Killer Karsa: On the hunt with Yoe Flash Wolves' new jungler
Riot·2/19/2015, 11:56:37 PM·0 votes·3,009 views
There may be a new king of the LoL Master Series (LMS) jungle. Hung "Karsa" Hau-Hsuan’s debut with the Yoe Flash Wolves, two weeks into the Spring Split, was nothing short of dramatic. Even respected veterans of the Taiwanese scene are beginning to fear and respect him for his dominant and flashy playstyle. So who exactly is this Karsa kid?
Coach Chen “Warhorse” Ju-Chih said, "To be honest, I did not notice Karsa the first time, when he was on a previous team." Betting on a new and unproven jungler didn’t seem reasonable when Chen “REFRA1N” Kuan-Ting, the team’s former jungler, was highly ranked on Korea’s solo queue ladder. But REFRA1N’s play style was incompatible with the team’s strategies, forcing the Wolves to seek alternatives.
Karsa quickly proved to be a good fit. "Compared to REFRA1N, Karsa has a better edge in his champion pool for the current meta," said Warhorse. "Besides, communication skills between Karsa and his teammates also proved to be more influential."
Two weeks into the LMS Spring Split, Karsa debuted against the same organization that dropped him: Machi Crew, now under the name Dream or Reality. "In my first match, I felt extremely excited and quite nervous," said Karsa. "But after I won the game, I felt great fulfillment."
But if merely winning a game on the LMS stage in Taipei brought him great fulfillment, then the Wolves' victory over the Taipei Assassins at IEM Taipei must have been all the sweeter -- after all, part of Karsa's education in the ways of the jungle came from TPA jungler Chen "Winds" Peng-Nien in particular. Winds wasn’t just part of the original Yoe Flash Wolves lineup, but he was a major reason for their dominance in Southeast Asia’s Garena Premier League over the last year, including an undefeated Group Stage over the spring of 2014 and first place throughout all three splits.
"In this moment, I would say Winds from TPA is the best jungler in Taiwan. I used to watch his games before I was a pro gamer," said Karsa. As for the best jungler in the world? "I would say it's KaKAO. He is very aggressive; so am I. They are both of my favorite junglers."
Karsa's adopted their aggressive gameplay for his own, specializing in early-game impact champions like Lee Sin and Rengar. "In my opinion, I think my type of jungling is kinda wild. I am obsessed with counter-jungling. I'm used to roaming with our support, gaining and guarding our vision, and ganking."
Those early-game tactics utilized by Karsa were crucial elements in the Wolves’ victory at the IEM Taipei Finals. The Finals spanned the entirety of the allocated Best of 5 set, where the undefeated Taipei Assassins seemed to be on track to preserve that record with a 2-0 start against the Yoe Flash Wolves. But the Wolves' indomitable adaptability, coupled with Karsa's aggressive jungling as its foundation, pulled out a miraculous three-game recovery.
Furthermore, it doesn't appear to be a fluke. On February 12, two weeks after IEM Taipei, the Wolves and the Assassins faced off again in a Best of 1 set. Again, the Wolves netted a win over the team still in the lead for the newly formed Taiwan/Hong Kong circuit, with Karsa’s Nidalee wrecking last year’s three-time GPL champions with a rain of javelins, outfighting them for every objective. Not coincidentally, a repeat in style of their winning performance in the IEM grand finals. Thus far, they are the only team to have managed to land so much as a scratch on the Assassins' unassailable record -- and now they've done it twice in a row.
Winds, Taiwan's Prince of Thieves, appears to have a rival at long last. Karsa is quickly building an acclaim equal to his inspirations.
NEW BLOOD
Karsa was part of the short-lived LoL Nova League team Machi 17 during the summer of 2014 -- his first experience with professional gaming. "I played this game for only one year, and reached Challenger in the Taiwan server," said the 18-year-old jungler, though he credits playing other MOBAs since he was 13 for his incredible skills. But despite his quick ascendance through Taiwan’s solo queue ladder, his prior team’s poor performance left him overlooked as teams scrambled to organize themselves for the imminent start of the LMS. Machi opted not to re-sign his team, disbanding them in October, and it wasn’t until halfway through January that he was finally picked up by the Wolves.Coach Chen “Warhorse” Ju-Chih said, "To be honest, I did not notice Karsa the first time, when he was on a previous team." Betting on a new and unproven jungler didn’t seem reasonable when Chen “REFRA1N” Kuan-Ting, the team’s former jungler, was highly ranked on Korea’s solo queue ladder. But REFRA1N’s play style was incompatible with the team’s strategies, forcing the Wolves to seek alternatives.
Karsa quickly proved to be a good fit. "Compared to REFRA1N, Karsa has a better edge in his champion pool for the current meta," said Warhorse. "Besides, communication skills between Karsa and his teammates also proved to be more influential."
Two weeks into the LMS Spring Split, Karsa debuted against the same organization that dropped him: Machi Crew, now under the name Dream or Reality. "In my first match, I felt extremely excited and quite nervous," said Karsa. "But after I won the game, I felt great fulfillment."
But if merely winning a game on the LMS stage in Taipei brought him great fulfillment, then the Wolves' victory over the Taipei Assassins at IEM Taipei must have been all the sweeter -- after all, part of Karsa's education in the ways of the jungle came from TPA jungler Chen "Winds" Peng-Nien in particular. Winds wasn’t just part of the original Yoe Flash Wolves lineup, but he was a major reason for their dominance in Southeast Asia’s Garena Premier League over the last year, including an undefeated Group Stage over the spring of 2014 and first place throughout all three splits.
"In this moment, I would say Winds from TPA is the best jungler in Taiwan. I used to watch his games before I was a pro gamer," said Karsa. As for the best jungler in the world? "I would say it's KaKAO. He is very aggressive; so am I. They are both of my favorite junglers."
Karsa's adopted their aggressive gameplay for his own, specializing in early-game impact champions like Lee Sin and Rengar. "In my opinion, I think my type of jungling is kinda wild. I am obsessed with counter-jungling. I'm used to roaming with our support, gaining and guarding our vision, and ganking."
PRACTICAL LESSONS
Those early-game tactics utilized by Karsa were crucial elements in the Wolves’ victory at the IEM Taipei Finals. The Finals spanned the entirety of the allocated Best of 5 set, where the undefeated Taipei Assassins seemed to be on track to preserve that record with a 2-0 start against the Yoe Flash Wolves. But the Wolves' indomitable adaptability, coupled with Karsa's aggressive jungling as its foundation, pulled out a miraculous three-game recovery.
Furthermore, it doesn't appear to be a fluke. On February 12, two weeks after IEM Taipei, the Wolves and the Assassins faced off again in a Best of 1 set. Again, the Wolves netted a win over the team still in the lead for the newly formed Taiwan/Hong Kong circuit, with Karsa’s Nidalee wrecking last year’s three-time GPL champions with a rain of javelins, outfighting them for every objective. Not coincidentally, a repeat in style of their winning performance in the IEM grand finals. Thus far, they are the only team to have managed to land so much as a scratch on the Assassins' unassailable record -- and now they've done it twice in a row.
Winds, Taiwan's Prince of Thieves, appears to have a rival at long last. Karsa is quickly building an acclaim equal to his inspirations.
