Seraph returns to the NA LCS
Riot·6/5/2015, 9:44:54 PM·1 votes·9,066 views
Shin "Seraph" Woo-yeong made his debut in the NA LCS as the top laner for Counter Logic Gaming at the start of the 2014 Summer Split. The rookie came from Korea, with his only prior experience coming from the time he spent as a substitute top laner for NaJin White Shield. Despite only having one OGN game to his name, fans began to buzz about how CLG's new Korean would change the team for the better.
In the beginning of his career with CLG, Seraph appeared to be a decent fit. They performed well despite the expected language barriers, holding 1st Place for the first five weeks with a 13-7 record. Yet even though CLG won games, Seraph never became the godly Korean top laner fans expected, often losing his lane match-up. Seraph saw some good moments on his signature Shyvana and Lulu, but you could tell in his play that things were not improving.
Then, in a series that many expected CLG to sweep during the 2014 Summer Playoffs, they lost their chance to attend Worlds after falling 3-0 to Team Curse. Eyes began to shift towards Seraph as the one to blame due to his inability to control Diego “Quas” Ruiz in the top lane and much of that false hype began to backfire.
Losing to Team Dignitas for 5th Place and sending CLG to the Promotion Tournament was the final nail in Seraph's CLG coffin. Despite showing promise in their series vs. Curse Academy with Lulu and Ryze picks, CLG didn't re-sign Seraph for the 2015 Season, citing further issues with communication.
Without another team to play for, Seraph returned to Korea. “Originally, I had no plans to do anything, only Solo Queue on Korean servers,” Seraph tells us when asked about life after CLG. “I was offered a position on Team Dragon Knights many times, but originally refused to join.”
And it's not much of a surprise, as Seraph wasn’t given much of a chance to show what he could actually do in his first foray in the NA LCS. It’s difficult to coordinate ganks -- or anything for that matter -- with a top laner you can’t understand.
But it wasn't long before the aspiring Team Dragon Knights -- a team filled with Korean speakers -- finally convinced him to come aboard.
Team Dragon Knights didn't have any big names when they formed in September of 2014, but they did have one goal: to make it into the NA LCS. And while TDK may not have a storied history or an all star line-up like CLG, Seraph was intrigued by the notion of being part of a team with little language barriers.
Upon joining, TDK consisted of Seraph, Andy “Smoothie” Ta, Kevin “Kez” Jeon, Lee “ LouisXGeeGee” Sung-jin, and Seo “Kyle” Ji-sun. Most of the roster spoke Korean, making Seraph a lot more comfortable than under the spotlight of CLG’s English-dominant team.
Despite being a roster comprised of fresh faces, TDK showed a lot of promise during the 2015 Spring Qualifiers. Behind the experience of Seraph, the team qualified for the Spring Challenger Circuit, ultimately going 7-3 and placing 2nd in the league. Seraph leveraged his team in many of those Challenger Series matches with his near perfect KDA on Mundo, a testament to what he could do when he could actually communicate with his team.
And yet, even though Seraph brings the most competitive experience to TDK, he still believes there's a lot he can learn. In fact, the top laner attributes much of the credit of his success to his teammates' performances. “I think I'm an overall inconsistent player,” Seraph says. “I believe my teammates make me more consistent.”
And it showed in TDK’s match against Winterfox in the Promotion Tournament. Seraph himself didn’t play out of his mind, but he didn’t feed and performed his job as a tank through picks like Mundo and Gnar. Despite a series that involved a couple of close calls, TDK came out ahead 3-1, being the only NA Challenger Series team to win a series against a NA LCS team.
Now that Seraph and TDK achieved their original goal, they're on to the next. "As a team, Playoffs is the first goal," he says. "Then it’s about player consistency."
“Everything is better,” Seraph remarks about his new team, which recently picked up two new players in AD carry Kim "Emperor" Jin-hyun from CJ Entus Blaze and mid laner Noh "Ninja" Geon-woo from Team WE to replace LouisXGeeGee and Alexey "Alex Ich" Ichetovkin respectively.
