Edward Gaming: Developing a Team
Riot·5/23/2014, 6:45:01 PM·0 votes·3,505 views
You may have heard of Edward Gaming, LPL’s second place team from the regular season. You may have even heard about the team’s recent 2-0 victory over OMG at the International Esports Tournament. Chinese fans, desperate for an answer to Korea on the international stage, have started to put more and more support behind Edward Gaming. However, despite their growing support from fans, they’re still seen as underdogs both in the public eye and against OMG throughout LPL.
Zhu "NaMei" Jia-Wen, Ming "ClearLove" Kai, and Feng "Fzzf" Zhuo-Jun have attained the reputation of being some of the best in their roles during their time as pros, but Ceng "U" Long and Tong "Koro" Yang hadn’t played in LPL before being picked up by Edward Gaming. Though both players have pulled their weight this split in terms of individual skill, U and Koro weren’t selected for their star quality. In creating the team, Coach Ji "Aaron" Xing and Manager San Shao prioritized potential synergy.
"The first part is about developing a team; the second part is about personal training and the last is the training with other teams. A lot of efforts need to be put on creating team cohesion, better coordination and chemistry." Aaron goes on to add that he believes EDG has only recently completed the first phase, and this could explain some of their successes. "You have to make a team instead of just having five very skilled players."
Other members of EDG confirmed that their objectives this LPL split have focused on coming together as a team. Top laner Koro, who has received some criticism as a weak link, told us he was picked up because of his previous experiences playing with ClearLove. "ClearLove recommended me to the team," he said, "but now I have adapted to the rest of the players." Earlier in the split, ClearLove paid a lot of attention to the top lane to help out the rookie in 1v1 matchups, but once they hit the late game, Koro’s presence in team fights on tanks has been undeniable.
Support Fzzf and World Elite’s AD carry WeiXiao used to play together as bottom laners, but both have seemed to improve from an apparent slump last split. Fzzf would attribute part of his recent success to how he works with ADC NaMei. "I think we have good synergy. But not good enough. Sometimes you don’t have time to communicate before an engagement, and how we coordinate represents our synergy." Finding synergy has also been important to him with the rest of the team, as he’s served as the primary initiator in many of their games. "It’s not just one person who makes the call. It depends on the best position/opportunity."
Mid laner U, meanwhile, has made sacrifices to improve the team. While EDG struggled to find their feet, they often fell behind and had to stall out games, giving U a reputation for playing utility-based mid laners - most notably Ziggs - but some may be surprised to hear that that isn’t his preferred playstyle. "I actually don’t like playing Ziggs. My favorite champions are Nidalee and Zed." U has had the opportunity to play Zed once this past split, and it’s possible U will have the opportunity to shake off the utility mid laner stereotype as the team develops more strategies.
Meanwhile, ClearLove acknowledges that jungle is perceived as the weakest role on Chinese teams from an international perspective. "Jungle players focus more on experience and their way of thinking, less on personal skills. Jungle players in Korea and other regions are better at developing new tactics and jungle champs. I think Chinese jungle players should also think more about that."
All these answers indicate that EDG is looking to develop more team-focused strategies to improve performance in the coming months, rather than focusing on individual skills. Aaron thinks the key might be in finding the right teams to practice against. "By the right team I mean that teams that our players play against could greatly expose the problems we are facing and test out our strategy and solution." The challenge will be in finding these perfect scrim partners.
Edward Gaming’s members were reticent to discuss their recent IET performance and how they think they will fair in the coming playoffs. San Shao believes OMG, historically the team’s steepest competition, didn’t show signs of faltering at All-Stars and is a good representation of what the region has to offer, saying "OMG demonstrated tactics and skill levels of Chinese teams."
One thing we might expect, given the rise of Twitch’s popularity, is to see the champion in NaMei’s hands. He played it before any other player, including NaJin Sword’s PraY. When pressed to comment, NaMei told us, "Twitch is very strong in team fights in later stages of game, but he can also score kills on its own. He is one of my favorite champions."
Anyone who hasn’t witnessed NaMei’s Twitch play before is in for a treat.
EDG takes on Team WE Saturday 5/24/2014 at 2 AM PDT or 11:00 CEST in the LPL playoffs.
