In 2013, a relative unknown team broke into the summer NA League Championship series and rampaged under the banner of Cloud9. The adventurers from China known as LMQ ransacked the minor leagues before becoming a top NA LCS contender and NA world representative in 2014. And just last split, the rookie organization Immortals put together a starting five of juggernauts that ripped through the competition en route to a 17-1 overall regular split record.
Inside the quaint press room on the second floor of the LCS arena, I sit with two players that believe they can be apart of the next great rookie NA LCS club. Beside me is Apex Gaming's starting mid laner, Jang "Keane" Lae-young, calm and relaxed coming off his team's upset victory over defending champions Counter Logic Gaming in a thrilling 2-1 series. To the right of him is Jeon "Ray" Ji-won, upright and attentive, the Korean native using his solo lane partner to act as a translator for the interview.
"For me, it's good having a really good team," answered Keane in English, telling me about his time in the Apex organization. "Most of the people [on the team] I used to work with before."
Keane stands as an enigma in the class of NA LCS mid laners. Back when he was on Curse Academy (and the rebranded Gravity), he was an unorthodox, one-of-a-kind player. In spite of current metas, Keane was always ready with a trick up his sleeve to change the entire complexion of a match in one pick. From his insane mid lane Hecarim to the annoyingly tanky Urgot, the former New Zealand university student from South Korea has been one to take the road less traveled.
When I asked Keane to inquire the same question I proposed to him about fitting into the Apex squad, Ray answered back in English: "Fun. Happy!" Unlike Apex's mid laner, Ray's journey to the premier North American competition didn't begin on the beaches of Australia, but the team houses in China where he played for the EDward Gaming organization, bouncing in-between the main squad and the secondary team.
"Compared to Gravity last year, that team was very relaxed and a good team environment," said Keane. "But this team, Apex, has more focus on practicing and working hard together. That's why we went to Korea for a bootcamp, and we practiced so hard. I think that's why we're having our success right now."
"The difference between Korea, China, and North America teams is Korea has the highest work ethic in terms of practicing and team environment," Ray said through Keane's translation. "[Korean teams] always focus. In China, their [work ethic] is kinda low compared to Korea. Then NA is mixed; they sometimes focus, and sometimes relax before working hard."
The wait for Ray to become a starter on a big stage hasn't been a short one. Since 2014, he's worked tirelessly in the EDG organization to make it as a starter on the main team. Unfortunately for him, by the time he had grown into a legitimate prospect ready to play against China's best, EDG couldn't start him. The former LPL champions housed two of the best and most established Korean players in the entire world, Heo "PawN" Won-seok and Kim "Deft" Hyuk-kyu, and rendered Ray to a familiar place stuck on the bench.
"When I was in EDG, the team overall was very strong -- the best team in China," said Ray through Keane. "So it was a team where I could play anything and win the game. But here on Apex, we're a new team from Challenger so I have to be more centered. If I just played carry tops, then we wouldn't have success. Right now I'm playing tanks, but as long as we keep practicing I can play carry tops later."
For Apex to reach its zenith, the team will need to come together as one over the course of the season. As a ten-man roster, with a minor league team under them, there is always the option to mix up the roster, but the current starting five seems to be clicking. Two Korean speakers, two English speakers, and Keane in the middle that is able to understand both sides, the merging of the Korean top half of the map and the English bottom side of the map with Apollo "Apollo" Price and Alex "Xpecial" Chu will be of the utmost importance. The slick picks and mechanical outplays might get them to the postseason, but to make it to Worlds Apex will need to grow as the campaign rolls along.
"But this team, Apex, has more focus on practicing and working hard together. That's why we went to Korea for a bootcamp." Lae-Young "Keane" Jang
"In Korea we all met at the bootcamp," Keane told me about the synergy between the topside of the map between himself, Ray, and the team's third Korean native in jungler Lee "Shrimp" Byeong-hoon. "We spent a lot of time practicing together, and we get along really well."
Other than coming together and finding the right chemistry with five players, coaching will be the factor that makes or break Apex's possible rookie run this split. That will come down to head coach Brandon "Saintvicious" DiMarco, formerly a longtime jungler of the Curse organization. Even if a team can mesh well and has the talent to perform at the highest level, the brilliance and understanding of a good coach can either win you a championship, or leave you stranded in mediocrity if the coach isn't up to the task.
"We focus on pick/bans a lot before the gameday," said Keane on Saint's influence on the squad and his coaching style. "He does a really good job. In terms of macro play, he does the same thing, too. He's a really good coach for our team."
"When I was in EDG the coach was Reapered, who is now C9," said Ray. "Since we're both top laners, I could work really closely with Reapered and have the same mindset playing the game. But compared to Reapered, Saint used to be a jungler so sometimes we have different mindsets. We need to work better on that, but overall he's a really good coach."
Over the first weekend of play, Ray became one of the most talked about players of the new season. His Fizz was the key reason why Apex was able to knock off the champions, and he exited the first three days of matchplay with two Player of the Game superlatives to put him in second place behind fellow South Korean top laner Shin "Seraph" Woo-yeong in the new system engineered by Riot to crown the league's MVP.
"When I was in EDG, I couldn't play a lot of games on the stage," Ray said translated through Keane, wanting to convey a message to his new western fans following his debut. "It was very unlucky because they had two other Koreans. After I left EDG, joining Apex made me really happy because I can play on the stage. I think I have the ability to show I can carry hard."
"I want to tell the fans to keep cheering for me and supporting me. I want the fans to support me."
One moved from South Korea to New Zealand to begin his pro-gaming career. The other traveled to China as a rookie to make his debut as a pro-gamer. Together in the United States, maybe this is the season and team where they'll ultimately reach their long-awaited apex.