An Interview with Joey "YoungBuck" Steltenpool

Interview and Foreword by Andy L. Bloodvayne

   The age old adage, "third time's a charm," definitely holds true for Dutch professional League of Legends pro, Joey "YoungBuck" Steltenpool. After flirting with the LCS on his previous teams, Mousesports and Samurai in Jeans, the charismatic top-laner finally acquired a roster that made it into the 2014 spring season of the EU LCS with the Copenhagen Wolves.  

   YoungBuck's team, PrideFC, was picked up by the Wolves with current teammates Unlimited and cowTard, as well as familiar EU LCS faces Shook and Rekkles. For the lack of a better word, their roster shred through the amateur scene, taking first in tournaments such as DreamHack, Gamescom, and the amateur tournament for IEM Cologne. When the team lost both Rekkles (to Fnatic) and Shook (to Alliance,) they acquired Amazing and FORG1VEN, two members who would later be considered breakout stars in the most recent season of the EU LCS.

   Though finishing with a 13-15 record at the end of the season, the standings were incredibly close - with first through sixth place being separated by just a handful of games. YoungBuck delivered an impressive performance during the Spring Playoffs, including an extremely tight series with both Alliance and Gambit, but ultimately the Wolves fell into the sixth place slot, becoming the final team to enter into the Summer Promotions (to be held later this week.)

   While his team's LCS slot is on the line, YoungBuck has tasted the big leagues, and he's determined to train harder than ever to preserve his seat and prove that his team is more than capable of taking on the EU LCS juggernauts.

LCS CENTRAL PRESENTS:

AN INTERVIEW WITH JOEY "YOUNGBUCK" STELTENPOOL

Hi YoungBuck. I'd like to thank you for taking time out of your schedule to do this interview. Everyone at LCS Central is a big fan of yours. I want to start off by congratulating you on finishing up the Spring Split of the EU LCS. Regardless of how you finished, you and your team made it to the end and looked impressive against favorites like Alliance and Gambit Gaming.

Before entering the LCS, it's almost an understatement to say that you and your team dominated the amateur scene, taking first at DreamHack Summer, Gamescom, and IEM Cologne; how has the transition from the amateur circuit to the LCS been like? Did a part of you expect your dominating performances to transfer over against the professional teams?

- We did expect to be a top tier team and especially to be the best new team in LCS but we ended up being a mid-tier team, which wasn't bad but was far from what we expected. The transition wasn't easy and I think the biggest part was that playing tournaments in challenger scene allowed us to peak at the right moment whereas LCS is all about consistency, which we definitely lacked.

What's been the hardest thing to overcome (as a team/as an individual) in these past few months?

- We had a lot of problems with throwing games even though we had huge leads in the early game, it took us several weeks to plug the holes but even now they still happen from time to time.

How does your role as captain come into play and how does it affect you? I know you mentioned that you take care of things like scheduling, but is there more? Do you feel any extra pressure to be a guiding light for your team when morale is low? Do you play a part in shot calling?

- I'm just the guy who schedules scrims and has the final say in important decisions outside the game. I do a lot of champion select work but I don't do much shot calling inside the actual game, which is mostly done by Unlimited.

Considering that being a professional League of Legends player is stressful (with scrims, spamming solo queue, theory crafting, etc.), is there anything you like to do in your free time to unwind and relax? What makes Joey Steltenpool happy when Youngbuck has exhausted himself?

- Working out in the gym makes me happy and it's my number one way to clear my mind. It also helps that it's one of the rare moments in a week where I'm on my own just doing my thing and not having to put much thought into the game.

Let's get back to the LCS. While you could say that you were a “middle of the pack” team, as per usual, the final score between the teams was relatively close. Why do you think the adage, “Every team in the EU LCS can beat each other,” rings true? Do you think the margin of strength between teams was really that close or do you think inconsistency plagues the EU teams?

