#teaminterviews

Q: For Leona, who was just buffed, do you think there are any opportunities to bring her on stage?

Meiko: As for this new patch, she did get buffed in terms of damage. However, this champion in this patch still doesn’t really have a good role to play.

Q: Today, Deft faced his old opponent Imp for 3 rounds. Is there anything you want to say?

Deft: First of all, I feel that Imp doesn’t really play the stronger champions like Ashe in this patch. This isn’t necessarily his play style. Secondly, he played a lot of Twitch, Kog’Maw and other team fighting focused champions today. That’s why when laning with him early game, it is necessary to deal with everything appropriately, or else the team fights would be very troublesome.

Q: Deft. 30 minutes into the first game, the team fell apart and was taken down. What was the situation at that time?

Deft: If Ezreal and Twitch gathers resources equally, Twitch would definitely out-scale during late game. That’s why I wanted to do something during early game. At that time, I didn’t build any magic resist items and the opponent’s Viktor had already used his E. However, I didn’t think that the opponent could take me down with just a Q +R.

Q: Clearlove, you picked Gragas very early during game 2. However, there were better junglers that were still available. Why did you do this?

Clearlove: Because Gragas is a jungler who is balanced in all areas. Choosing Gragas first is advantageous for whatever our team chooses next.

Q: In the 6.13 patch, Teleport was nerfed. Do you think “double Teleport” has the possibility of appearing again?

Mouse: Because the time for Teleport has increased, the top laner has to decide whether or not he wants to teleport by the overall circumstance of the game. That’s why, you can even say it’s a small “buff”. However, because teleport has been nerfed, champions like Shen and T.F who has global teleport are becoming more popular again. In the future, teleport should still be chosen.

Scout: Because the Korean region is ahead in patches, I’ve experienced the teleport changes after the patch update. In the beginning, I was debating whether or not I wanted to bring TP. However, after playing for awhile, I got used to it.

Q: Clearlove, you started today as “Dark Clearlove”. How do you feel about this nick name?

Clearlove: Because it’s best of 3, that’s why I was even more focused after losing our first match. On top of that, I died quite a bit in the first game and it made me upset.

Q: Pawn, this is your first time back on stage this split, how has your health been?

Clearlove: Right now, Pawn’s body is still like before. He rests after ever game. As for playing on stage in the future, it depends on our coaching team’s decision.

Q: Before when Scout was streaming, people would type Korean to him. How has Scout's Chinese been?

Scout: First of all, I’m still not very good in terms of listening to Chinese. However, I’m really interested in the writing of other languages. So right now, I can read quite a few Chinese characters.

Q: Right now, other than League of Legends, are there any other games you enjoy?

Scout: Other than League of Legends, there’s not much I enjoy. Plus, our team doesn’t allow us to play other games.

Q: During the third game, EDG stole Baron beautifully. At that time, how did you make the decision?

Clearlove: Because our team’s communication is really good. At that time, we were tracking their vision control. After witnessing the opponent’s Braum use his ult to check the jungle, we were confident that they didn’t have vision.That’s why we decided to steal Baron. At that time, we had Thresh. If Gragas came, we could still crowd control them.

Q: Today, Marin seemed to really like playing Gnar. Mouse, how would you rate him?

Mouse: Gnar is a champion who isn’t very strong early game. However, as he levels up and and build items, he can become very strong. I also practice him.

Q: Then do you think Gnar, in this patch, would be a top tier top-laner?

Q: We realized that after the Vietnamese jungler Sofm joined Snake, your team takes down Baron much more quickly. Is this Sofm’s playstyle?

Snake Coach: Actually, Baron isn’t something we take down early in every single match. In fact, we don’t play like this in our normal scrims either. It was just an impromptu decision this game. So it wasn’t a planned out battle strategy. It’s not Sofm’s personal play style either.

Q: In Patch 6.11, Irelia and Jax are about appear again. However, they haven’t appeared too often in LPL yet. Do you think this has to do with LPL not understanding the patch changes very well?

Snake Coach: I disagree. We communicate quite often with many Korean teams. We feel that tanky champions perform better in a team setting. After the champions you spoke about got buffed, they can be used in game. However, at the same time, they’re easily countered with champions like Trundle. That’s why you still need to look at the team composition. LCK has already been contesting over this. When one team picks Jax, the other team would immediately counter.

Q: I have another question regarding this patch. Swain’s damage output has been nerfed. Why did WE pick Swain twice today for their midlane?

WE Coach: In the first game, Swain is very effective against Viktor. In the second game, it was because of the feedback from the team. They said that Swain is capable of pressuring mid. That’s why we choose Swain again.

Q: Today, you banned your opponent’s Lissandra and Vladimir. However, you let Ryze go. In the game, how did you prepare yourself against this?

WE Coach: Because Snake’s Tank is really good with Lissandra. If he also takes TP, we would be severely threatened. For us, we could counter Ryze in lane by using Swain. That’s why we didn’t ban it.

Q: In the game against LGD, Snake once fell to a Trundle. How come you didn’t bring out Trundle in the first game? But decided to bring him out in the third game?

