Rushing for the NA LCS Championship
Riot·4/8/2015, 9:04:00 PM·0 votes·11,692 views
Yoonjae "Rush" Lee couldn't care less about your jungle tank meta, Patch 5.6. Even in the era of the Cinderhulk-bearing titans, Team Impulse's rookie jungler pulled out a trio of early game brawlers in their Quarterfinal matchup against Gravity -- Lee Sin, Vi (twice), and Rek'Sai.
We chatted with Rush to find out exactly why his carry-style jungling will carry his squad to the NA LCS Finals -- and beyond.
And it's shown. In all three of Impulse's wins over Gravity in the Quarterfinals, he utilized his gank-heavy playstyle to get himself and his teammates huge early advantages. Whether it's his famed Lee Sin -- fresh out of Solo Queue dominance -- or the Vi and Rek'Sai that many pro junglers have eschewed in favor of the likes of Sejuani and Nunu, he's perfectly capable of carrying games all on his own.
That's by design, according to Rush. He has no interest in playing champions that can't just straight up kill enemies in a heads up fight. When asked about the aforementioned Sejuani and Nunu, he said, "Disgusting. Stupid champions. They are not good at 1 vs. 1. They're only good at 3 vs. 3 or 5 vs. 5. That's not fun as a jungler. [laughs] I prefer to fight 1 vs. 1."
That allows him to get into the minds of his opponents, he says. "I can feel what [my enemies] want to do. My sixth sense teaches me that they will do this and they are scared now because of me. I can pressure so I can farm. He's low, so he will die soon because of me. It's my instinct. Mind games… Gravity was so scared every game because of me."
Inspiring that amount of fear, he says, is what he revels in. He has nothing but fun getting into the minds of his opponents and making sure they cower before his early game power.
1 vs. 1 me, bro
Tank junglers typically take a little while to get rolling. Pro players have taken to farming up in the early game before entering fights to roll over the opposing side. Rush doesn't like this plan. "I focus on kills first, not the farming," he says. "Most junglers like to farm first and gank later. I just kill."
And it's shown. In all three of Impulse's wins over Gravity in the Quarterfinals, he utilized his gank-heavy playstyle to get himself and his teammates huge early advantages. Whether it's his famed Lee Sin -- fresh out of Solo Queue dominance -- or the Vi and Rek'Sai that many pro junglers have eschewed in favor of the likes of Sejuani and Nunu, he's perfectly capable of carrying games all on his own.
That's by design, according to Rush. He has no interest in playing champions that can't just straight up kill enemies in a heads up fight. When asked about the aforementioned Sejuani and Nunu, he said, "Disgusting. Stupid champions. They are not good at 1 vs. 1. They're only good at 3 vs. 3 or 5 vs. 5. That's not fun as a jungler. [laughs] I prefer to fight 1 vs. 1."
Adaptations
But how does such a kill-focused player adapt to the slower, tankier jungle meta? Why, by building a carry jungler like a tank, of course! In Game 4 against Gravity, he built his beloved Vi with the Cinderhulk Enchantment, Randuin's Omen, and Warmog's Armor to survive against a bursty team composition coming from Gravity. It worked. He went 7/2/13, and managed to get mid laner Yu “XiaoWeiXiao” Xian rolling to a huge 12/0/1 finish on Zed. The build wasn't necessarily intentional, says Rush. "My instincts always teach me what to build, what to buy," he says. "Whether it's the red jungler item or tank item or AD item. That's why I chose AD item first in the second match, but the tank item in the last match. It's an in-game decision." "[I built tank Vi] because people always say that I can't play tank junglers," he laughed. "So, I wanted to combine both carry and tank. Wasn't that what I did? I bought tank items and carried the game."Basic instinct
It may seem a bit odd for a jungler to go down such an unconventional item path, but that's just how Rush likes to play. He plays with feeling, not with cold calculations. He's not the type of player to theorycraft, instead choosing to do what feels right to him.
That allows him to get into the minds of his opponents, he says. "I can feel what [my enemies] want to do. My sixth sense teaches me that they will do this and they are scared now because of me. I can pressure so I can farm. He's low, so he will die soon because of me. It's my instinct. Mind games… Gravity was so scared every game because of me."
Inspiring that amount of fear, he says, is what he revels in. He has nothing but fun getting into the minds of his opponents and making sure they cower before his early game power.