- For the first time in EU LCS history the LCS actually has the top 8 teams in it, that means that the level of play is a lot higher and that anyone has a chance to win any match at any given time.

In a recent episode of Summoning Insight, Montecristo mentioned that the top NA teams (C9, TSM, and CLG) are stronger than the top EU teams (without knowing for sure who they are exactly) because they seem to have a better grasp of the meta/strategy and EU's tendency for oddball picks (e.g. your Heimerdinger), do you agree?

- I think the top 3 teams of NA can compete with the top 6 in Europe but only C9 could break the top 3. Individual levels on EU teams are all around very solid whereas most teams, even CLG and TSM have individual weaknesses.

How has the 4.5 patch treated you? Did the various changes make a dent in the tanky top lane meta? Ryze has had a resurgence and Soaz's Lulu has seen better success, do you see any other possible AP champs that may pop up in competitive play?

- I like the new meta and the variety in picks for top lane a lot, the one champ we might see a comeback from is Vladimir, I love playing him and will play him every game in which the match-up is favorable.

Returning to the last few weeks, how were preparations going into the playoffs? You mentioned that you were all confident going into your match against Alliance (took the first game and had a sizeable lead in game two), what particularly were you confident about?

- We knew everything about them since they weren't hiding their picks or strategies and it showed off in the first map, we just allowed ourselves to make stupid mistakes in the heat of the moment that lost us the other two maps.

What about Gambit? Did you foresee them dropping into the 5th place match considering they normally place top 4 at online events? How was it preparing for them?

- It was very unexpected. We went through a lot of playoff scenarios to start scouting our opponents but not a single scenario had us facing Gambit in the 5th/6th place decider match. Being number five in Europe doesn't say that much since the top teams are just too close to each other in skill level to really call one team better than the other with the exception of Fnatic being the best.

The EU Spring season is now officially over and your team placed sixth, which means you will play in the Summer Promotion tournament against Denial eSports. Have you guys started thinking about that match yet? Any particular reason you picked Denial?

- They had a very weak performance on LAN which suggests that they are inexperienced and might crumble under the pressure. On top of that they also have individual weaknesses that we can exploit and lack the team-play that challenger teams like NiP and C9 do have.

In your opinion, what was the most important thing you learned after your first season in the LCS?

- The most important thing is to have a team that works as a unit especially outside of the game. If five people are on good terms then any problem can be solved easily. Individual skill levels are so close that they often aren't a deciding factor in wins. Teamwork and synergy is almost everything.

To close out this interview, do you have any advice to the aspiring amateur teams that are hoping to make it into the LCS?

- Train hard and consistently and be ready to make sacrifices because the LCS comes with a lot of them.

Again, I'd like to thank you for the interview and congratulate you on a job well done. I'm sure you'll prove to everyone that the Copenhagen Wolves deserve to keep their LCS spot in the upcoming Summer Season.

Victorious YoungBuck hugs ex-teammate Rekkles after a win against Fnatic.

Cloud 9 Reigns over the NA LCS

Celebrating their win beneath a shower of glittering confetti, Cloud 9 looked happy. Not ecstatic. Not Overjoyed. Just...happy. Because long before the third game of their NA Championship series vs TSM ended, they knew they had it in the bag. The raucous jubilation that usually comes with a hard fought victory will have to wait for the teams in relegation. Having eyed the throne all season with an assortment of swords and poisons in their bags, Cloud 9 quietly disposed of all fake kings and seized the NA Kingdom, undaunted by the chants of the masses - and now, all TSM fans can do is bow to them and recognize their serfdom.

Grats Cloud 9...and hail to the kings, baby!

-----

Wild Turtle enjoys a beverage backstage before their match vs Cloud 9.

Fnatic: Taking the Erratic Road to Victory

EU Spring Split Champions, Fnatic, could be the poster boys for those cheesy inspiration photos you find hanging in cubicle-laden offices, with words like 'Dedication,' 'Determination,' and 'Perseverance' peppered beneath their faces. During Season Four, the teen idol team was like a runaway mine cart, careening wildly along a track that ran from soaring peaks to hellish pits in the span of just two months. But they had seen the sunrise from the top of the mountain, and they knew it was where they belonged.

