William “﻿Meteos﻿” Hartman has an interesting history playing League of Legends, beginning with many seasons of success, followed by a few broken up seasons of taking time off to stream, being subbed out of starting rosters, and bouncing around from team to team. Upon joining ﻿OpTic Gaming﻿ this year, he had potential to be the veteran leader and focal point the team needed after the departure of Tristan "﻿PowerOfEvil﻿" Schrage. With the announcement of Joshua “Dardoch” Hartnett to the roster, Meteos finds himself in yet another season of perpetual motion, starting in just over half of the team’s games.













Meteos discussed in this unfiltered interview with Upcomer, after week six of the LCS Spring Split, how his volatile career has helped him develop as a player and teammate. He also broke down his personal goals for the season. He has finally found some odd sort of stability working with the OpTic Academy team, as he subs in and out of the starting LCS spot as one unit with Dardoch. He told Upcomer about how he views himself in that situation, as well as what type of player and person he wants to become.





You have been rather successful throughout your history, having not missed a single finals where you’ve played the whole split with a team. However, you’ve also been on a few different teams in the past year, so what are you doing right now to find some stability and get back to where you consistently make the finals?





Meteos: Well, I’ve been playing on quite a few different teams recently. So I was on 100 Thieves which was like, a pretty new roster… Well, I guess I can start with the beginning. In the beginning I played on Cloud9 from its inception until the end of 2016. Then going into 2017, I was on Phoenix1, but I don’t really even count that one because I literally didn’t practice with them, I didn’t even play solo queue at the time. I told them, “I’m not the player you want on your team,” and they were like, “Nah, you’re good enough.” It went a lot better than it should’ve, all things considered. But I’d say 100 Thieves is the first real team I was on after C9.





There were a lot of things C9 did that I just sort of accepted as the only way to do things. And for the most part, I think it’s kind of the truth, with regards to how to set up vision, how to use that information. Acquiring information and how to make reads on that information to figure out what our best course of action is. And so, when I’ve played on a lot of these new teams, a lot of players that are less experienced or maybe haven’t played on that highest level don’t fully understand that kind of information game. So there will be a lot of calls like, “Yo, go kill this guy!” and I’m like, “What? That’s not a real play. We don’t have any information on anything.”









Photo via Riot Games





And so, on a lot of the teams I’ve been joining, it’s just been kind of a learning experience for everybody. I’m learning how to play with different players who might do things differently than I’m used to. And I can also teach them how to do more information-based, strategic gameplay, ‘cause I think you don’t really learn that type of stuff in solo queue. There’s no textbooks you can read on it. It’s just something you can only really learn from experiencing it. And I feel like I’ve had a pretty good amount of experience, you know? I mean I’m not here to just gas myself up or anything, but from playing on Cloud9, I’ve been to Worlds a few times. I’ve gotten to scrim against the best teams in the world, I’ve gotten to see how they do things.





Usually I was in the top scrim bracket, as far as the teams I was practicing against. And they use this for LCS, like all the top teams in the LCS will scrim each other, because it’s the best practice. So sometimes on the bottom end, you don’t get that good of practice. Like you might get incorrect reads about something because like, you feel like the matchup goes this way because you’ve only been playing against bottom tier laners. But then you go up against Liquid, and you’re like, “Oh shit, that’s not how that matchup goes at all!” So there’s a lot of that kind of learning curve I guess.









So as far as OpTic goes, I feel like the players are pretty good, you know? There’s not really any huge outstanding weak links or anything like that. But I think we all just have a really different idea of how to play. So it’s been a learning process of everyone being able to work together because a lot of times, what can be hard on these LCS teams is that because everyone comes from such different backgrounds and has such different experiences, and a lot of the way you play the game is based on intuition. It’s not like you’re thinking through everything you do, it’s just like automatic muscle memory. So having to retrain some things if you’ve learned something the wrong way, or if you have the wrong idea of how to play - and of course “wrong” is so subjective too right! What one person might think is wrong, someone else might think it’s right. And how do you decide what you want to do? Well a lot of people say the coach decides. Well how does the coach know? What gives the coach this all seeing power, right? It can be pretty hard, you know?









Photo via Riot Games





Basically, it just takes a lot of time and patience. So I guess the thing that I’ve tried to work on recently is just that patience aspect. So even if I know something someone on my team wants to do is just not a good idea, rather than being mean about it and saying, “No that’s stupid, that’s bad,” I try to have a more gentle touch to it because I accept that I don’t know everything too. There are definitely going to be times where I’ll see something one way and someone else will see it another way and they’re right. And I can accept that, right? So I think that’s probably the thing that I’ve been working on the most since joining these new teams. Be patient with everyone on the team.





