLeague (IPL) Season 3 tournament. However, in the LCS’s early days, playing in tournaments professionally was a huge risk, as teams had to place 1st or 2nd to make back the money that they spent on travel and accommodation. This was especially true due to the lack of alternate revenue sources for the professional players. Once the LCS began making more money, it was able to really support its competitors.

Professional Gaming

In 2012, the LCS was able to provide consistent salaries to its competitors, which helped Santana to really focus on LoL as a full-time job. However, once the LCS started becoming too competitive, Santana stopped enjoying participating in LCS. Therefore, on October 2014, he dropped out of Dignitas to focus on streaming, as he did not want to sacrifice his friendship with his teammates for the purpose of establishing the best line-up.

Since then, he has steadily grown and maintained his fanbase on Twitch, not only streaming LoL content, but also hosting various gaming shows.

Income

At least $2 Million USD annually, excluding tips and sponsorships.

Streaming Hours

Usually streams Sundays – Thursdays: From ~14:00 UTC for 7-10 hours
Fridays: ~21:00 - 00:00 UTC
Saturdays: Occasionally streams

Accomplishments

1st - NA LCS Summer Playoffs Streamer Showmatch - 2018
Teen Choice Award for Choice Gamer - 2017
1st - North American Challenger Series(NACS) 2017 Spring Qualifiers - 2017
Domino’s Streamer of the Year Award - 2016
1st - LoLPro.com Curse Invitational - 2012
1st - IGN ProLeague (IPL) Season 3 - 2011

Quotes

If you want to become a pro gamer, then you need to want it yourself. If you don’t want it yourself without having to tell yourself… to keep practicing, … then I probably wouldn’t bother, because you’re probably just gonna end up burning out once you go pro. Once you go pro, it’s [a whole new level]… Being a Challenger isn’t enough… Once you get to Challenger tough, you have to actually prove that you’re good by impressing people, and that’s the hard part ‘cause most people aren’t impressed easily.