Snake coach: It’s not because of losing to a Trundle. In game, we saw that WE’s top laner seemed to be fluctuating and seemed to be at a low point. That’s why we specifically countered against their top laner. However, it was unexpected that our opponent chose Elise in the first game. That’s why we weren’t able to carry out our battle strategy very well in our first game.

Q: Today, WE chose Ashe as their AD. Is it because Ashe’s E is able to detect the opponent’s jungler?

WE Coach: In this Patch, Ashe and Jhin both have long ranged ults, so there will be some variables. However, the purpose of choosing this champion isn’t because of the E. It’s so we can engage in a team fight when the opponent tries to take down a turret.

Q: You (Snake) were behind and you decided to fight Baron twice. How did you talk through this?

Jiezou: At that time, we were behind. We saw that they wanted to get Dragon and our blue. So our jungler thought we were capable of getting Baron. So we took Baron. We all trust him a lot.

Q: In the first game, Sofm didn’t really pressure WE’s jungle significantly. Wanted to ask if you prepared anything?

WE Coach: Because our opponent chose Graves who likes to invade. Our players knew and made the appropriate preparations before game.

Q: In the second game, Sofm’s Leesin brought out Tiamat and a pair of Mobility Boots. Under what considerations did you choose this?

Q: Were you surprised when you saw the other side lock in Blitzcrank?

Crisis: At that time, they first picked Lulu and last picked Blitzcrank. We already realized that they might use Lulu's movement speed boost to help Blitzcrank engage. Especially since our mid laner at that time wasn’t versatile enough for other roles. We did think of ways to counter them, thus we weren't entirely surprised.

Q: What was your plan in countering them?

Crisis: If Blitzcrank dared to engage us, we would just fight them back. Because the other side didn't have much crowd control. If we fight back, we would be able to overpower them with the champions we had.

Q: After watching a game, the jungler seemed to get hooked the most. Did you make fun of him during the game?

Crisis: Make fun of the jungler? (The translator: he's the jungler...). Normally, during scrims, maybe. However, during games, we’re all focusing so we won’t crack jokes like this. We might say something like that when we’re about to win. However, most of the time, we’re thinking about how to play. Normally, we won’t make fun of our teammates during matches.

Q: How does EPA rate M3 and WE, the teams they’ve played against?

Jiezou: WE feels more experienced than M3, probably because most of WE’s players are players who have played in LPL. M3 is much younger, which is why winning against M3 is much easier. We need to be cautious against WE and need to minimize our mistakes as much as possible. That’s how we can win.

Q: After winning against WE,  WE said that they lost because they weren't familiar with GimGoon's Poppy. GimGoon, how do you see this?

GimGoon: I don't think it was because of Poppy that we won, since we also made many mistakes and gave them many opportunities.

Q: Which team gives your team the most pressure? Which team do you think would be easier to play against?

Jiezou: (After discussing with Romantic and Crisis) For me, the ones that give us pressure would be RNG, QG and EDG. As for the ones that are easier, I feel like they're all about the same. No one is easier or not easier. You have to see how they perform in game first.

Q: What do you hope to achieve with your team? What are the best results your team would be able to achieve?

JieZou: At least getting into quarterfinals.

Q: I want to ask your support, Jiezou. Why do you think you lost to WE in the last two games?

Jiezou: That is a very loaded question. I can't answer it completely in such a short time. For now, I can just say that we made more mistakes than they did, which is why we lost to them.

Q: In the other tournaments, I've ween GimGoon play Gangplank quite frequently. Is it because Gangplank is strong in this patch or is it because you have confidence playing him well?

GimGoon: It's because he's a strong champion in this patch. And I also have confidence playing this champion.

Q: After losing to WE last time, did you come up with a way to counter them next time?

Jiezou: We definitely did. However, we're definitely keeping it a secret too. You'll see it when we play against WE next time. It will probably surprise you.

Q: In your future games, which team poses the biggest threat?

Jiezou: Probably QG. Because QG looks the most like a teamt. Each of their role is very stable. They play really carefully . I feel like their team gives our team the most pressure.

Q: Another question for Jiezou. How do you see Poppy in the support role? How is it different from Poppy in the top lane?

Q: Cool, how do you rate this OMG team?

Cool: It’s hard to rate. Because we’re not performing well. However, I believe we still have the potential.

Q: You won the second game. However, it was a struggle. Why do you think that occured?

Cool: First of all, I, as the mid laner, was caught during the early game. That was a key factor. Other factors might be because of our team fights. We lost a teamfight top lane and they snowballed on us later on. This is why it was such a struggle.

Q: Right now, there are many new people on the team. How has integrating been? Also, can we have the new members introduce themselves.

Cool: Actually, I feel that there’s not many new people on our team. There are some who have played in LSPL before. And 5, our support who is standing next to me, has also played with us during Summer Split last year. So he’s not considered a new face. It’s just that...it’s easy to get overlooked by people. The support role is kind of like this in the first place. (5 weeps next to cool)

Our jungler is a new face though, since he’s a player we found in the Chinese server. Our top laner is from LSPL. He was part of our secondary team before.

