Ask The Pros: H2K's Loulex
Riot·4/28/2015, 1:14:25 AM·1 votes·11,109 views
Ask The Pro is an ongoing series on lolesports.com, where we ask a pro player questions from the community. The player then picks the next pro the community will get to ask questions. Be sure to follow us on Twitter to submit your questions for the next Q&A!
In our last Ask The Pro interview, we talked with Gambit Gaming's top laner Lucas "Cabochard" Simon-Meslet about dunking in top lane and cooking French meals.
He also had a question for H2K's jungler, Jean-Victor "Loulex" Burgevin.
Cabochard: Do your teammates understand your French-English accent?
Loulex: Right now, yes. They had trouble at the beginning, but they got used to it.
Godi: How did you start your pro career, and why did you want to become a pro LoL player?
L: I started my esports career by playing Counter-Strike 1.6 seven years ago. When Global Offensive came out, lots of my CS friends started going to LoL.
I started playing LoL casually during the middle of Season 2. I got to Gold rank just before the Season ended in late 2012. Next Season, I played nothing but Lee Sin and reached top 50 Challenger.
I eventually got rank 1 at one point in Season 4, so a lot of people knew me in the scene. I got picked up by Gambit for a couple LCS matches that Season.
In July 2014, I joined Ninjas in Pyjamas four days before the team's matches to qualify for the LCS. We ended up losing to Unicorns of Love, so I went back to playing solo queue and duo queue with Fabian "Febiven" Diepstraten.
One month later, Febiven asked me if i wanted to join H2K for the expansion tournament. We won the tournament and qualified for LCS!
I wanted to become a pro LoL player simply because I think it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I can always continue my studies later, so if I have the option to do this now, I don't see any reason to say "no."
Hills: What's it like living with the H2K team? Are they silly and funny, or is it mostly serious business at the gaming house?
L: Living in the gaming house with the other dudes is fun. Petter "Hjärnan" Freyschuss and Raymond "kaSing" Tsang are pretty goofy. Yoo "Ryu" Sang-ook is the nicest person you'll ever meet. Andrei "Odoamne" Pascu is really serious some days, but is more relaxed overall. We have a good team environment, I'd say.
Avery: What's been your favorite memory in the LCS so far?
L: It has to be defeating SK Gaming 3-2 after losing 0-2 in front of the huge Spanish crowd in Madrid. It really was epic!
Grod: How did you stay focused during that long best-of-5 series?
L: It was easy to stay focused as soon as we won our first game (making it 2-1). At that point, we knew we could manage to come back from this. It has to be more exhausting and stressful if you're in the shoes of SK Gaming, winning 2-0 and your enemy is slowly coming back, one game at a time.
Crono: How are you adjusting to top laners with Smite taking important camps like Gromp or Krugs?
L: It kind of sucks. But hopefully there will be a Cinderhulk nerf soon, so I get to play Lee Sin again. Or at least my top laner won't steal my jungle!
Jeng: Why are you so good on Sejuani?
L: I don't regard myself as a really good Sejuani player, like William "Meteos" Hartman, for example. I believe she is a really strong champion right now. Especially if you build some Cooldown Reduction items on her, you can have your ultimate up every minute and be able to keep your Flail of the Northern Winds activated 24/7.
David: On Sejuani, is it better to open a fight with your ult, or save it for counter-engage?
L: It depends on your team composition, honestly. If you have a heavy teamfight comp, then you should use it to engage as soon as you can. If you're playing a peel comp like "protect the marksman," then you should keep it and use it only to protect your carries.
Ludvig: Which EU jungler is the most difficult to play against? Do any tend to do more counter-jungling than others, that we might not see on stream?
L: Dennis "Svenskeren" Johnsen probably does the most counter jungling out of any others, which can be annoying because, if he finds you in your jungle, he will usually have the stronger matchup 1v1 (usually playing Rek'sai or Lee Sin). So you will lose and, in the meantime, his laners will play super aggressive because they know where you are.
Shannon: What's your favorite and least favorite ice cream flavor?
L: My favorite ice cream flavor is cookie dough, and my least favorite one is... I don't know.
Chord: What's the best music to listen to while getting pumped up for an important game?
L: I don't listen to music before a big game. I try to clean my mind from anything useless and project myself into the game 30 minutes before it starts.
Thriller: What was the first video game you ever played?
L: Super Mario 64!
LoLesports: What pro player do you want to answer questions next? Would you like to ask him anything?
L: Origen Gaming's support player, Alfonso "Mithy" Aguirre Rodriguez: How does it feel to qualify for LCS after your ban and your toxic-free journey?
Josh Augustine's favorite champion is Nunu, he's never enjoyed a Darius, and he will always go for the kill, even when he knows he shouldn't. He currently works as a game designer on EverQuest Next at Daybreak Games. He’d love to talk with you on Twitter.
L: I started my esports career by playing Counter-Strike 1.6 seven years ago. When Global Offensive came out, lots of my CS friends started going to LoL.
I started playing LoL casually during the middle of Season 2. I got to Gold rank just before the Season ended in late 2012. Next Season, I played nothing but Lee Sin and reached top 50 Challenger.
I eventually got rank 1 at one point in Season 4, so a lot of people knew me in the scene. I got picked up by Gambit for a couple LCS matches that Season.
In July 2014, I joined Ninjas in Pyjamas four days before the team's matches to qualify for the LCS. We ended up losing to Unicorns of Love, so I went back to playing solo queue and duo queue with Fabian "Febiven" Diepstraten.
One month later, Febiven asked me if i wanted to join H2K for the expansion tournament. We won the tournament and qualified for LCS!
