Interviewed by: manisier

Written and Transcribed by: manisier, Jish

It's been two years since we've seen Chiefs on the world stage, but they're finally back and ready to show the world what Oceania is made of. Last time they were at the International Wild Card Invitational, it was under the Team Immunity banner, where they fell 0-2 to eventual champions GamingGear.eu. Their next international campaign was at World Cyber Games 2013, where Korea's CJ Entus Blaze and Hong Kong's Energy Pacemaker.HK forced them home.



Since then, Chiefs have had a lot of time to work on their identity as a team and develop a playstyle unique to them. Coming off a 3-0 victory over Dire Wolves in the inaugural split of the Oceanic Pro League, Chiefs are coming in hot, and are aiming to bring the rest of the world's wildcard regions under their dominion. I managed to catch them on a wet Friday morning in the Riot Oceania office for a few words.

Chiefs eSports Club are:



Top: Brandon 'Swip3rR' Holland

Jungle: Samuel 'Spookz' Broadley

Mid: Simon 'Swiffer' Papamarkos

AD: Derek 'Raydere' Trang

Support: Andrew 'Rosey' Rose



Coach: Josh 'Elbion' Tuffs

Manager: Amy 'Sigils' Lau

Owner: Frank 'Sangy' Li

Hi guys! How does it feel to finally be back on top - with a 3-0 as well - after a whole year of falling out of playoffs?

Swiffer: Relieved. For me, at least, if we didn’t win this, I wasn’t sure if we were every going to be able to perform in the OPL to the level we had played in the split. So it was really good to see that our results in the split were carried through.

So, in a sense, this was sort of the push you needed to keep going.

Spookz: Yeah, I definitely think it was. I don’t know what would have happened if we didn't win this game, but I think to all of us, this tournament was really...

Swiffer: ...make or break.

Most international fans will recognise Raydere as the star player of the team - can you shed a little light on what he's like as a teammate?

Sangy: Derek is all business. For him, League is a way to do things properly. That’s the way he approaches all things in life. Playing poker, studying law - this is right, this is wrong. That’s his kind of mentality when it comes to playing games as well. So that’s kind of why he has the ability to grow and develop as a player than other players in the region.

Raydere, would you say methodology is very important to you? Good process means good results - that kind of stuff?

Raydere: Yes. I take things very seriously - that's the kind of idea.

Spookz: The rest of us - we play for fun, but for Derek, it’s more of a job. We all mess around and stuff, and you can tell he’s not enjoying it as much as we are (Swiffer: He's not enjoying our messing around!). If I had to describe Raydere, I would say he's determined and serious, and obviously very good at video games.

Most people look at Chiefs and they think Raydere, and they pass over Swiffer in the process, but I'd say he's just as important to the team as Raydere is. How does he differ as a core player compared to Raydere?

Spookz: When Simon’s playing well and on the ball, as a team, we just come together and mesh. He’s the centre of the team - if he’s not communicating and playing well, we don’t play well as a team. If Simon's communicating and playing well, we play amazing as a team. So, I'd say Simon is very momentum-based, but when he’s switched on, we come together as a team.

So it sounds to me like he's a little more 'wild' than Raydere.

Sangy: It's more like he's the carry in more sense than one. In-game, but then also with team mentality, attitude, morale - it's really dependent on Simon. A lot of the guys look up to him: they'll ask things like "what do I pick?".

Spookz: Simon definitely has a huge edge over other players in terms of his game knowledge. If Brandon has a question, he'll go to Simon. He follows the Asian leagues religiously, so he'll know all this extra information on lane matchups, playstyles - stuff like that.

One thing that stands out about Rosey is his tendency to go with off-meta picks. Why do you guys allow him a little more freedom with his picks compared to other teams?

Spookz: With Andrew, it feels like he's never happy with whatever he's playing. He's like "I've got to create something innovative". He feels his own pressure to bring something forward. A lot of the times we just say "we really need Janna here", and obviously he doesn't want to play Janna, but he'll do it for the team. If we do find an off-meta support pick and we feel like it could work, we don't mind playing it competitively.

Rosey: In autumn last year, I picked up Zilean when no one had really picked him up yet. We found out something really cheesy with Zilean - I guess we can say it now since it doesn't really matter - Sam would run one experience quint so he could get to Level 3 just doing two buffs. No one would expect him to gank so early.

Spookz: He seems to find all these little tricks that we can bring into the game. It's good to not be one-dimensional, you know?

The next step for you guys is IWCI. Your last international outing was WCG - is that experience going to help you guys in any way?