WE PLAY AS ONE
In an LPL post-game interview, jungler ClearLove told the audience that EDG has done so well because they "play as one man." Aaron, who describes his role as an "organizer" for the team who "helps the team unify and provides information of the current build in live" laid down the thought process behind EDG’s development.
"The first part is about developing a team; the second part is about personal training and the last is the training with other teams. A lot of efforts need to be put on creating team cohesion, better coordination and chemistry." Aaron goes on to add that he believes EDG has only recently completed the first phase, and this could explain some of their successes. "You have to make a team instead of just having five very skilled players."
Other members of EDG confirmed that their objectives this LPL split have focused on coming together as a team. Top laner Koro, who has received some criticism as a weak link, told us he was picked up because of his previous experiences playing with ClearLove. "ClearLove recommended me to the team," he said, "but now I have adapted to the rest of the players." Earlier in the split, ClearLove paid a lot of attention to the top lane to help out the rookie in 1v1 matchups, but once they hit the late game, Koro’s presence in team fights on tanks has been undeniable.
Support Fzzf and World Elite’s AD carry WeiXiao used to play together as bottom laners, but both have seemed to improve from an apparent slump last split. Fzzf would attribute part of his recent success to how he works with ADC NaMei. "I think we have good synergy. But not good enough. Sometimes you don’t have time to communicate before an engagement, and how we coordinate represents our synergy." Finding synergy has also been important to him with the rest of the team, as he’s served as the primary initiator in many of their games. "It’s not just one person who makes the call. It depends on the best position/opportunity."
Mid laner U, meanwhile, has made sacrifices to improve the team. While EDG struggled to find their feet, they often fell behind and had to stall out games, giving U a reputation for playing utility-based mid laners - most notably Ziggs - but some may be surprised to hear that that isn’t his preferred playstyle. "I actually don’t like playing Ziggs. My favorite champions are Nidalee and Zed." U has had the opportunity to play Zed once this past split, and it’s possible U will have the opportunity to shake off the utility mid laner stereotype as the team develops more strategies.
THE NEXT STEP
Developing more strategies is one of EDG’s goals, and the team-oriented mindset behind their development will certainly aid them in that endeavor. "In All-Star finals," Manager San Shao explained, "I don’t think the defeat was solely due to player skills." Instead, San Shao sites room for growth in Club management, but especially finding ways to "provide more efficient training and follow through coach’s strategy." This is further reflected in how EDG’s players view the Chinese player skill levels in their individual roles. With the knowledge that some consider Chinese AD carries the best in the world, when asked how he ranks Chinese ADCs, NaMei doesn’t disagree, and instead states that "there is actually no big difference among Chinese ADCs," despite his reputation for extreme confidence.
Meanwhile, ClearLove acknowledges that jungle is perceived as the weakest role on Chinese teams from an international perspective. "Jungle players focus more on experience and their way of thinking, less on personal skills. Jungle players in Korea and other regions are better at developing new tactics and jungle champs. I think Chinese jungle players should also think more about that."
All these answers indicate that EDG is looking to develop more team-focused strategies to improve performance in the coming months, rather than focusing on individual skills. Aaron thinks the key might be in finding the right teams to practice against. "By the right team I mean that teams that our players play against could greatly expose the problems we are facing and test out our strategy and solution." The challenge will be in finding these perfect scrim partners.
THE PLAYOFFS
Edward Gaming’s members were reticent to discuss their recent IET performance and how they think they will fair in the coming playoffs. San Shao believes OMG, historically the team’s steepest competition, didn’t show signs of faltering at All-Stars and is a good representation of what the region has to offer, saying "OMG demonstrated tactics and skill levels of Chinese teams."
One thing we might expect, given the rise of Twitch’s popularity, is to see the champion in NaMei’s hands. He played it before any other player, including NaJin Sword’s PraY. When pressed to comment, NaMei told us, "Twitch is very strong in team fights in later stages of game, but he can also score kills on its own. He is one of my favorite champions."
Anyone who hasn’t witnessed NaMei’s Twitch play before is in for a treat.
EDG takes on Team WE Saturday 5/24/2014 at 2 AM PDT or 11:00 CEST in the LPL playoffs.
