Rampage renewed: Japan's old champs back on top

Riot·Jul 20, 2015·1 votes·13,627 views

It's been a long time coming, but Japan's former number one has awoken from its slumber to reclaim the title.

A lot has changed since the last time Ozone Rampage was at the top looking down. Faker had only been a World Champion for a day, top lane teleport was a gimmick strategy, and there was no League of Legends Japan League. On that day, October 5 2013, Kiichi "Meron" Watanabe and the rest of Rampage won the right to represent Japan at the World Cyber Games (WCG) with only a single dropped map. An enduring legacy was born.

"Back then, most teams were only playing for fun. But we wanted to challenge the world."

Glory Before the Fall

After crushing the teams that would eventually become Detonation FM, 7th heaven, and Rascal Jester, Meron and his team headed off to Kunshan, China to see how they stacked up against the rest of the world. Dropped into a group headlined by eventual undefeated champions CJ Blaze, there was no softening the blow of that realization. But it's not their crushing loss to CJ we remember this tournament for, but for their victory over Brazil's KaBuM! e-Sports: Japan's first victory on the international stage. "Our experience at WCG was huge," Meron remembers, "But I feel like beating KaBuM was luck. I felt like they couldn't play their best."

Luck or not, Meron and Rampage came home to the start of a new chapter. With a new sponsorship from Ozone Gaming Gear in tow, Ozone Rampage came into the newly-established League of Legends Japan League (LJL) as the best team in the country. However, Rampage ended 2014 with two silvers and a bronze: not a single first place finish. The players' motivation had declined, and it showed. "None of us were trying back then, and we weren't practicing at all, so of course it ended up that way."

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The 2015 LoL Japan League brought more money, a bigger stage, and a real chance to make it to Worlds. The teams that rose to the top in Rampage's place -- FocusMe and Rascal Jester -- jumped at the chance, opening team houses and redoubling their efforts. But though they added talented young top laner Takashi "AMUSE" Ohtsuka, Rampage's old fire still hadn't returned. "We weren't serious," he says, "And so I don't even think remembering last season will do us any good." They finished 2015 Season 1 in 4th place: good enough to stick around, but a shadow of their former selves. While champion FocusMe’s players were adorning advertisements and appearing on morning shows, Rampage seemed to be left behind by their scene as it raced towards the world stage.

New Friends in a New World

DetonatioN FocusMe returned from IWCI bringing upheaval in their wake. Korean players were brought in, more teams opened gaming houses, and the entire scene seemed to be taking a giant leap forward. For Meron and his team, everything changed thanks to one man: Jun-Yong "Dragon" Lee, the coach of Chunnam Tech University's League team, who moved to Japan to coach Rampage. "We'd joked back and forth about the idea as friends, but all of the sudden it actually happened!" Meron relates. He brought with him Jeong-Hoon "Dara" Jeon and Moon-Yong "Doad" Lee to bolster Rampage's roster, and the team was remade virtually overnight.

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The new Rampage was scarcely recognizable. As though they had finally woken up from a two year slumber, they started toppling team after team in a rush to the top. Most critically, they continued to improve after every game, victory or defeat. What started as unfocused, reckless ganking and sloppy teamfighting were gradually refined into the tightest playmaking in the LJL. Himself one of Japan's most veteran AD Carries, Meron rocketed to the top of the statistics and holds by far the highest KDA in the league at 15.60. And the whole team just feels alive again. "Everyone's so good, so rather than let ourselves be unsatisfied it's like we all came together as one unit." he explains.

Yes, My Coach

When asked where this new strength comes from, Meron answered unequivocally: their coach. Dragon's presence seems to be the key factor in turning around the team's attitude, motivating them to keep striving for better. "Before," he elaborated, "if we lost in practice, we'd just get depressed and quit. But with him here, he always helps us find something we can improve on and carry into next time. It's a great atmosphere." Dragon himself has taken to his new job with an infectious enthusiasm, constantly posting excited social media updates in Japanese. Now, with a week off as FocusMe and 7th heaven fight in the semifinal, it's up to him to make sure Rampage is ready to clinch one more victory.