Swiffer: It was so long ago and we were a newly forged team back then. I don’t think we had an identity yet, or a playstyle. We kind of just tried to win lanes and then win the game. And obviously that’s incredibly difficult to do against teams like Blaze. I remember when Brandon was laning against Flame, he was like "hey guys, I'm not doing badly!". And then he had to base every second wave.

Swip3rR: I didn't die!

Swiffer: Playing against international teams helped us to create our identity, but we've changed so much since then. I'm not sure how helpful it would be to credit our upcoming performance to WCG.

Still much uncharted territory, then. What are your feelings about playing internationally? Are you pumped? Are you scared? Nervous?

Spookz: Excited!

Swiffer: Yeah, pretty excited because we’re going to win!

Swip3rR: Especially because we’re not getting to play in front of big crowds any more. Going in and playing in a Turkish stadium - it’s going to be awesome.

Are you keen to try Turkish food?

Sangy: Simon's basically Turkish.

Swiffer: I'm pretty much a refugee. I'm not too familiar with the historical background of my ancestors, but I'm happy to go back to my home city of Constantinople.

Istanbul.

Swiffer (glaring): Shh...yeah, I'm keen to try the cuisine.

Okay, let's do the cute Asian thing where you guys introduce yourself to foreign fans.

Spookz: Are we being bogan?

Play it up. You know like in the OGN interviews where they have Faker up on stage?

Spookz: G'day guys! I'm Samuel 'Spookz' Broadley. We're really excited to play overseas. I hope you can follow our games and we'll try to play well.

Rosey: Hi guys, we're the Chiefs and we'll be representing Oceania at Wild Card. Hopefully we can put on some really good games.

Swiffer: Hi guys, I'm Simon 'Swiffer' Papamarkos. We'll be the Oceanic representatives for Wild Card. Follow us and we'll make sure you don't regret it!

Swip3rR: I'm the boss. Follow us!

Raydere: Hi, I'm Derek 'Raydere' Trang, and we'll show the world what Oceania is made of.

Interviewed by: thejuju

Written and Transcribed by: thejuju

Last week I went to the Logitech office to talk with the first place Japanese team Detonation FocusMe who is representing the LJL at the IWCI this week. I sat down with Bonzin (Top), Astatore (Jungle), Ceros (Mid), KazuXD (Support/Analyst), and LGraN (manager). Despite their busy schedule in America preparing for the debut of Japan on the international stage, they still managed to find the time to talk about their preparation, experiences in their bootcamp, and about Japanese esports.

DetonatioN FocusMe are:



Top: Keisuke 'Bonzin' Oda

Jungle: Yuta 'Astatore' Hiratsuka

Mid: Kyohei 'Ceros' Yoshida

AD: Yuta 'Yutapon' Sugiura

Support: Kazuta 'KazuXD' Suzuki



Analyst: Kazuta 'KazuXD' Suzuki

Manager: Nobuyuki 'LGraN' Umezaki

How has your bootcamp been so far?

LGraN: Well, there is definitely a higher ping from Japan to the North American servers, and even though we’ve been practicing on the Tournament Realm recently, there’s still an issue with ping. When we compete in IWCI, the ping will very likely be in single digits, so we’re glad that we’ve come to America to get accustomed to that kind of environment. Right now we get a ping of around 23. Also, being able to scrim every day with more famous teams that we know are stronger than us has given us a wealth of experience.

Ceros: We’ve definitely learned plenty from practicing with teams that are stronger than us.

You travelled from Japan all the way to America, and next you have to travel to Istanbul. Are you nervous at all?

KazuXD: With only four to five days left before the event, I feel as if we should be getting nervous right around now. However, we’ve gained a lot of confidence in our bootcamp, and we’ll take that confidence forward.



LGraN: I’m more nervous about the plane ride. (Laughter) I don’t like planes.

At your bootcamp you've been able to scrim with famous teams from the NA LCS. If you were competing in NA, how do you feel you would do?

LGraN: We can definitely be competitive in the Challenger League, below the LCS level.

Then, what if you entered LCS?

Ceros: LCS would be a bit difficult for us right now.



LGraN: We could compete at the LCS level in about a half a year, if of course we stayed in America, but right now the Challenger League is about our level.

How do you feel your chances are at IWCI?

KazuXD: From what I know, the other teams really have only been able to practice within their own server. At our bootcamp we’ve been able to get good practice with teams on the North American server, so that gives us a decent chance of winning.

Internationally, your most famous player is Yutapon. However, he isn't here at the bootcamp right now. How do you guys feel about this as a team?

