Newbee Coach Hiro on the team's Game 3 win: 'Their play aroused my fighting spirit'
Newbee Gaming defeated Suning Gaming in their first match of the new 2017 LPL Summer Split. Following their victory, they fielded questions from the press about champion picks, Lei “Corn” Wen’s return to the LPL, and their new lineup.
After more than a year away from the main league, have you noticed any differences between the LPL this year versus 2015?
Corn: There are differences. Right now, LPL team synergy is stronger.
In the past, you and Jian “Uzi” Zihao were teammates, but when you see him next, you will play against him. Are you looking forward to this match? Will you catch him in the first five minutes and take special care to look after him?
Corn: I really look forward to facing Uzi and RNG. As for whether or not I will catch him, I don’t know right now.
This is the first time you’ve picked Fiora this year, and you played her very well. What do you think are the advantages of Fiora on the current patch?
Bao “V” Bo: Fiora is very good this patch because this patch favors laning. Maybe the game can be won in the laning phase alone.
If the match tempo is disrupted, how do you make adjustments?
Baek “Swift” Dahoon: In the early game, players rely on themselves to force situations. But later on, you know you can rely on the whole team’s synergy and control. Just avoid fatigue in the mid game.
In the first games, you picked Kalista in the first round of the draft. Why did you give Kalista such high priority?
Coach Lee “Hiro” Woosuk: We practiced Kalista for today because we expected the enemy team to ban Caitlyn. If Caitlyn isn’t available, you can pick Kalista. I also referred to my bot laners’ suggestions.
In the mid lane in the third game, you took the initiative to start a fight with Lulu and kill the enemy bottom lane. At that time, what was your thought process?
Lin “Lwx” Weixiang: At that time, I saw their position, and I could use my W on them. I didn’t think about it much, I just killed them.
Right now, Newbee has a lot of players. How does the Coach decide which rosters to play?
Coach Hiro: When I pick the roster to play, I pick whichever players are playing well.
In the third game as Kog’Maw, you had a very flashy game, and you could turn the situation around. What study or experience do you have with this champion?
Lwx: In the early stages of the game, this champion has to scale. With two items completed, he can start teamfighting, and he’ll do more damage than other AD carry champions.
How do you rate your performance today?
Lwx: Seven. In the first two games, I didn’t play that well.
Are you satisfied with the performances of your players today? What is the goal of this split?
Coach Hiro: In the first two games today, my pick ban and the opponents’ had both advantages and disadvantages impacting the players’ performance. In the third game, we had a disadvantage from draft, but the players played extremely well, so we won. Their play aroused my fighting spirit. Next time, I want to do better.
Our goal this split is to attend Worlds and progress to the next season.
You can follow Kelsey Moser on Twitter @karonmoser.
