SK Gaming gets aggressive with Forg1ven and Fox
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Worlds was rough for SK Gaming. After failing to make it out of Group Stages, the EU LCS organization knew change was needed. The team has since dropped AD carry Adrian "CandyPanda" Wübbelmann and mid laner Jesse "Jesiz" Le in favor of the mechanically sound Konstantinos "Forg1ven" Tzortziou and the bright eyed rookie, Hampus "Fox" Myhre. With two fresh pickups, the team now seems reinvigorated about the upcoming season. We had a chance to sit down with SK Gaming's new managing coach Joe Elouassi and top laner Simon "Fredy122" Payne to see how the team is adjusting to their new players, and to get their thoughts on the current state of the EU League of Legends scene.
"He’s the most talented player out of the two Prime teams," said Elouassi. But he wasn't always the best team player. The organization had to work with him to help him develop as a person. "I think I made him value the importance of being friends with your teammates. Obviously you need to be confident with each other inside the game, but it helps being close with your team outside the game. I stressed the importance of that on him, and I think that helped him develop more as a person."
While he's working hard to build up his social skills with his teammates in his own time, on the Rift, Fox is still gaining confidence and always plays to win his lane, according to Fredy. As this season will be his first time playing in the EU LCS, on top of it being the first time he's lived with a team and away from family, there's a lot of pressure on the young mid laner. His champion pool runs much deeper than his predecessor’s though, and with the ability to quickly adapt to patch changes, he could put up a good fight against all-star EU mids like Froggen and xPeke.
"It might take a little time for him to feel comfortable," Fredy said, regarding Fox's upcoming LCS showings. "He needs confidence, and winning will help him gain that confidence. But he’ll do really well."
New Beginnings
In the midst of a move to Berlin for the 2015 EU LCS season, SK Gaming has been preparing its new players via scrims and duo queue games to discover where their potential advantages could lie. "At the moment it’s early days," admitted Fredy. "Synergy doesn’t come easy. There was some synergy between the old bot lane that had been playing for a year, but I think Christoph ["nRated" Seitz] understands Forg1ven better as a person, and I think he’s inclined to play a lot more because of it." According to Fredy, the two practice a lot together, which should naturally improve their synergy. An important aspect for two players constantly supporting one another in lane. The team initially reached out to Forg1ven after seeing his fantastic play on Copenhagen Wolves in the 2014 EU Spring Split. "We knew he could perform well on stage and play on a team at a very high level," explained Fredy. They were also impressed with his level of motivation after dropping out of the EU LCS in the summer split. Fredy explains it can oftentimes be extremely difficult to maintain the rigorous mindset of a pro gamer, but Forg1ven seems to have no problem with his return to the spotlight. More importantly, he’s something a bit different than your average player and his style in lane brings an aggressive edge to the team that SK Gaming didn't previously have. "He builds his advantage from capitalizing on the passive play of the other player and he will take CS while he has that window open, because he has the mechanics," said Elouassi. "He’s different in the way he plays to other ADCs in EU. And he's not short on confidence." SK Gaming's other newcomer, Fox, came up from the organization's sister team, SK Gaming Prime. Being in SK Gaming Prime doesn't guarantee a slot on the LCS team, but it does allow the organization to closely monitor players for an extended period of time. After trialing many different players, Fox turned out to be the best option."He’s the most talented player out of the two Prime teams," said Elouassi. But he wasn't always the best team player. The organization had to work with him to help him develop as a person. "I think I made him value the importance of being friends with your teammates. Obviously you need to be confident with each other inside the game, but it helps being close with your team outside the game. I stressed the importance of that on him, and I think that helped him develop more as a person."
While he's working hard to build up his social skills with his teammates in his own time, on the Rift, Fox is still gaining confidence and always plays to win his lane, according to Fredy. As this season will be his first time playing in the EU LCS, on top of it being the first time he's lived with a team and away from family, there's a lot of pressure on the young mid laner. His champion pool runs much deeper than his predecessor’s though, and with the ability to quickly adapt to patch changes, he could put up a good fight against all-star EU mids like Froggen and xPeke.
"It might take a little time for him to feel comfortable," Fredy said, regarding Fox's upcoming LCS showings. "He needs confidence, and winning will help him gain that confidence. But he’ll do really well."
