While other NA LCS teams spent fortunes importing players from around the globe, Golden Guardians decided to pick up an all-NA roster brimming with potential.

With relegation gone, they could build for the future but that meant sacrificing early results. However, Samson 'Lourlo' Jackson and the rest of the team never let their heads drop and their hard work is beginning to pay off.

They now have two wins under their belt with the latter being a massive upset against Lourlo's former side, Team Liquid. The top-laner could barely contain his excitement after the win, leaping out of his chair to hug his teammates.

Golden Guardians invested in potential, it took a little while but they've finally picking up wins

Speaking on stage, he described it as one of the best days of his life. While his situation has changed, his attitude has remained. He says he's still as motivated as ever: 'Going into the TL game, it was pretty nerve-wracking for me because I wanted to prove I could do better than my replacement. Beating them was a really big accomplishment and a huge sigh of relief.

'When I was on Liquid, the pressure for success was always extremely high. Now with Golden Guardians, there's not as much pressure from the outside community but I'm trying to put that same amount of pressure on myself to make sure I stay at the level that I want to be at, I have to be mature and work hard otherwise I'll become lazy.'

It's that drive and passion that has gotten Lourlo to this point. He had no problem breaking into the LCS but he says it isn't only skill that helped differentiate himself from other rookies: 'I hope it keeps going to the point where a lot more NA players start coming in but I think it takes a lot of a specific person to be LCS calibre.

'It's more than just pure mechanics and game knowledge, it takes a lot of sacrifice and it comes down to the person more than their skill. You have to commit your life to the game and make sacrifices if you want to bridge that gap.

Lourlo was ecstatic after beating Team Liquid, labeling it as one of the best days of his life

'For me, I always had an idea of wanting to be a pro. I played before season one just for fun but as the years went on, I became more and more passionate about it. It was something I set out to do, I sacrificed my education and pretty much any social ties I had in high school. That was the only thing that felt right to me at the time, I made sure I was completely all-in.

'There's a lot of things that go into it like how your family raises you. My household was pretty strict as both my parents are doctors. My mum is a family doctor and my dad is an Ophthalmologist, they were pushing me more to work in their field but I wanted going pro to be my priority.

'It was extremely stressful because I always felt really pressured, they knew I was smart and was doing well at school and I would have had a pretty good, self-sustaining life if I went down that path but I saw something else and knew that this could be something I'd be happy doing.

'There were a lot of really hard arguments and discussions which went on from when I was 14 until I was 17 and actually went pro. It took a lot of self-passion to blur out their goal for me, I made sure I stuck to what I wanted.

To go pro Lourlo sacrificed social ties and his parents wishes for him to become a doctor

I made it very clear that I would put in everything so I could prove them wrong - to show them that it is possible to go down the route of something you're passionate about and to prove to myself that I could make this long-lasting. That drives me every day because while they support me now, I always want to prove to people that I am way more than what they think I am.'

That drive and resolve has treated Lourlo well throughout his career. He survived his two-year rollercoaster on Liquid and this season has been anything but plain sailing. GG were already struggling this season and then had more misery complied on top as their head coach Choi 'Locodoco' Yoon-seop was sacked for inappropriate remarks made to a female member of Riot's staff.

Lourlo admits it was a tough pill to swallow but he and the team have come out stronger: 'Me, Loco and Matt worked really well together so having him released after unprofessional circumstances sucked because it really hurt our team at the time. I was looking to work with him long-term because I respected him as a coach and I thought he had a lot of knowledge to share.

'The timing especially sucked but Tyler (Akiri) is really nice as well. He takes a different approach and I'm pretty grateful for his presence on the team as he's more humble and less dictating. He takes a lot of our input when making a decision - we talk together about everything as a whole so things run a lot smoother than they did in the past.'

Guardians have bounced back after Locodoco was sacked by working hard on their teamwork

The difference for Guardians now appears to be improved team cohesion. Before this interview, Sam and the rest of the team had a day off from scrims to go to an escape room and build their team morale.

He says its had a good impact on the team as they finally have learned how to play together: 'The last few weeks we've been going out on a Friday as a team to do some team bonding. Overall it's helpful because you get to know your teammates better and it's technically a day off so it helps you relax and and gets rid of stress.

'I think a lot of our poor performances earlier this season were due to not understanding each other on both a player and individual level. I think once we figured that out, it became easier to learn as a team and it's showing - I don't think we're completely there yet but our improvements will show over time.

'A big goal for us this week is to just play to our strengths because in the past we were looking at other teams and tried to copy what they were doing but figuring out what works for us is going to be really crucial to our success.'