LoL internet show with CitizenWayne in Korea, Na'Vi's disbandment, and more!

Hello readers!

Unfortunately this article isn’t a translated interview of a pro Korean LoL player :p While this has been a personal focus as an editor for Team Dignitas, I wanted to share my experience in some other aspect of the Korean LoL scene. In this article, I’m going to write about internet broadcasting.

The promo banner!

Inven, a major online game webzine, invited CitizenWayne (CW from now on), to be on a game show last week. This was the first broadcasting of any kind in Korea involving a foreign guest, and needless to say, it was a very special occasion. I also had the pleasure of being the first translator on the show to accompany the foreign guest. This particular program involved playing blind pick games with other Korean users at around 1600 ELO, and it is a weekly segment that features top Korean players; the guest before CW was LG-IM’s a Lilac and this week’s guest is going to be CJ Entus’ LongPanda.

This was also a chance for me to catch up with CW and ask him questions regarding the disbanding of Natus Vincere’s (Na’Vi) LoL team and what he has been doing after Na’Vi was eliminated from the Round of 16 at the OGN tournament. Before bringing you the behind-the-scenes content of the broadcasting process, I thought I should talk about CW first.

There may be some misunderstanding in the LoL community when it comes to the disbandment. First of all, unlike how Na’Vi portrayed it as a unilateral decision which was justified based on the LoL team’s recent poor performance in its official announcement, CW maintained that it was a mutual decision between the management and the team captain.

Since the team was not going to qualify for the Season 2 Championship regardless of the situation, both parties agreed that they should head separate ways by disbanding. CW mentioned that he still maintains a good relationship with Na’Vi’s management and that it was a logical decision considering that his current LoL team did not complement the business image of Na’Vi who’s Counter Stike and DOTA teams are one of the best in the world. Although it is highly unlikely, a new LoL team with CW could be sponsored by Na’Vi after Season 2.

As for CW himself, he plans on waiting until Season 2 is over to make an official move. He stated that he wants to continue playing LoL at a professional level and that he received offers already from various teams. But, for now, he’s enjoying his time in Korea by travelling and going to various places. Apparently his Korean LoL got deleted after his team was knocked out in OGN so it’s like he’s almost forced to head out ;(

Catching up with CitizenWayne over coffee before the show.

But, of course, one of the things that he did last week in Korea was participating in the broadcast. There was a big twist of some sort, as CW thought that the Na’Vi disbandment news would be released after the broadcast was done. The news actually surfaced on Reddit a day before the scheduled broadcast, and it caused some worries because there is the promotional aspect of the team that a guest belongs to. However, Inven still extended their invitation because CW was a really cool guy ;)

Other potential problems involved, of course, having a foreign guest on the show. Among other things, the flow of the broadcast was a worry as the host wouldn’t be able to interact directly with the guest, and that there would be a complicated web of dialogue as there are three people involved. The host looked very nervous before the broadcast, and other broadcast staff members mentioned how it was the first time seeing the host that nervous before.

After Inven treated us to an excellent dinner, and after a few minutes of downtime where we chatted with the staff over coffee, it was showtime!

The studio.

Even though the show was broadcasted through Afreeca TV and the live show was inaccessible to foreign viewers, Inven posted Youtube versions of the broadcast. The first segment involves an interview followed by a Gragas game. In the second game, CW showed off his Ziggs. The third segment was meant to be an entertainment segment, and the easy-going CW complied with the host’s request for a mid Blitzcrank (the host played with CW and showed off his jungle Twisted Fate). Finally, in the last segment, CW displayed Veigar with a unique item build.

Here are the links. I won’t spoil the results (scroll down for the embedded YouTube video):
Gragas
Ziggs
Blitzcrank
Veigar

As a discretionary remark, although I am referred to as a manager throughout the show, I’m not actually THE manager of the Team Dignitas LoL squad. The real manager is, of course, the almighty ODEE. The term “manager” is used very loosely in the Korean community, and I have come to be known as a “manager” by the Korean OGN staff/press because I have been accompanying our squad and assisting them with press/interview translations throughout the OGN tournament ;)

Although the show is largely Korean, the show has some educational aspects to it as CW explains item builds, and such throughout the game. So if there are any readers that want to learn these champions, you should tune in! For those of you who understand Korean, you can find out about how the host tried to hook-up with a female professional LG-IM LoL gamer… in the Blitzcrank segment I believe. It’s a terrible joke and I don’t think CW knew that the gamer was the Korean version of Imaqtpie :p

The broadcast, with "Poong-nim" commentating!

I want to thank Inven for giving me permission to take these pictures and allowing me to write an article about this historic day and inviting me to be a part of the show. Honestly, it was my first time on a live show and I felt that I could have done a better job translating for the Korean viewers. I also wish that I had a better… broadcasting voice… I suppose. I’ll try to sound more excited, if I get a chance to :)

Also, good luck to CitizenWayne, who loves Korean food and is planning on returning to Korea in the future for a university exchange program!