Editor's note: This is the first in an ongoing series with Flame chronicling his return to the main stage and life in America.

For a time, four years ago to be exact, Lee "Flame" Ho-jong was the best League of Legends player in the world.

Before the name Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok became synonymous with the title of the game's greatest, Flame, now 24, was the uncontrollable force, the main character of the world's most prestigious League of Legends competition, South Korea's Champions League. He was the ace of perennial contender CJ Entus Blaze, one of the most popular teams in the world. The term "Flame Horizon" was coined by English commentators Christopher "MonteCristo" Mykles and Erik "DoA" Lonnquist for the Flame's ability to grind his top lane opponents into the ground and assemble an insurmountable CS lead through a mixture of raw strength and creep wave intellect.

While the "Flame Horizon" has remained the same since its inception in 2013, the player it's connected to is not.

The past two years, Flame has been seated on the bench for large periods of time. On his club Longzhu Gaming last year, he didn't even play during the summer split, spending his time climbing to the upper echelons of the Korean Challenger ladder and spamming online games.

"We've found, at least so far, has been that the players most motivated to succeed when they feel like they have something to prove have a chip on their shoulder," Immortals CEO Noah Whinston said. "And there may be no player in the world with more than a chip on their shoulder right now than Flame."

The bench is the loneliest place in esports, especially for someone accustomed to not only being on the field, but being at the center of everything. You practice every day, putting thousands of hours into the game, and when it's time for the bright lights of competition, you're left in the back room, watching on a television.

From his first day as a pro back in 2012 under the ID "Goldtec," to today, sitting at the Immortals house practicing in a corner of the team's scrimmage room, Flame is a player. The past two years, he has watched as a spectator. Now, in America, he's back on center stage, back where he believes he has always belonged.

When speaking to Flame, he does not give off the air of a player nearing the end of his playing days. He speaks with a graceful confidence, almost like making a promise to both his fans and his critics at the same time: Watch me. I'll show you. I'll show you all.

"If the opportunity arises, I want to show you guys whatever [champions] I have in my pocket," he said, smiling. "But I think, most importantly, is I want to focus on winning, so I think I will play whatever my team needs me to play. And [it's] because I'm confident in playing any type of style: carrying, playing tanks or AP tops -- anything."

Flame comes to the Immortals with a team spirit and a strong desire to be proficient in English. Riot Games

Besides Flame, the team's expected other half of its offensive one-two punch is Joshua "Dardoch" Hartnett, 18, a dynamo on and outside of the Rift with his play and outspoken attitude. One of the best junglers in the league, Dardoch signed a three-year deal with Immortals before the season started, making him one of the longest-contracted players in all of League of Legends. For Immortals to succeed in 2017, the relationship between Flame and Dardoch, a pair that values victory over everything else, will need to be at the forefront of the league.

"My career was looking like I was going to be a team hopper because I started out badly on [Team Liquid]," Dardoch said. "I think being here [with the Immortals] made me kinda change my mentality to how I wanted to improve as a teammate, more so than individually, so I can grow [with] my teammates."