Pobelter brings new promise to CLG

With a new Split comes new stars and new stories. Here is one of the players you should look out for in Summer 2015! Team: Counter Logic Gaming Region: NA Position: Mid Playing League professionally since 2011, Eugene "Pobelter" Park has seen varied success on a multitude of NA LCS teams. Most recently he was found on Winterfox, bringing both cutthroat assassins and scaling mages to the mid lane and years of competitive experience to the roster. But it wasn't enough. Once again faced with relegation, yet not one to give up on his goal of becoming a World Champion, Pobelter now heads into the 2015 Summer Split with yet another new squad: Counter Logic Gaming.

I Choose You, Pobelter

Pobelter's only been with CLG for a few weeks now, but he's settling in quickly with his new team's rigorous practice schedule. He's also ready to shine in the spotlight left by CLG's former mid laner, Austin "Link" Shin. "I think I am a stronger individual player than Link. His strengths were shotcalling and ordering people around the map," Pobelter says, while mentioning that he brings a different perspective and ideas to the game that CLG hadn't previously discovered. What CLG have discovered however, is the use of mid-week and mid-series substitutions. In addition to Pobelter, CLG also picked up former Team Fusion mid laner Choi "HuHi" Jae-Hyun. With two mid laners, the team will be able to swap them out between Day 1 and Day 2 of the NA LCS depending on who they're playing that week, or mid-series, during Playoffs. Pobelter and HuHi's play styles are similar, but Pobelter finds he takes more risks than HuHi, often going for bigger plays than his counterpart. According to Pobelter though, even he isn't entirely sure how the substitutions will pan out. CLG's coaching staff needs to assess the strengths and weaknesses of each mid laner, and determine how well they perform in scrims, before they'll have a handle on how the substitutions will work on the NA LCS stage. Nevertheless, Pobelter is approaching this uncharted territory with a positive attitude. "It will be interesting. I hope that me and HuHi can help each other improve; we both have much room for growth." While he has a healthy outlook about the situation, Pobelter's competitive edge is still apparent. "It should be fine," he continues. "The stronger player will probably end up playing more games, as well as important matches, so I'll work hard to be the stronger player!"

Breaking the Trend

Pobelter and CLG both have plenty of hard work ahead of them to make sure the team is in a good spot to compete in the 2015 World Championship. "CLG has always had a strong showing at the beginning of every Split but always underperforms during Playoffs," Pobelter says. That trend may continue into Summer, but thanks to improvements in the team's coaching staff, Pobelter hopes CLG will have a good shot going into the NA LCS Playoffs. "[Our coaches] will help us do better this time around in regards to performing under pressure. Our early goals are to make sure we don't slip up [in the beginning of the split] and have a good record heading into Playoffs so we can qualify for Worlds." Confident in his new team, we're excited to watch Pobelter head into the 2015 Summer Split determined to prove himself and Counter Logic Gaming are once again ready to compete on the international stage. Click here to find out about some of the other players to watch in 2015 Summer.