

On the 20th of August (PDT), in the second quarterfinals of the NA LCS playoffs, ‘Counter Logic Gaming' defeated Team EnVyUs 3-2 after a close series.

Omar "OmarGod" Amin, started out with CLG's Challenger team, but he climbed his way up to being a substitute jungler of CLG in NA LCS and eventually replaced Dardoch as the starting member when Dardoch left for Team Liquid.

As one of few newer players in the NA LCS, the fans were divided on their evaluation of the new jungler, but with today's victory against Team EnVyUs in the quarterfinals, it looks like CLG's newest kid on the block seems to be more than ready to take on the strongest of NA LCS.



Here is our interview with Omar "OmarGod" Amin.



Congratulations on defeating Team EnVyUs. How do you feel about today's match?

I'm not really too happy about the way we drafted today. I think we should've adapted a lot better in the draft and in-game. I don't think we should've lost Game 2 and 3, because we knew what was coming, but just messed up in the draft phase. But, I'm really happy with how we adapted and fixed our issues in the remaining games and pulled off a win.



The match was really difficult up until Game 3. Why do you think that was the case?

EnVy had a really strong and solid early game strategy to shut down my jungling by picking faster and more pressure-inducing junglers; while we played slower and tanky jungler. It made me lose a lot of tempo and he was able to pressure a lot more than I can in all three lanes. Our team composition needed at least 40 minutes or even 50 minutes to scale up and start winning. So, every single game we couldn't make any play in the early game but had to wait until 40 minutes. We were finally able to win after that point and out-rotate them.



Wasn't it difficult to pull yourself together in the match when you were falling behind?

Mentally, I handled it really well - I had to recall at level 1, and start clearing Raptors at 2:30. I told my teammate that it's okay and all I have to do is farm and catch up. I reassured my team, and my team reassured me back. Everyone was watching each other's back, so I was able to catch up.



Why didn't you pick up Zac from Game 3 and onwards?

EnVy is a team that punishes Zac really strong, as he is the worst jungler in terms of the early game. He is so weak in the early game that even Soraka can beat him. We didn't want our early game to be tragically one-sided, we wanted a scaling jungler, but Zac has too many weaknesses that EnVy could exploit.







Huhi picked Vel'Koz today. Can you tell us why he decided to play with such an unusual pick?

We have played him previously in the regular season. Many bans were focused on midlaners, with EnVy banning 5 midlaners. When they picked Cassiopeia, the only midlaner left that could farm effectively against Cassiopeia was Vel'Koz.

We had other options, but we thought it would be for the best for the team composition.



When you pick champions, do you listen to your coach's opinions more or player's opinions more?

It goes hand-in-hand. If I had to put them in numbers, players have about 60% say while coaches have 20 to 40%. It's well-balanced in my opinion.



Who do you think was the best player of the match?

That's a really good question. (Laughs) It's hard to say. Darshan carried a game, Huhi carried a game, and everyone performed well in the match overall, actually. [Why won't you choose yourself?] EnVy's strategy was to destroy me in the early game, so I didn't get to do a lot of work today, so I hope that I'd do more when playing against Immortals.



Who was the most difficult player to play against?

Their support, Hakuho, played Thresh, and he was a huge problem for us. He carried Game 2 and 3 by himself with well-placed hooks that got me one-shotted. He was also the reason why Game 4 and 5 was hard because he had good hooks with Nautilus. I'll say that he was the MVP for EnVyUs, and I was so glad when his Thresh was banned. (Laughs) I respect him a lot.



Wasn't it difficult for you to play as a team because you joined the team in the middle of the split?

I didn't have a lot of time to practice, so my synergy with the team and myself as a player have a lot to improve on. If I started the split with CLG and worked really hard, we would be really stronger than now. However, I didn't get too much practice until recently because I was splitting time with Dardoch. Now, I finally had about 3 full weeks of practice so I'm building up synergy. Although we didn't get to show how strong we really are, I think we'll do that when we go up against Immortals and show how much better we've become as a team.





Do you still have more that you want to show to your team?

I still have a lot more that I want to show. Right now, the metagame is not my favorite - it's all tanks, and I've only played carries for the last three years. So, once the meta shifts back, I can finally start to carry the game by myself.



So you prefer to play with carry junglers?

Of course. Graves, Lee Sin, Kha'Zix - Aggressive junglers. They are not good in the metagame right now though.



What are your favorite champions then?

Nidalee, Lee Sin, and Rammus.



Why Rammus?

He's so funny. (Laughs) When Huhi picks Taliyah, I ask him if he wants to "Rock and Roll". (Laughs more) He just says "OK." when gets picked, and more seriously, many people really underestimate him when he is actually pretty strong.



Your Baron steal was certainly spectacular. Did you expect to get it?

It's always hard to steal Baron. When I got it, there wasn't much reaction other than saying "I got it", "We got Baron?", "Yeah", "Nice." (Laughs) I mean, we were still in-game and had to stay focused, so we can't get excited too much. After the game, we were like "YOOO NICE BARON STEAL" but during the game, we were pretty calm.



Can you hear in the booth how the fans are chanting "CLG! CLG!"?

I can't hear them due to the noiseproofing. It might also be because I'm focused too much on the game.



You'll be facing Xmithie from Immortals in the next match. What is your opinion of him?

I think he is really a smart player. Players rate him as the best jungler in the NA LCS, and I agree with them. He single-handedly brought Immortals from 8th to 2nd place, and he is also the shotcaller. Last Split, I watched him play scrims and matches while he was at CLG, and I could tell how smart and creative he is as a jungler.

I think that's most dangerous type of jungler - creative junglers. He will do strange things that work but no one expects. Being unpredictable and making best decisions are his biggest strength.

Still, I feel confident and a lot better going against Immortals because EnVy's plan was to shut me down completely. I hope Immortals don't do that in the first place (Laughs) but we'll have a way to counteract that even if they do that.

If I get a chance to play a 'normal' game with well-balanced drafts, I'll be able to carry the match.



As a player, who do you look up to most among other players?

I looked up to Bengi during his SKT career while he was at his peak. He wasn't the player to mechanically show off, but he was the smartest jungler in the league, made the best decisions to make sure that every lane is safe and made other players shine. He was the cornerstone of their success and super-consistent. Just as he did I want to make everyone in my team look good.



How will you defeat the remaining teams to get to the World Championship?

The biggest concern is ourselves. If we play as a team and watch out for each other, we'll win every single game. Our biggest issue is our drafting phase because every game we have a solid draft we win. I want to make optimal picks and really play as a team going forward.





Okay then, time for fun questions: What does OmarGod mean?

Omar is my name, and you know how people say "Oh my God?" [Ohhhhh-] Yeah, that's why.



Now that you've won today's match, what are you having for dinner?

Well, I'm not a picky eater. (Laughs) I'm hungry, so I could eat anything.



What did you want to be when you were a child?

When I was really young, I wanted to be an engineer like my dad. But I wanted to become a pro player after playing games and specifically League of Legends which became a serious life goal from last year.