Fighting their despair, the diligent young men of Fnatic dug deep into their souls - refusing to buckle under pressure or fight and blame each other. They attacked and climbed the sheer cliff ahead of them first with their fingertips, then with their hands, then with their iron fists, taking back what they knew was theirs. And when the dust cleared, it was almost inappropriate that they regained their crown with a surrender - because as this split of the EU Spring series showed, surrender was the one thing Fnatic refused to do.   

Congratulations Fnatic! You earned your win in every sense of the word. 

EU LCS FINALS PREDICTION

EU LCS Finals Prediction by Jeremy “Ne0 Jets” Heimann

Fnatic (17-11) vs SK Gaming (18-10) 

                                                                 Season series won 3-1 by SK Gaming

     Fnatic is LCS Royalty. Winners of both the Spring and Summer Playoffs in 2013 and close runners-up at IEM Katowice 2014, Fnatic started the split going 7-0 and looked like the team to beat. Then they lost eight in a row and their place among the top contenders was in serious jeopardy. The team was able to recover and finished strong with a  record of 10-3 coming down the stretch. The team is very experienced in the playoffs save for Rekkles, the boy wonder.

     Rekkles, at the age of 16, was a huge part of Fnatic defeating CLG EU and winning Winter Dreamhack 2012. Rekkles is fearless out on the rift  - making plays that are usually setup by his support Yellowstar. The bottom lane combo has been deadly this season. Former ADC Yellowstar knows the ins and outs of the role and has great  synergy with Rekkles. Mid lane doesn't require much introduction. It is Fnatic's own Xpeke, famous for his back door Kassadin play. He doesn't run teleport mid much anymore, but teams still strive or fail based on how the center of  the map is going. Xpeke led the whole of EU LCS in kills this split with 125 total kills. Patch 4.5 hasn’t been so kind to Xpeke having his most played champion Gragas nerfed hard. Champions I see him aiming to get in champ select are Leblanc, Nidalee and Orianna.

     Top lane Soaz has one of the deeper champion pools and he isn't afraid of anyone. He does his job time and again. His top lane Lulu came up huge in the semifinals and he isn't scared to play anything top. He also likes playing Trundle against tanky tops so whatever Freddy122 comes up with he will have an answer for. In the jungle is Cyanide. He has a lot of games on Elise this season. He also plays Lee Sin and Vi. I don’t expect any target bans thrown his way. He has been a very solid jungler for some time, but he needs to be a play maker more.

     SK Gaming wasn't expected to finish at the top of the spring season. Many predicted them to be near the bottom of the league. They were also pushed to their limits during regulations by Supa Hot Crew. N-rated has been on fire lately in the support role - setting up most of what SK does in lane and in team fights. SK is team-oriented, living or dying with what the team does as a whole and not individually. A weakness I could see is in mid lane, Jesiz. Twelve of his eighteen wins are on three champs: Ziggs, Nidalee and Orianna. He has tried to learn new champs such as LeBlanc, but has had mixed results when he is forced off his comfort picks. A strategy could be to ban those three champs and force him onto something he isn't comfortable with.

     Freddy122 has been a beast with the tanky top meta. He has an impressive five out of five wins on Trundle. Svenskeren has impressive win rates with Eve, Pantheon and Elise. With the recent Pantheon nerfs, I don’t see him looking that way. Eve and Elise will be high priority. I don’t think he would care which one he got as long as it was one of the two. Candypanda’s Vayne gets banned out a lot, but he has nearly identical win rates on Lucian and Jinx. He laughs at the Vayne bans because it does not hurt him or his team at all.

Prediction: Fnatic wins a close series 3-2. Experience in the playoffs will tilt the series.

