Written by Aprilkoala, Gypsophila1123







From player to coach, from the center of the spotlight to the hidden figure, things changed dramatically but his passion for esports has never changed. He used to be the idol for all ADC around the world, and now he is the coach of WE--He is Xuecheng'Weixiao'Gao.



As a legendary player in the history of league of legends, he is also keeping an eye on 2018 World Championship. After Play-in Group, We have a chance to talk to him and hear his comments and analysis from the coach’s aspect.

Q: EDG upset by INF on the last day of the Play-in Groups. Many fans think it’s a repeat of the match against SKT, which also had a huge lead and reversed by the opponents with last one/two team fights. How do you think about this? Do you think the issue is crucial?





In my opinion, the problem of EDG is that they didn’t make use of their composition well. At that moment, they should insist 4-1 strategy which fed Fiora split-pushed and Galio stayed in mid lane for supporting. Even though there is 7K gold lead, they played badly in team fights. INF knew they have to find opportunities in the unfavorable situation, so they played collectedly. After winning one teamfight and taking Baron, the gold difference closed to 2k. Besides, the hidden value of Baron buff was equal to items of 3k~5k gold. What made it worse is that EDG was aced at that baron teamfight and After that, INF forced to engage the last teamfight in their own inhibitor and got another ace. Actually, the macro play of EDG in the early game was not bad, but after losing a teamfight in the mid which result in losing Baron, they couldn’t keep split-pushing anymore. It’s would be much better If they were back out of that teamfight and chose to split push.

Q: Can you make brief analysis for the meta of World Championship?

Mid and Jungle become more important in the Worlds meta. There will be more teamfights and the tempo would be very fast, which is a benefit for our LPL teams. Korean teams focus on macro play more, so this meta is not very friendly to them—A teamfight would make up all the gold deficit sometimes. Moreover, it depends more on the individual ability of players in the current meta.

Q: Can you recommend meta champions? Beside Vayne, do you think which champions will become hot picks?

For ADC, Vayne won’t be a very popular pick now. Only the one who really loves this champion would pick her. Kai’sa would be the hottest pick; Besides, champions with late game clean-up, such as Kai’sa, Xayah and Tristana, are all applicable. They are all very strong, and the priority of these three champions differ from summoners. However, few people would pick Ezreal because he needs to stall out, kind of obsolete; Furthermore, there are too many strong picks available.

As for the other lanes, I think Jax and Poppy will be popular in top lane.

Q: DFM’s mid-laner Ceros is known for Heimerdinger, and perma-banned in the play-in groups. How do you think of this champion?

I met Heimerdinger (at bottom lane)when I played ranks. He is a tricky champ to lane against. He has Evolution Turret which can push hardly. If you’re back out of fights, he would keep putting pressure on you; If you take the fights, you would lose. The only way to handle this champ is to call your teammates (Mid and Jungle) for help. It’s hard to play against him with any help. Moreover, you must play very well and need to find his mistakes and punish it. Commonly, you get punished while playing against Heimerdinger.

Q: In the Play-in Groups, do you think the performance of teams from main regions meets your expectation?

I think their performances are all on par, not big upset happened. For the wildcard, teams from Japan and Brazil played quite well; for the main regions, EDG, C9, G2 and GRX seems pretty relaxed, no much pressure on them. I think these four teams would qualify to the group stage.

Q: Now the Knockouts draw is over, do you think which matchup is fiercest? Will G2 and EDG get a free win over their rivals?

I think the closest matchup is G2 vs INF. Their play style is similar to each other, the winner would be the one who has better in-game performance. Although INF got 0-2 at the beginning of Play-in Groups, I think their form was back as the tournament went on; The individual skills of INF players are decent too. So I think G2 vs INF is kind of fiercer than other matchups, However, G2 is my favor of this series. With regards to EDG, I don’t think they will have any problems.

Q: Last year, WE started their Worlds journey from the Play-in stage, and reached to semi-finals. Do you agree with that starting from the Play-in will help the team build their form better?

For those kinds of international tournaments, I think it’s better to play more games since it will help the team get into good form. For instance, your group draw is not optimistic, if you could get out from a competitive group, you would be more likely to get a better result later. That’s only my opinion, I believe that more games you played, better form you would have.

Q: International tournaments and domestic league are quite different, lots of teams played really bad due to psychological barriers. As a player who always played well in the international tournaments, can you give some advice for players of this Worlds?

International tournaments and domestic league are not the same for sure. However, playing in Korea is not that bad cause there’s only one hour difference which is negligible. It’s not easy to keep yourself in a great form if you play in America with huge time differences. Most of the players can’t handle jet lad well. But this time Worlds’ held in Korea would be better for us.

Besides jet lag, the mindset is the key. In the international stage, some players will be nervous and some players won’t. It really differs. If you think too much, you definitely would be nervous. In order to have a superb form, the best way to handle it is to keep yourself clear-headed. Don’t keep thinking “I’m playing an important game and lots of audiences are watching me”. When I was playing, the only thing I would focus on is my screen; Sometimes, I even forgot I was playing on the stage.

Q: RNG is heavily favored in this World Championship by fans worldwide, do you think the pressure coming from all the expectations is too high for them?

Actually, I favor RNG this year too. I really hope they will lift the trophy and get a Grand Slam. I hope Uzi can win the Worlds. To be honest, Everything goes well with RNG. not only because the meta is friendly to them but also they have an edge in experience. Heavy pressure would do affect players, but I trust RNG can overcome it.

I just hope they will be in a good shape, enjoying the tournaments without thinking too much cause overthinking would make the in-game plays become weird. Clear your mind, relax, and treat every game seriously.