As this young squad works their way through their rookie NA LCS Split, they'll need to work extra hard to attain the consistency that Seraph regards so highly.
Tune in to Lolesports every weekend to see Seraph and Team Dragon Knights take on their new competitors in the NA LCS.
Then, in a series that many expected CLG to sweep during the 2014 Summer Playoffs, they lost their chance to attend Worlds after falling 3-0 to Team Curse. Eyes began to shift towards Seraph as the one to blame due to his inability to control Diego “Quas” Ruiz in the top lane and much of that false hype began to backfire.
Losing to Team Dignitas for 5th Place and sending CLG to the Promotion Tournament was the final nail in Seraph's CLG coffin. Despite showing promise in their series vs. Curse Academy with Lulu and Ryze picks, CLG didn't re-sign Seraph for the 2015 Season, citing further issues with communication.
Without another team to play for, Seraph returned to Korea. “Originally, I had no plans to do anything, only Solo Queue on Korean servers,” Seraph tells us when asked about life after CLG. “I was offered a position on Team Dragon Knights many times, but originally refused to join.”
And it's not much of a surprise, as Seraph wasn’t given much of a chance to show what he could actually do in his first foray in the NA LCS. It’s difficult to coordinate ganks -- or anything for that matter -- with a top laner you can’t understand.
But it wasn't long before the aspiring Team Dragon Knights -- a team filled with Korean speakers -- finally convinced him to come aboard.
Contemplating Team Dragon Knights
Team Dragon Knights didn't have any big names when they formed in September of 2014, but they did have one goal: to make it into the NA LCS. And while TDK may not have a storied history or an all star line-up like CLG, Seraph was intrigued by the notion of being part of a team with little language barriers.
Upon joining, TDK consisted of Seraph, Andy “Smoothie” Ta, Kevin “Kez” Jeon, Lee “ LouisXGeeGee” Sung-jin, and Seo “Kyle” Ji-sun. Most of the roster spoke Korean, making Seraph a lot more comfortable than under the spotlight of CLG’s English-dominant team.
Despite being a roster comprised of fresh faces, TDK showed a lot of promise during the 2015 Spring Qualifiers. Behind the experience of Seraph, the team qualified for the Spring Challenger Circuit, ultimately going 7-3 and placing 2nd in the league. Seraph leveraged his team in many of those Challenger Series matches with his near perfect KDA on Mundo, a testament to what he could do when he could actually communicate with his team.
And yet, even though Seraph brings the most competitive experience to TDK, he still believes there's a lot he can learn. In fact, the top laner attributes much of the credit of his success to his teammates' performances. “I think I'm an overall inconsistent player,” Seraph says. “I believe my teammates make me more consistent.”
And it showed in TDK’s match against Winterfox in the Promotion Tournament. Seraph himself didn’t play out of his mind, but he didn’t feed and performed his job as a tank through picks like Mundo and Gnar. Despite a series that involved a couple of close calls, TDK came out ahead 3-1, being the only NA Challenger Series team to win a series against a NA LCS team.
Looking to the future
Now that Seraph and TDK achieved their original goal, they're on to the next. "As a team, Playoffs is the first goal," he says. "Then it’s about player consistency."
“Everything is better,” Seraph remarks about his new team, which recently picked up two new players in AD carry Kim "Emperor" Jin-hyun from CJ Entus Blaze and mid laner Noh "Ninja" Geon-woo from Team WE to replace LouisXGeeGee and Alexey "Alex Ich" Ichetovkin respectively.
As this young squad works their way through their rookie NA LCS Split, they'll need to work extra hard to attain the consistency that Seraph regards so highly.
Tune in to Lolesports every weekend to see Seraph and Team Dragon Knights take on their new competitors in the NA LCS.