NA LCS Playoff Predictions

NA LCS Playoff Predictions by antdrioite.

I’ll try and explain why I believe each team will win. Note that I add percentages to some matches. I believe those have more chance for an upset.

1.  Quarterfinals

CLG – Coast H2H (4-0) Expectations (2-0)

Even when CLG didn’t have Dexter on the team they had no problems with Team Coast. CLG has shown they can adapt quickly to new patches and clearly have a better mid/late game than Coast. If ZionSpartan or Shiphtur don’t get too big in the early game, CLG will just walk over them with good rotations and objective control. Dexter just has to control the pace of the game, and lane swapping can lessen the impact Zion has early in the game. Link can definitely handle himself against Shiphtur and the rush hour botlane has not shown fear of to many other botlanes. If both teams get evenly strong team comps then CLG should have no problems closing out the series in two quick games.

Dignitas – Curse H2H (1-3) Expectations (2-1) 60-40%

Curse has been in a weak spot the last couple of weeks and will need to prove themselves during the playoffs. A win against CLG (who were obviously not taking the game seriously and had problems with the Shen bug) doesn’t convince me that Curse is back. Even though Curse has a lead in the head to head, Dig won the last game and has shown much improvement since Scarra stepped down as mid and became the full-time coach of Dignitas. Both teams have some unorthodox picks and might surprise each other with that, but Dig has shown that they can adapt quickly. Curse could definitely take a game off Dignitas with some strong picks or early snowballing but Dig shouldn't be surprised twice and I give them a good chance of winning the series 2-1 or even 2-0. Curse can’t be underestimated and will definitely show a good match, I give them a 40% chance of actually making an upset and winning the series but I do not expect them to actually win it.

2.  Semifinals

TSM – CLG H2H (3-1) Expectations (1-2) 35-65%

Fans will hate me for this but I just think TSM is a bit weaker these days. They also admitted to having problems adjusting to new patches. With patch 4.5 being such a big one, CLG will have a clear advantage in that point. TSM got a few blows during Super Week, losing to last place XDG and getting (sorry for my words) crushed by C9. CLG had a much better game against C9 and were on a mission the last day of Super Week. CLG has admitted that TSM is a strong (maybe even stronger) opponent, and much will be decided in the pick and ban phase. TSM can choose which side they start on, so they have a small edge in that if they want to counterpick mid twice or just have the strong first pick jungle/adc. TSM wins most of their games by having strong lanes and forcing team fights in the mid game so they can take an objective after they win that fight.

     Dexter is a bit stronger in the jungle than OddOne. If CLG can have even lane match-ups, they should have the edge transitioning into the mid/late game. They have stronger rotations and are clearly better in lane swapping. If Bjergsen and Dyrus don’t get too big, Dexter should be able to control the pace of the game until his team's rotations help them close out the game. Much will be decided in the botlane since both botlanes have shown they can carry the game. Wildturtle’s Twitch can’t be underestimated and neither supports should be given Thresh for free. Dyrus might not be the shining star of TSM, but he's been their rock for a long time and will have to be at his best if TSM wants a chance to win this series. I believe CLG can win this series 2-1, but TSM will not just roll over and die. I do fear their slow adjustments to new patches and worse objective control/jungle early will cost them. Whatever the outcome may be, this should be one hell of a series to watch for all the fans.

Cloud 9 – Dignitas H2H (3-1) Expectations (2-0)

Cloud 9 has been on fire. They evened their win streak record and after being in TSM’s shadow for most of the split, they want to show they are still the number one team in NA. Dignitas beat them once in the start of the split but these aren’t the same teams anymore. C9’s rotations are almost perfect and even if the lanes falter, Meteos can step up and solo the game.  