And it can be kind of hard as a jungler, because say you’re playing on a team that’s losing a lot and you play against a better team and win all their lanes so their jungler doesn’t have to do anything, and all your laners say, “Bro you weren’t ganking, I needed ganks. Do you see how aggressive this guy is playing?” And I’m just sitting there like, “Well… It doesn’t really work that way, man. If I show top, then he’s just gonna back off and they’re going to get all the control and set up dragon and what not.” So it’s just—that was a long answer, but—patience. Patience is what I’ve been working on.





No, I appreciate the long answer. And you kind of touched on it, but specifically where do you find your identity in this OpTic squad?





In OpTic I’m basically just trying to do whatever I can to help us improve as a team. It’s fitting to the needs of the team. If they feel a matchup goes a certain way and they need a ton of jungle pressure, then I’ll try and accommodate for that and work around it. I just try to set up my teammates to give them the most ability to succeed in the game, whether it’s setting up information, tracking the jungler, that kind of thing. And a lot of the way I think about the game is just, “What is the enemy’s next step here? What do they want to do? What are our options, what are their options?” And then weighing them against each other. So that’s sort of what I’ve been working on most with the team.





So figuring out new players and providing them some of the insight you feel like you’ve gathered over the years.





Yeah it’s just kind of… I feel like on any team, a lot of players and staff are going to come in with their own ideas. And I don’t think it’s going to be the case that one person is always right, one person is always wrong. I mean it will be a mix of ideas that kind of gets everyone on the same page. And sometimes, you know, someone’s way of thinking is almost right but they aren’t factoring in a certain thing. And then once they’ve been exposed to that thing, it can kind of change the way they see things.





So I think a lot of it just trying to find different perspectives to look at different issues. Maybe in a situation where you feel helpless there was actually more you could’ve done. That sort of thing, so yeah a lot of work with that kind of stuff.





Photo via Riot Games





How do you feel that you and Dardoch are working together specifically? You were open in the past about not liking the Academy system as an LCS starter, but OpTic is one of the teams utilizing the full roster for each specific match. How have your thoughts on Academy changed after joining them, and how are you and Dardoch working together?





I’d say our relationship has been positive for sure. We’ll talk about jungle stuff a decent amount. We don’t sit through every game and review it together or anything like that, but if it comes down to matchup or something we’ll talk about that. When we do in-houses we’ll talk about the way the game played out and what we were expecting the other person to do and that sort of thing. And we’ve been splitting scrims sometimes, like if we’re not doing well we’ll try out something else. Like we’ll have Josh play a block, or I’ll go to Academy if they’re struggling, that kind of thing.





But I definitely think that getting those different perspectives on how to see the game is good. I think Dardoch is a really good jungler, but we don’t see eye to eye on everything. Like no one will. Any two players will have differences in opinions. So some things he’ll be right about, some things I’ll be right about. But it’s been really cool getting to work with him. I like him.





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Photo via Riot Games





Good! Do you feel like you guys are working to continue in your own identity and style, utilizing the other’s information to make you better at what you already do? Or do you also try and develop a playstyle similar to the other as well?





I think that we’re both learning from each other in the process. I think it’s one of those things where it could be kind of a competitive relationship where we are just trying to get a leg up on each other, withholding information when we talk, you know trying to get more out of him than you’re willing to give. But I don’t think that’s the case, I know definitely on my side, I am not doing that because I see this as an opportunity.





When I was on FlyQuest, it was one of the first times I got to talk to [Lucas "Santorin" Tao Kilmer Larsen] really openly about jungle. It’s a really weird thing, being a jungler in the LCS because it can be kind of hard to find people who understand what you go through. Because even with other LCS players, like your teammates, there’s all this… I had an interview recently where I talked about it. You know, there’s always going to be a divide between the jungler and the laners because say this game I find a really good opportunity to break open the game through top lane, but my bottom lane is winning their matchup and they don’t want to have to play safe. To them it feels bad to have to play safe because we’re playing top side.









And even the most non-emotional players, the most level-headed, logical thinkers will still get annoyed at what the jungler does occasionally just because of how much impact you can have on the game. So being able to find another jungler to talk with who has gone through the same things, who has experienced the same feelings is really useful. I think being able to have that relationship with Santorin on FlyQuest and Dardoch now has been beneficial for all of us I think.





That’s awesome! Do you feel like a different player when playing for the LCS squad vs the Academy squad? And what would you feel like your identity is for each one?





Hmm, that’s an interesting question. I don’t think I change too much. I troll a little bit more in Academy because it’s a lower stress environment. If there’s a pick that I feel like might have a chance of hard inting scrims, I won’t really do that for the LCS. Part of it is just a respect thing for the teams we’re scrimming against too. Say a team is going to scrim us, but the practice we give them is picking bullshit champions that are bad, they’re going to say, “This isn’t good practice at all. We’re not going to face this on stage. Why are we dealing with this?” And then they won’t want to schedule us anymore. But in Academy it’s a lot more loose I guess. So like, “Hey man you wanna try Neeko jungle?” Like… “Sure why not?”









