Team SoloMid is one of the biggest franchises in eSports. The League of Legends team is known the world around. Even when they aren’t playing, crowds chant “TSM, TSM.” There’s no way to avoid it. iDigitalTimes managed to sneak some questions into their secret training facilities and here’s what we got.
Hauntzer:
What would you say, was TSM's biggest problem last split?
I’d say our biggest problem last split was that our communication as a team was terrible. Because of our bad communication, it was a lot harder for us to set up and plays.
Who's your favorite champion to play?
I like playing champions who are self sustainable and can make plays themselves – Champs like Ekko, Irelia, Ryze, and Fiora.
Do you think Ekko is fine where he is, or needs to be nerfed more?
After the latest patch 6.11, I don’t think Ekko will be as strong as he was before. His champion design is hard to balance and on patch 6.10 he was definitely broken.
What unexpected top laners do you think will hit the LCS stage? Swain doesn't count.
It’s hard to tell what champions will become broken but I think after the triforce changes, more champs that can benefit off of triforce will be played.
What are the best top laners?
The best tops for 6.10 are Ekko, Maokai, Swain and Trundle. For 6.11, I’m not so sure. Hopefully Irelia.
Svenskeren:
Does TSM have a singular shot caller or does everyone contribute together?
I don't think TSM has a singular shot caller, but Peter/Doublelift and Bjerg is definitely making the job easier for us others [sic], but i think everyone try to keep up on the talking and it’s something we all are improving on to make the more vocals in the team´s job more easy.
What's your favorite TSM meme?
Maybe SMILE GUYS??? After depressing victory idk.
(Ed Note: I have no idea what Sven is referring to here)
How did you like Korean solo queue?
It's always a pleasure getting to play on the korean server, since everyone is trying a lot harder, like playing meta picks almost every game so the games are pretty equal to scrims
What are the best junglers?
Nidalee and Kindred are nerfed on 6.11 but they have been pretty OP for a long time and they will still be seeing play even when getting nerfed. Then after thats it’s Reksai; he is pretty OP when Kindred is out of the game. Then its up to preference after that, Graves can go vs. Reksai if u [sic] just farm for lategame and Elise can go up against Reksais early game but gets outscaled. Gragas is decent too.
Bjergsen:
How is practicing in Korea different than in NA?
In Korea the dynamic queue games are a lot more competitive. There’s a level of prestige in being high on the korean ladder and everyone wants to prove themselves and show the best players that they have what it takes to become pro. It’s hosted in Korea so it has players from all the asian countries. The best players from Taiwan/China/Korea make the overall quality of games higher and queue times lower. The last but obvious thing is that Korea is the strongest region and that means you get scrim practice like nowhere else.
Who were some of your favorite players to run into in-game in Korean solo queue?
Some of my favorites were Tigers Peanut, Karsa from FW and Dopa. Peanut and Karsa are very aggressive junglers and it was obvious even from their solo play, they were also nice and always invited me to play with them and tried to talk to me even though their English wasn’t perfect. I’ve always studied and respected Dopa’s play, especially his Twisted Fate, so I was happy to see him in my games as well.
Who do you think are the strongest mid laners?
Vladimir is a pick that quickly emerged on these patches and he’s looking really strong, only Faker seemed to successfully counter it using Anivia, which was interesting to see. Other than that, I think most of the meta champions that are played across regions are all strong. Azir, Viktor, Ryze have become staples in this new meta.
What would need to happen to Galio to make him a competitive champion?
Galio isn’t too bad but is held back by how situational he is and how one dimensional. You can only play Galio vs. an extremely heavy magic damage comp because he gets free AP from building magic resistance. He’s also flash reliant and can only really get a successful ult off when his flash is up, but even then his ult is easily countered by fast cc or cleanse/QSS. Overall I think he’s too niche and that's why we don’t see him picked in competitive play.
Doublelift:
How do you think Stixxay is doing on CLG?
Stixxay is doing well on CLG, he fits his role on the team which allows them to have a strong team dynamic.
What's the main difference between NA and Korean solo queue?
NA solo queue is on 70 ping and queue times are upwards of 40 minutes in Challenger. Korean solo queue is on 8 ping and queue times are generally 10-20 minutes in Challenger. Otherwise, not much is different.
What's the team atmosphere like right now?
We’re having a great time and learning every day. I think we are all motivated and humbled by Vegas to do better and become a Worlds-winning team.
What are the strongest ADCs?
Lucian, Sivir, Ashe, and Caitlyn are best on this patch. I wouldn’t put them in any particular ranking, only that every team has a different priority based on the strengths and weaknesses of their bot lane.
Biofrost:
Have you moved into the house yet, how are you adjusting?
Yes, I’ve already moved into the house. It’s pretty nice. Just trying to get used to what’s around in the neighbourhood and find some good places to eat.
How is your synergy with Doublelift?
My synergy with Peter is pretty good. We’re getting used to each other’s playstyles and now it’s more fine tuning I think.
Who are the best supports?
Best supports for patch 6.11 (6.12) are probably Karma/Braum/Nami/Bard and Zyra. Zyra is especially good in solo q because she abuses lane really hard and is super obnoxious.
Janna or Soraka?
Soraka since she’s more fun to play and I like being a healbot.