LGraN: To be honest, I would have preferred it if we had a full five man team here, because then we could improve our teamwork and fix up any synergy issues, but as long as he has his schoolwork its something that we can’t help. However, even with this handicap he has both the potential and actual ability to overcome it, and I don’t think the team has any issues with this.

Yutapon can be compared to an opponent you face, Raydere from the Chiefs e-sports Club in Oceania. How do you feel about this comparison?

KazuXD: Since we’ve never played them, we can’t say much. However, even though we’re paying attention to Raydere, we aren’t actively looking at any of the IWCI teams in particular and targeting them.



LGraN: By the way, Yutapon’s talent, well his sense I guess, reminds me a lot of OMG’s Uzi. He is very similar both in playstyle and in personality.

Ceros, you've been called the "Faker of Japan". How do you feel about this comparison?

Ceros: Although I am happy that I’ve been given the title of “Faker” in my home country, I feel that I have a far way to go before I can match with my namesake.

What would you say your style in the mid lane is?

Ceros: I look to completely dominate my opponent in every stage of the game.

How is it like being the captain? Do you feel any pressure?

Ceros: There’s not really much pressure. Most of it is just dealing with the media. (Laughter) However, in a game we all focus on doing our part in the team, so there’s no pressure there.

Astatore, you were called the "Most improved Player in LJL". What do you feel has been the biggest factor in that?

Astatore: I can definitely feel myself growing as a player. However, I want more time so that I can become a much better player.

Since the 5.5 Patch, Tank Junglers with Cinderhulk have become much stronger. How do you feel about this?

Astatore: Cinderhulk is very strong right now. I feel that I need to be able to play whatever is good in the meta.

So do you prefer the tanky junglers or the more earlygame junglers?

Astatore: Well, I don’t hate the tank junglers. However, I did like the junglers that allowed you to be more aggressive. If I had to pick one, I prefer the latter. (laughter)

Bonzin, I've heard that you've actually lived in America for four years. Why exactly did this occur?

Bonzin: I actually had to come to America because of my family’s work. So me and my family all moved to America for a period of time.

What do you feel your role on the team is?

Bonzin: Since we have such strong players in mid and bot lane, my primary role is to just become tanky for the team, and to give our strong players in mid and bot more ability to carry games.

Flandre from the Chinese team Snake has popularized using teleport and smite on toplaners with champions such as Shyvana and Hecarim? How do you feel about this strategy?

Bonzin: I think it is a very strong strategy, and I we are trying to incorporate it into this strategy.>

Have you been practicing this strategy?

Bonzin: I think everyone has been practicing it.

Kazu, you're both the support and the analyst of the team. How have you been able to balance both roles?

KazuXD: Whenever I’m in a scrim or in a game, I focus on my play. Although I have taken on most of the role of analysis, I’ve been able to divide my focus equally on being a player and watching VODs as an analyst.

Do you have anything special picks planned for IWCI?

KazuXD: I think every team has these kind of picks. We have some picks planned for IWCI.

You've been watching all the other IWCI teams. How do you feel DetonatioN stacks up in comparison to other teams?

KazuXD: So far in our stay at our bootcamp, from talking with some of the teams and managers that we had to face in America, individually we don’t seem that strong, even though we’ve only been able to scrim a few times. However, from all the other IWCI teams from the seven regions, I feel that there isn’t anyone particularly stronger than us.

LGraN, what do you feel your role on the team is?

LGraN: Although I also am the CEO of the organization, for the first Japanese professional team, I do things like get each player their salary, move them into a gaming house, and getting the team practice partners, and dealing with the team environment. Also, the players are still in their 10s and early 20s, so they are still very mentally fragile. I’ve been working hard at fixing any emotional issues in the team and motivating the players.

Both FocusMe and RabbitFive, which are both DetonatioN teams, have been the top Japanese teams this year. Why do you feel this organization has been so successful?

LGraN: Well, DetonatioN as a team started from other video games, so from our accomplishments as a multi-gaming team, we’ve been able to get sponsors and fans, and as a result we’ve attracted strong players. It’s all these things coming together that I feel have created this very strong team.

Do you guys feel any pressure?

Ceros: We don’t really feel so much pressure.

Even though this is the first time a Japanese team has made an appearance at an International tournament?

Ceros: Yes. However, we want to show everyone the strength of Japan, and we want to win for our country’s pride.

Assuming that you guys remain the best in LJL, what are your goals for the rest of the year?

KazuXD: We really want to appear in the Season 5 World Championships as a Wildcard representative.

Do you have any words for your international fans?

Bonzin: We don’t feel that the world really knows about us, so we want to show the rest of the world what we are capable of.