     Dignitas will not surprise Cloud 9 with special picks. All lanes are solid and if one gets behind, the rest will step up to carry the game. Dignitas fans might hope on a miracle but a focused C9 is almost unbeatable. Dropping only seven games in two splits and ending number one in both those splits tells enough, in my opinion. The team also has the biggest KDA and much better synergy than the new Dignitas with Goldenglue. This will probably be the most one-sided series of the playoffs and is mostly just preparation for C9 to win the playoffs. Dignitas should just try and show they can perform and take lessons for the third place match against TSM.

3.  5th and 3rd place match.

Coast – Curse H2H (1-3) Expectations (2-1) 50-50%

Both teams are at the bottom of the table and have problems being consistent. Coast has shown some improvement in the last few weeks and I always have the feeling they can win the game they are playing. Like Scarra said, up until they lose the game, they're winning. Shiphtur and Zion are incredible sololaners and show time and again that they can take control of a game. But winning is a team effort and league is a five man game, so the rest of Coast will need to step up to help get themselves out of relegations.

     Curse shows some life now and then but they lack consistency and a solid plan when going into pick and ban phase. If Coast can pick up LeBlanc or Nidalee for Shiphtur, then Curse will have a lot of problems dealing with both him and the always strong Zionspartan in the top lane. I feel those two might be just enough for Coast and they can avoid relegations if the rest of the team just doesn’t fall behind in this match. Curse has the advantage in the head to head standings and might take that to the playoffs but will not have it easy. I believe both teams are evenly matched but Coast will take the series on the backs of Shiphtur and mostly Zionspartan.

Dignitas – TSM H2H (0-4) Expectations (0-2) 30-70%

TSM will be hungry for the victory after their most likely close loss to CLG and will not give Dignitas an easy time. The head to head record shows that TSM have had no problems with Dignitas this split and I think that will continue into the playoffs. Bjergsen will have little issues with Goldenglue and the superior laning should give TSM the match quite convincingly. Dignitas should definitely show some strength after their games against C9, but I believe TSM will win this match without many issues.

4.  The Finals

Cloud 9 – CLG H2H (3-1) Expectations (3-1) 60-40%

Cloud 9 proved to be the superior team in their last two meetings with CLG and, with near flawless rotations, they deserve the number one seed they earned this split. But they showed some weakness in their last game against Coast, and CLG will exploit any weakness that they can find. The pick and ban phase of every game will be very important for the outcome of the match. Both Cloud 9 and CLG have great rotations and the small skirmishes around objectives like dragon will probably decide the outcome of every game.

Dexter and Meteos will watch each other, and the team that wins the jungle battle will most likely come out victorious. If their latest match in Super Week was a taste, then this will definitely be the best series of the weekend. I expect both teams to show everything they have, but C9 will have a clear edge because they are the older and a more consistent team. Dexter has made big impacts for CLG and they will keep growing, but C9 has proven and should prove that they are still the number one team in NA.

5.  Persons to watch

Zionspartan is the strongest player from Coast and is also their voice. If the team gets into late game, he will be the man that gives the commands and will lead Coast to victory. Not just through skill but through leadership. If he has a good game and the team doesn’t fall behind, anything can happen for Coast.

Bjergsen is maybe new to the shot caller role but he'll need to be at the top of his game if TSM wants to end in the top three and maybe even win the playoffs. TSM is solid and will fight for every game, and Bjergsen will definitely not be easy on his opponents. Watch out for TSM when they get to the midgame with a good teamfighting comp or with Bjergsen on LeBlanc in a strong pickcomp. Even his Syndra should spread fear to his opponents and not to be underestimated. TSM won’t win or break with Bjergsen but he will have a big part in their victory.

Meteos and Dexter: Both junglers help their team immensely during the early game and their control around dragons and buffs will determine the success of their matches. Both junglers should be feared, but note that without their team they can be punished for aggressive behavior. Meteos might opt more to farm and Dexter to roam but if they get a small lead, they will be aggressive and dominating throughout every game.

These are my predictions for the NA LCS playoffs. Whatever you might believe or agree too, just support your team and enjoy the matches. They should be amazing!