Recently I got the chance to talk to Aaron 'Bischu' Kim. He is a popular streamer and high elo player, and is currently the sub for CompLexity, and tells me what he thinks about League of Legends in Season 3 and his future in eSports.

Bischu you are the sub for CompLexity, how do like being part of the team?

Bischu: Being with coL is awesome so far! I was really good friends with all of them before I joined as well and being on a team while still being able to focus on school work is great as well.

Where do you see yourself moving forward in eSports?

Bischu: I was planning to take a year off even before pro gaming was even an option for me due to health issues from previous surgeries so I'm looking to practice League of Legends full time during the time off and pursue my childhood dream of becoming a professional gamer.

What do you think of the LCS so far, and it's impact on League of Legends and eSports?

Bischu: Personally I am very happy with LCS so far. Amateur teams are given chances to prove themselves as a team considering how hard it is to jump into the professional gaming scene and is also entertaining to watch! I hope to see more crazy tactics from both NA and EU teams.

The new ranked system has been out for a while now, how are you liking it?

Bischu: I can't say I'm too fond of the new ranked system. I reached the Challenger tier but was kicked from it after a week when I was standing around 80 league points since the hidden MMR is what keeps you in the tier. I still tried to get back into the Challenger tier but was very frustrating since I kept winning and getting 1~3 point and losing 4~7 points on a loss.

You're primarily a mid laner. Things have been changing a lot in mid since Season 3, do you think the changes have been for the better?

Bischu: As everyone knows, with the season 3 changes, the game itself changed a lot but the mid lane was heavily affected. With the introduction to the new Armour/Magic penetration system and buffs to items such as the Warmog's and the Black Cleaver, champions with mobility and high base damage, while still being able to CC naturally became flavour of the month. I feel like Riot jumped the gun on the patch since the moment I heard about the changes to penetration and Black Cleaver rework, I knew certain champs were going to become incredibly strong.

Eventually Riot nerfed the champions individually so it doesn't matter anymore but it was something that could have been easily prevented in my opinion. Because brusiers were incredibly favourable against several standard mid match ups, a lot of champions such as Cassiopeia, Galio, and Morgana became obsolete or a very situational pick.

However, thanks to new items and higher base movement speed, players were open to alternatives from the mandatory boots 3 pot start. Players became able to deal with their match-ups with more flexibility compared to being completely useless just because you don't have the right runes or masteries. Overall, despite running over few potholes, I like the changes very much because albeit frustrating at times *cough* Kha'zix *cough* it added a very fresh element to the lane and invoked new, unique play styles. One of my favourite champion to play, Jayce, is a brusier as well!





What are your three favorite champions to play right now?

Bischu: When I see a champion, the 'fun' factor is a lot more important than the 'OP' factor. Speaking of fun, you might have already guessed but my number one favourite champion to play is Nidalee! Honestly there isn't a champion that fits my play style as much as Nidalee! She's incredibly mobile so escaping ganks or chasing someone down is a breeze, ridiculously flexible when it comes to play style and item builds (No joke, you can seriously build anything on Nidalee), and the ability to turn a team fight by a single spell. Honestly what other spells in Leauge of Legends cause as much emotion from a single spell?

Second favourite at the moment is without a doubt, Jayce. The readers might be thinking 'Didn't see that coming' since Jayce is much alike Nidalee." I don't want to say that he's just another Nidalee for me since he's just as unique! I have to say the play style of Nidlaee mid and Jayce are quite alike. He's not exactly a brusier but the term AD-caster comes to my mind. Having so many spells in your arsenal allows you to pull moves that are very pleasing to the eyes.

Last but definitely not least favourite is Lux! I'm not sure if you noticed but I love champions that are capable of poking and bursting someone down from full hp to zero from just outside their vision.

What do you think about the increasing variety of champions we have been seeing in mid lane?

Bischu: As I previously said, thanks to increased base movement speed in Season 3, players are able to start off a lot more flexible than before. Champions such as Kassadin and Akali became a lot more viable since the only reason why they weren't a 'good' pick was because of their incredibly weak laning phase.

By stacking potions and wards as your first buy allows you to sustain a lot easier and not lose out on EXP and gold from denying. And a huge part to season 3 is definitely the brusiers. The brusiers were a little too strong at the start of the season but it's nice to see more champions being added to the 'viable' pool.

What items do you think are strongest in season 3, and do any stand out as core for a mid laner?

Bischu: Flask was definitely the strongest item since it provided ridiculous amount of sustain and allowed you to leave your base earlier by spamming the item and slowly letting it regen as you walk back to your lane. It was rather quickly nerfed but it's still an OK buy. Haunting Guise/Liandry's Torment and Tears of Goddess are also great because of how cost efficient they are. I feel like there isn't really one core item for mid since it's always situational but if I were to name one it'd be Morellonomicon. It builds from a Gold/10 item (Kage's) and it gives you great stats for how cheap the item is.

How do you feel about Seeker's Armguard?

Bischu: Seeker's Armguard is an amazing item that saved the players from the evil clutches of Bruiser Mids. The item itself encourages to get it early on since you can acquire additional armour and AP for every creep kill. You don't have to get Zhonyas right away since Seeker's Armguard alone gives a lot of stats. The item was the most beneficial to AP champions on top lane. Facing a Rumble top with Seeker's Armguard and Haunting Guise is incredibly scary!

Are there any items that you'd like to see buffed or nerfed?

Bischu: With the latest patch, Blade of the Ruined King became incredibly powerful and pretty much became a core on a lot of champions. BoRK gives you a lot of free stats and a borderline OP active with relatively good cast range. Players shouldn't simply ask Riot for changes whenever a patch comes out and find a way to deal with it. HOWEVER in certain cases (Black Cleaver, BoRK) Riot should intervene. Other than BoRK, I feel like items that are used often are pretty balanced right now.





Bischu, you're well known for your Nidalee play. How do you think Nidalee fares in season 3, and what is your favorite way to build her?

Bischu: There are two main ways to build Nidalee: Tanky AD or Nuking AP. I like to build Nidalee very AP heavy for maximum damage and great heals. I believe that building her tanky AD way is more beneficial to the team and much easier to play (Especially in solo-queue) but I fell in love with her ability to nearly one shot enemy carries. With a big cost reduction to Tear of Goddess and other possible builds make her very strong in Season 3.

As you've probably seen, both EU and NA teams have been running a lot of Nidalee mid because having an AP Nidalee on your team is incredibly beneficial. AP Nidalee has the potential to turn a team fight to her team's favour with just a single spell but not only that is she provides great support as well providing resistance shredding, healing, and attack speed buffs mid-fight.

What do you think about the two most recent champions, Tresh and Quinn?

Bischu: Thresh is incredibly strong. His lantern allows him to make flexible plays whether it's for both passive and aggressive plays. He truly has everything you want for an aggressive support and I'd like to see him more from the LCS teams.

Quinn feels very awkward for me. She's designed as an AD carry but her kit falls off very hard late game. Her ult becomes very useless at the late game mark and her dash leaves her very vulnerable. I played Quinn at mid lane and actually was very successful because it was really easy to harass opponents down with her dash however I'd much rather play another AD carry like Graves or Caitlyn who does a much better job yet still scales well.

And if people want to see more of you, where can they find you?

I frequently update on my facebook page (www.facebook.com/bischulol) but I still use my Twitter (@bischulol) quite a bit! I stream on Twitch around 4 times a week and people can find my Nidalee guide on Lolking.net.

Thanks for the interview, and we'll be looking out for you in Season 3!

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