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Winning the LJL Season 2 Finals would mean something special for Meron, who would be earning the right to represent Japan one more time against the world. It's been two years since then, and he knows the clock is ticking in more ways than one. "I'm a little afraid of what comes next, given my age. I want to give it my all while I have a chance." And even though they're back on top, he's not resting on his laurels just yet. "I feel like we still have a long way to go. Rampage is only going to get stronger from here, so please cheer for us."

The LoL Japan League Finals will take place at 9:00 PM PDT on Friday, July 24th, between Rampage and DetonatioN FocusMe, live from e-sports SQUARE in Akihabara, Tokyo. The matches will be broadcast in both English and Japanese on Azubu and Twitch.

13 Comments

OutlawHunterJul 20, 20152 votes

Not even an appetizer

SpookyPowaJul 21, 20152 votes

Why is there an article about Ozone Rampage's victory in Japan League whereas there was no coverage about Fnatic victory in European Spring Playoffs ?

Greater EntityJul 21, 20155 votes

Because everyone already watches the EU LCS. For Japan that's a new and upcoming region Riot wants to promote its coverage to increase viewership and hype for a possible new region.

SpookyPowaJul 21, 20152 votes

The viewership would be greatly improved if Riot really promoted the english LJL stream on this website, like the NA & EU LCS, LCL and LPL. And they are not. So I feel like Riot is only half-promoting Japan. And they would better fix that before promoting Japan like they are doing.

Moreover, everyone knows NA LCS too. But there was a coverage of TSM win over C9 in the Spring Playoffs Finals. Something I really wanted to highlight with my previous is the fact that Europe has less coverage than NA. And while Riot should balance that, they cover Japan.

Absoluti0n ZeroJul 22, 20151 votes

In the spring there was no hype rivalry, the EU finals were between a stampeding playstyle fnatic and the cheesey impulsive UOL.

EU just doesn't have two big name teams to promote, yes Fnatic is a big name brand but they are at this moment the only one that is doing well. Roc and ele are yes known name brands but they are vet teams that are struggling against the new blood of the league lke H2K and UOL and SK is pretty much in shamble but slowly making good progress. EU just doesn't have to much hype factor because the top 3 teams belong in the top 3 by a margin and the rest belong where they are at but maybe lower.

NOW if EU has a second one coming in H2K so i expect if h2k and fnc make it to the finals they will surely being post and articles all over the esports to hype it up because they are two and maybe hte only two power houses in EU.

but this is all my view.

SpookyPowaJul 22, 20152 votes

But at the time, I think there was a real hype for this Finals, as Fnatic took down H2K in an epic 3-2. But the thing that brought hype for real was the victory of UOL over SK. After this victory, even if Fnatic were favorites, everything was possible, the Finals were promising. And it was not disappointing, as the series ended 3-2. This is my european point of view, so you, as an american, may disagree with it, but I believed, and so did several friends, that this Finals were going to be epic and there was a lot of hype around this matchup. You can even say there was a sort of rivalry between these two teams, as they were both new in the LCS and had a lot to prove.

Now, when it comes to the current European Scene, I kinda agree with you, but you don't mention Origen. And I feel like they are more consistent than H2K. For me, they are the real deal. H2K, in my opinion, has lost a little bit of his power, and Origen may take advantage of it. I also think that hype will be built around the Finals whatever happens. Because if a team take down Fnatic, they will be for sure hyped, as Fnatic is now 16-0. The other team will probably be H2K or Origen. H2K, as you mentioned, would bring an epic matchup, but Origen, once again, would create so much hype if they make it to the Finals. First, because Origen is brand new. Second, because xPeke built this team to be a middle-of-the-table-team and didn't even have the ambition to go to the Finals. And third, because sOAZ and xPeke are former Fnatic players. And a match that opposes a team to his former players is always hyped (Xpecial and TSM, Forg1ven vs SK...).