You guys should introduce yourself (Gives mic to XiYang)

XiYang: Huh? I’m a new person?

Cool: You’re not a new player, but you should still introduce yourself.

XiYang: Hello everybody! I’m XiYang

5: Hello everyone! I’m OMG’s support, 5. (The way he pronounced it sounded like “I’m useless”, Cool couldn’t help and started laughing. Thus, the entire team started laughing) *

*’Five’ in Chinese is pronounced ‘Wu”. ‘Useless’ in Chinese is pronounced ‘Fei Wu’. So I guess he was slurring his words.

Dark: I’m Dark. I was on OMG’s secondary team before.

Fishball: Hello everyone. I’m OMG’s jungler, Fishball.

Q: Cool, how do you see OMG in the LPL region? What kind of attitude do you have while approaching these games?

Cool: My own stance is that OMG used to be considered a strong team. Right now, everyone can see that even getting relegated is a possibility. It’s just that I, myself, really want to win. I want to become stronger. I want our overall strength to become similar to how we were 2-3 years ago. However, our roster has just been newly formed. There are many problems, so we need time.

Q: What are your goals for this new season?

Cool: In the Spring Split, we’ll try to play as well as we can possibly play. In actuality, I feel that every team has their own problems right now. You can’t say that we can’t win at all. The rankings in the future will shift significantly.

Q: Can each player tell us their expectations for themselves in this coming season?

XiYang: Right now, we’ll try to win as many games as we can. Because we have many new players and because I haven’t played many games yet, I’m trying my best to maintain my mindset. If I’m able to play, I’ll just try my best to win.

5: I hope our team will be able to better integrate with each other and to communicate more. As for results, of course I hope that we would rank higher and higher.

S1mlz: I hope we can be in the top 3 for Group B.

Dark: I hope we can get better results, since we haven’t played too well. I hope our communication would also get better in the future.

Fishball: I hope I can grow faster. Because, right now, I still lack in experience.

Q: A question for Fishball. I realized that your didn’t switch your trinket to blue trinket in late game. Was there any special purpose for this?

Fishball: It was because at that time, I had the Tracker’s Knife...Wait, that’s not it. It was when I was playing LeeSin. I thought that we had enough vision. So I used the yellow trinket, but I was still going to switch it during late game.

Q: TBQ has now joined OMG. Will you usually play against him during practice? What do you think about him?

Fishball: We pretty much don’t practice against each other. Because everyone is playing their own thing whether it’s solo queue or during practice. As for TBQ, I think he’s a pretty strong jungler in China. He also has a lot of experience , knows how to shotcall and communicates with our team.

Q: A question for Xiyang. What is the role of the top laner in this patch? How do you view your role within the team?

XiYang: When I’m watching the games, I realized that all the MVP’s are top laners. Top lane probably carries a heavier burden now. It’s not like before where you have full tanks like Maokai. Now, it’s leaning towards carry champions like Quinn. Others champions are those who are half tank and still have high damage output like Poppy and Trundle. I might need to take on the role of outputting more damage within the team.

Q: So do you think top lane tank champions or carry champions are better?

XiYang: I would personally recommend that champions who are half tanks are better. Because if you’re half tank, you won’t die as easily, and you’ll have enough damage output.

Q: Dade is now in QG, is Doinb feeling pressured?

Doinb: I don’t really mind who joins or who leaves the team. I feel like whoever gets to play is based more on the patch. So I won’t feel pressured no matter who gets to play.

Q: How do you rate We1less (PainEvil/GodV)? 

Doinb: I don’t think I’m in the position to be rating other players. However, We1less is one of the stronger mid laners in China.

Q: For Swift. How is LGD’s new jungler different from TBQ?

Swift: TBQ is a player who is more aggressive. Eimy slightly leans towards a defensive type of player. Since the players in the three other lanes in LGD are all very strong, I predicted that their jungler would serve as a defensive role in the team. In the end, I guessed right.

Q: When you were planning your strategy, did you try to find any methods to counter Marin?

Swift: We didn’t find ways to counter Marin specifically. It’s because Marin is a newly recruited players, so there might be problems with communication within the team. I also heard that Marin is really aggressive in lane, so I thought about focusing him by ganking top lane.

Q: How is LGD different now that they they’ve recruited Marin?

V: I feel that the current LGD isn’t cooperating as well as before. Marin’s laning does feel stronger than their previous top laner because his play style is more aggressive.

Q: After Swift failed numerous time trying to catch Marin in top lane, he decided to try to catch mid instead. At that time, how did you analyze the situation?

Swift: In the beginning, I went top because Rumble is an easily gankable champion. Marin is also a really strong player, so I wanted to help relieve some pressure in our top lane. I started going mid after because I could no longer relieve top lane pressure. Wards were put down, so it wasn’t as easy to gank. There were ganking opportunities in mid lane, so I went there instead.

Q: If you had the opportunity to fight for first place and you could choose any team to play against, who would you choose?