Photo via Riot Games





Well Academy is for learning so that makes sense! So, you’ve touched some on this as well, but what do you feel like you are currently trying to develop yourself specifically? You are a veteran, you have your habits, your muscle memory. Are you trying to break that? What’s the goal for this Split, this year?





Well I touched on it a little bit, trying to work on having a good relationship with everyone I’m working with, even when we disagree. Being a more patient person. I’d like to be able to sort of try and separate emotion from the game the best way I can because there will be some things in the game that just feels bad. Like I remember for a while, I was always so set on junglers should get blue buff in solo queue. And I noticed one time that I actually felt a feeling in my chest when I saw my mid laner coming to take blue. Like, “Ahh man this asshole.” When in reality it’s like…. What? Why would I think that? The mid laner is probably used to getting blue buffs. He’s not doing anything wrong, he understands why it’s good for his lane. So things like that I just try to reflect on.





And I’m always trying to rethink my perspective on the game - find another angle to look at a situation. Especially when it comes to tracking the jungler, how I want to play, how I want to move around, how I want to work as a team. So I definitely realize that there’s a lot about the game that is yet to be understood. And I think that’s a part of what’s kept me so interested in it. Knowing that there is no ceiling in sight. Like I can always get better mechanics, I can always get better knowledge of the game. I just find new, better ways to think about stuff. So yeah I’m just trying to grow.









Photo via Riot Games





Okay lastly, you’ve been verbal about how every offseason they always change jungle. The only change is the small nerf earlier this season and early objectives have higher priority. So are you just happy they haven’t changed it too much? What is your perspective on the jungle changes?





I actually don’t mind the change to jungle every year. I think it’s kind of interesting. But it’s one of those issues where… When people hear about changing the jungle, a lot of people have mixed feelings about it ‘cause some of the changes Riot has done are just awful, right? So like, I don’t want the game to get changed in a bad way, but there’s always room for the game to get better. It sounds simple I guess, but I like change as long as it’s making the game more fun. As long as it’s not boring. That kind of thing. So I think if they keep the jungle the same for too long, it gets kind of repetitive. But I think there’s a lot of ways they can make the jungle better. As it stands right now, I’m okay with it. I don’t love it, I don’t hate it.





A couple of changes I wish they would make are… I think delaying the spawn on the scuttle crabs could make a lot sense, like make them spawn at five minutes or something. Because for a while now, since the crab change, it’s been the case of junglers getting red buff and level two ganking and there’s no punish for it. They just go to the crab afterward, the lane they just ganked for will always be able to go with them to the crab, so the other jungler can’t contest it. In the past, level two ganks weren’t that good because you’d go for a level two gank, then the jungler who did three camps would be level three. Then he could go to your next camp and a level two vs level three fight is not going to be close, right? So I kind of wish they moved back in that direction of junglers just being incentivized to clear their jungle.





I feel like that’s always when the game has been at its healthiest, when the way that junglers path against one another is kind of like one of the cerebral things of the game and you can find edges that way. It’s also just less of a burden on the laners because they aren’t getting ganked 24/7 by a Xin Zhao. I had a game yesterday where I just did not leave their bot lane for 10 minutes, just non stop ganking. The fact that that’s a real strategy, I feel like is just lame gameplay. For the enemy jungler, for the enemy bot lane. Like what do you do? The game is just donezo.





And then I guess one of the other things, I really miss the conservation mechanic from Season Four. I think right now jungle is just really feast or famine because of how it works. They’ve hit catch up exp, they’ve hit overall exp, the amount of gold you get from camps, even just the speed at which you can kill your camps. Most of the time your solo laners will just kill jungle camps faster than the jungler. To me, I don’t get that. Like what the hell? Back in the day we used to have spirit stones where junglers were actually the ones who killed the jungle camps faster.









Photo via Riot Games





So I could go on for… Forever. Basically I feel like if they brought back some sort of conservation mechanic that capped or made a more normal range for junglers. You can never be that ahead, you can never be that behind. It would be better, because right now, in competitive it feels like you are actually playing on welfare. You get like your warrior and then maybe you edge out a GA by 30 minutes when the carries already have four items. There’s just no way for you to acquire gold. You have to be at certain spots at certain times, you can’t just full clear like solo queue. But then you get the cases where in solo queue you are just clearing all the time and you’re just so strong. So I think there is a way to make it where you can meet in the middle.





I think the game is always best when you have to balance ganking and farming. If you do too much of one, you’re gonna fall behind, like there will be diminishing returns. I thought conservation was the best for that. Maybe they can bring something like that back. But yeah, I think that’s probably the biggest things that I’d like.





Thanks! Any last words before we head off?





Yeah, just, thanks to the fans.