I wanted to become a pro LoL player simply because I think it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I can always continue my studies later, so if I have the option to do this now, I don't see any reason to say "no."
Hills: What's it like living with the H2K team? Are they silly and funny, or is it mostly serious business at the gaming house?
L: Living in the gaming house with the other dudes is fun. Petter "Hjärnan" Freyschuss and Raymond "kaSing" Tsang are pretty goofy. Yoo "Ryu" Sang-ook is the nicest person you'll ever meet. Andrei "Odoamne" Pascu is really serious some days, but is more relaxed overall. We have a good team environment, I'd say.
Avery: What's been your favorite memory in the LCS so far?
L: It has to be defeating SK Gaming 3-2 after losing 0-2 in front of the huge Spanish crowd in Madrid. It really was epic!
Grod: How did you stay focused during that long best-of-5 series?
L: It was easy to stay focused as soon as we won our first game (making it 2-1). At that point, we knew we could manage to come back from this. It has to be more exhausting and stressful if you're in the shoes of SK Gaming, winning 2-0 and your enemy is slowly coming back, one game at a time.
Real Life Loulex
Lukas: What were your future plans if you didn't enter the LCS? Are you happy that you became a pro? L: I didn't plan to do anything other than gaming for the first year after dropping out of high school. I thought I could make it into the LCS and it paid off. Looking back at it, though, that was a really stupid decision. I should have finished high school before looking to get into the LCS. JR: How did you feel when Febiven left the team? L: I wasn't too disappointed. Even though, at the time, Ryu was getting flamed on Reddit and Twitter, I knew how good he was because we played against him in scrimmages when he was playing with Roccat for IEM. I was confident the team would be the same without Febiven, as long as we got Ryu. And we did, so it was fine.
Crono: How are you adjusting to top laners with Smite taking important camps like Gromp or Krugs?
L: It kind of sucks. But hopefully there will be a Cinderhulk nerf soon, so I get to play Lee Sin again. Or at least my top laner won't steal my jungle!
Jeng: Why are you so good on Sejuani?
L: I don't regard myself as a really good Sejuani player, like William "Meteos" Hartman, for example. I believe she is a really strong champion right now. Especially if you build some Cooldown Reduction items on her, you can have your ultimate up every minute and be able to keep your Flail of the Northern Winds activated 24/7.
David: On Sejuani, is it better to open a fight with your ult, or save it for counter-engage?
L: It depends on your team composition, honestly. If you have a heavy teamfight comp, then you should use it to engage as soon as you can. If you're playing a peel comp like "protect the marksman," then you should keep it and use it only to protect your carries.
Ludvig: Which EU jungler is the most difficult to play against? Do any tend to do more counter-jungling than others, that we might not see on stream?
L: Dennis "Svenskeren" Johnsen probably does the most counter jungling out of any others, which can be annoying because, if he finds you in your jungle, he will usually have the stronger matchup 1v1 (usually playing Rek'sai or Lee Sin). So you will lose and, in the meantime, his laners will play super aggressive because they know where you are.
Jumble in the Jungle
Guill: Why don't you play Shaco in LCS? L: I don't play Shaco because we like teamfighting and Shaco is terrible at it. Noah: What are your thoughts on Elise? L: I think Elise's early pressure is decent, but she gets outscaled so hard by all of the tank-utility junglers like Gragas and Sejuani, who provide a lot in teamfights. But Elise only has her Cocoon. So unless you go 10-0 in the first 7 minutes of the game, it's not worth it to play Elise. Bryan: Is blue jungle Ezreal viable? L: It isn't viable in competitive, but everything is viable if you're brave enough in solo queue. *Smile* Stephen: What jungler, other than Vi or Sejuani, would you recommend for using to climb ranked? L: I'd recommend Gragas and Rek'sai. They have really strong ganks and they scale good too, if you build Cinderhulk into full tank. Blader: Are Hecarim and Malphite good jungle champions right now? L: No. Hecarim is decent, but you have to be really rich because his core items cost so much (Cinderhulk, Trinity Force, Frozen Heart, Spirit Visage). This is why he's played in the top lane. Malphite, on the other hand, has no gank pressure until level six, bad clear time, and is reliant on his ultimate. It's too many negatives. Meta: Is it possible to use Twitch as a jungler? L: Yes, in low elo you can do it! Start at your red buff, and then gank mid at level 2. Kill the enemy mid laner, then repeat it every 30 seconds until the enemy mid laner rage quits. GG. Jakup: Is it worth buying Skirmisher's Sabre on Sejuani? Then you can Smite the enemy ADC and charge at him! L: I'm not sure yet what item is the best on Sejuani in competitive, but for solo queue, I recommend Ranger's Trailblazer. The sustain is just too good and it improves your clear time.Lol, Louex
Schuster: Hablas español? jaja L: Un poquito lol me llamo juan victor jajajaajajShannon: What's your favorite and least favorite ice cream flavor?
L: My favorite ice cream flavor is cookie dough, and my least favorite one is... I don't know.
Chord: What's the best music to listen to while getting pumped up for an important game?
L: I don't listen to music before a big game. I try to clean my mind from anything useless and project myself into the game 30 minutes before it starts.
Thriller: What was the first video game you ever played?
L: Super Mario 64!
LoLesports: What pro player do you want to answer questions next? Would you like to ask him anything?
L: Origen Gaming's support player, Alfonso "Mithy" Aguirre Rodriguez: How does it feel to qualify for LCS after your ban and your toxic-free journey?
Josh Augustine's favorite champion is Nunu, he's never enjoyed a Darius, and he will always go for the kill, even when he knows he shouldn't. He currently works as a game designer on EverQuest Next at Daybreak Games. He’d love to talk with you on Twitter.