KazuXD: This is going to be the first Riot event that a Japanese team is part of, and hopefully in the future there will be more events where Japanese teams will attend. To be honest we weren’t thinking much about international fans. Well, we want to gain more fans and show the world the “Japanese style” (laughter) of League of Legends.



LGraN: Well, to all of our fans and everyone else, we feel that not a lot of people know about Japanese teams, but we have players like Yutapon on ADC and Ceros in the midlane who we can show to the rest of the world, so we want everyone to look forward to exciting plays at IWCI.

Interviewed by: oo_Wonderful_oo

Written and Transcribed by: oo_Wonderful_oo

League of Legends might not be most popular game in the CIS region, but it doesn't prevent teams and players from competing on a high level level. After a hard-fought SLTV Spring Split 2015, the manager of championship team Hard Random, Alexey "Madneps" Kholin, agreed to answer few questions during the team's bootcamp in Istanbul before IWCI 2015. This tournament might prove to be a chance for CIS to avenge itself for last year.

Hard Random are:



Top: Dmitriy 'Smurf' Ivanov

Jungle: Aleksey 'Symphony' Tyunin

Mid: Mykhailo 'Kira' Harmash

AD: Alexei 'LeX' Kitsak

Support: Dmitrii "Dimonko" Korovushkin



Analyst: Igors 'ATRemains' Radkevič

Manager: Alexey "Madneps" Kholin

Owner: Yuri Markov

HR is a pretty famous team in CIS LoL community, but for sure, it doesn't have M5/ Gambit's level of fame in the Western community. Tell us a little bit about the team.

Oh, so Hard Random project was created as a tournament and news platform, but soon we realised that competitive LoL is very interesting to us. We quickly signed Good Team Multigaming [interviewer's note: The team that lost to GG.eu in the CIS qualifier for Wildcard 2013] and won SLTV Season II shortly after. After that the roster left the team, but the guys from Carpe Diem contacted us, so we signed them instead. After a few roster swaps we got to the current line-up. Some of our notable achievements include 3rd at EPS Pro Series CIS Season 2, 2nd at SLTV Season III, 2nd again at Riot Russia Candidates 2014, and finally first at the latest tournament, SLTV Season V.

Cool. Let's talk about Starladder for a bit. You started very poorly, going 1-4 after the first two weeks. Did you have confidence that team is going to make it?

We kind of expected that to happen, because the new roster didn't have enough time to play together, so it was perfectly fine.

Wow, it seems better than some CIS DotA teams. What was your objective for season?

First or nothing! *laughs*

That's the spirit. On LAN finals, HR were pretty much undisputed #1, beating team after team, dropping only one game. Even the regular season winners, M5, were stomped into ground. What happened?

Shoutout to our analyst, ATRemains. He played a big role in our victory, despite being unable to come to the LAN itself. Other teams just weren't ready, so Kira, Smurf, and Symphony are now two time Starladder champions, as well as HR as organisation.

As far as I know, he's pretty much your only coaching staff member. Don't you wanna expand staff or even get some known names, like Glacial Phoenix did with YamatoCannon, who's now Roccat's coach?

Oh, no, we don't have such plans for the organisation. But if Roccat is going to play like GlacialPhoenix, then they're going to be relegated from LCS probably. *laughs*

Ouch. Let's speak about the International Wildcard now. Despite GG.eu getting to Worlds in 2013, in 2014 Russian Force got wrecked, partly because of visa issues (Interview note: the current HR analyst was the top laner of Russian Force, which used Darker as midlane sub). What do you think about team's chances in qualifying to MSI?

We think that the Turkish, Australian, and Brazilian teams are the favourites, but it'shard to really predict all the results exactly. We're preparing as hard as we can but the tournament itself will show how prepared were we.

Yeah, that seems to be a pretty common opinion in community. How are you enjoying your bootcamp in Istanbul?

Props to Riot Games, conditions are perfect to train, really big thanks.

Pretty sure that every CIS player at some point dreamed about playing in the vintage M5/Gambit roster. Have you ever thought about trying to qualify for the EU Challenger Series with potential LCS promotion? Especially in the current climate where EU as whole appears to be weaker in comparison to other regions.

I mean, of course, such desire exists but Riot rules prevent CIS-based organisations from joining, so sadly, we're restricted in that case. (Interview note: You either need to have 3/5 EU players or an European organisation to join LCS/CS) Plus we don't have enough funding for further development and to stabilize players' salaries.

One day you're going to make it. #believe. Any shoutouts?

Big shoutout to Hard Random organisation, especially to owner Yuri Markov. You can find any streams/social networks accounts on http://hardrandom.com/crews/lol. Cheer for us, we will try our best.

All right, good luck this week!