When Cloud9 announced that the team would start Academy mid laner Greyson “Goldenglue” Gilmer, AD carry Yuri “Keith” Jew, and support Tristan “Zeyzal” Stidam over Nicolaj “Jensen” Jensen, Zachary “Sneaky” Scuderi, and support Andy “Smoothie” Ta, shock rippled throughout the North American League of Legends Championship Series community. Jensen has been a standout mid laner for years. Sneaky has been on the team since its first NA LCS iteration. And Smoothie had frequently been credited as the team’s shotcaller and in-game leader. Following the roster shift and Week 1 of the 2018 NA LCS Summer split, C9 is 1-1. Founder and CEO Jack Etienne was upfront about motivation issues that had apparently precipitated the roster shift.

The other side of this story is that of a mid laner who has bounced back and forth from short stints starting in the NA LCS before returning to Academy teams. After Cloud9’s first match of Week 1, Goldenglue talked about his unlikely starting position, the recent meta changes, and what he hopes to show as a player in the LCS.

How tough was it to prepare for this meta on 8.11?

For the meta, I actually don’t think it’s been that tough for me. I tend to adapt pretty fast, I think that’s one of my strengths as a player. Basically it’s been pretty fun, and when I’m having fun it’s easy to practice so it’s been nice.

You’ve been bounced back and forth between Academy, or Challenger, and starting in the LCS. You received the start for Cloud9 this week, how did you feel when you learned that you were getting the start?

To be honest, I wasn’t expecting it at all. It came as a shock to me. But as soon as I got the opportunity, I seized it as much as I could. I’m really grateful for the opportunity and I’m trying to make the most out of it. I’ve had lots of great opportunities in the past, so I know what it’s like when you mess up a good opportunity so I’m really trying to not let that happen this time.

You said it came as a surprise, were you still scrimming with the Academy team at the time, or the main team?

I did some scrims before I was told that I was a starter. I did a couple of scrim blocks before, and then they told me I was going to start for the first week, and I think that was about a week and a half ago? It’s been less than two weeks I think? I’m pretty happy with how we did considering we probably had the least amount of practice as a team.

Why do you think you received the start for Week 1?

I think I received the start because . . . honestly you’d probably have to ask Reapered. I’m trying not to think about it, I’m just trying to play my best. The coaches and staff thought that I was performing well in scrims and they gave me a shot so hopefully I can live up to their expectations.

With so many off-meta picks in the bottom lane, have you given any AD carries any advice on how to play mages bot?

I would say, okay, just play something you’re good at. So many times people try all this new stuff, and I find it way better that if you’re going to play something random bottom, just be good at the champions, because a lot of people are just trying to play these fun champs and they’ve never played them before. That’s the biggest problem. You can play a lot of stuff bot lane, but you need to be good enough to pull it off. Yeah, just be good at the champion and you’ll be able to play it bot lane.

Talking to a lot of other players and coaches, one thing they do say is that because so many champions are viable, it can be overwhelming for players and teams. Would you agree with that?

It’s a little overwhelming. I kind of love it because it gives a lot of personality to players, I think. You can see their play style. You’re more free to be like, “Oh, I like this champion, and hey it’s viable, I just have to be good at it.” Right? So I think each team is going to find, and even each player, is going to find their own different play styles. There’s going to be a lot more variety than in the past. It’s going to be fun to watch these different play styles play against each other.

Do you think this meta is more about playing for you and your team, or moving to counter what your opponents are doing?

For the most part, I think having synergy with your team is the most important thing. I don’t feel like there’s super hard counterpicks in game, it’s more that most matchups are playable but skill-oriented. So definitely having good synergy and a good comp matters more than countering your opponent.

What is your goal for this split as a player?

My ambitious goal is to win Worlds but that’s pretty far out. (laughs) I really want to make far into playoffs. I don’t have the ability to know that I’m going to play every single game of the split. It’s still up in the air. So I’m just taking it day by day and trying to perform my best every single day. I hope I’ll keep doing that and we’ll see where I end up by the end of the split.

Snapshots from NA LCS is a series of Q&A interviews with players in the North American League of Legends Championship Series.