Rising Star: Post MLG interview with FX-Open Arthelon

Recently winning the MLG Spring championship and currently 2-0 in the MOBAFire Challenger Series, FX-Open is one of the strongest amateur teams out there. I had a chance to talk with their mid laner, Arthelon about the amateur scene, mid lane, and his thoughts on the NA LCS.

 

Hello Arthelon, why don't you introduce yourself for those who may be unfamiliar with you?

Arthelon: Hello I am Arthelon, a high elo player and the mid laner for FXOpen.

 

What is it like practicing as an amateur team and is it difficult to find scrim partners? Are top teams willing to scrim non LCS teams?

Arthelon: It depends on what connections you have. A good manager makes it easy to fill our scrim schedule up. We often do scrim LCS teams, but I can not say how often non LCS teams get to scrim them.

 

What are your thoughts on the state of the amateur LoL scene and how do you think it can be improved?

Arthelon: By giving incentives to even be on a team! Currently the biggest one of course is to get into the LCS, but there are long gaps in between. Things like MLGs and amateur circuit series is what is needed for a reliable stable environment.

 

Being an amateur trying to go pro, what type of difficulties and obstacles do you face? How much time is spent on League and what do you do to balance that with your social/family life?

Arthelon: This is my life basically, I spend a lot of time on it because I love it. Being an amateur is diffiicult because there is not as much reward for putting as many hours in as say an LCS team.

 

Who in your opinion are the current strongest amateur teams?

Arthelon: Well I would like to think we are the strongest haha, but Denial and CoL are pretty good!

 

Who do you feel is the current strongest amateur player?

Arthelon: I think IWillDominate is extremely strong and knowledgable.

 

Do you think that non LCS teams have an advantage during relegation or even going into the LCS because they can watch all of the games played throughout the season?

Arthelon: I wouldn’t say so, unless a certain team consistently only runs one good team comp, I don’t think there is much advantage.

 

Strongest/weakest LCS team?

Arthelon: I like Vulcun and think they are very strong, The weakest is obviously Velocity.

 

Strongest team in the World (currently) and predictions on who will win worlds? Who do you think will represent NA?

Arthelon: I don’t follow other nations teams too well, can I just say Insec’s team?

 

Tristana used to be your favorite champion, and you are known for doing some unconventional picking. Will we ever see Tristana Mid fom you in competitive play?

Arthelon: In the perfect set up AP tristana could work, so you never know! 

How big of a skill gap is there between the Pro and Amateur scene?

Arthelon: Pretty immense, at the beginning of the spring LCS I would have said not that much, but after a season the gap is pretty remarkable.

 

Should there be something similar to the LCS for the amateur scene or do you feel that would just create another skill divide?

Arthelon: Definitetly! And we have that in the Mobafire series.

 

Should Riot host more events besides the LCS for both amateur and pro teams? What are your thoughts on current LCS structure and would you change anything?

Arthelon: Riot already gives so much to the LCS it is hard to imagine what else they could do, more is always better though. I would change the size of it to include more teams!

 

Who do you feel is the best Mid currently in the LCS? Amateur?

Arthelon: Ehomda

 

What is the role of mid in the current meta? As in, what do you think a mid player can/should do to have the most impact on the game?

Arthelon: It depends on the champion, but in general it is to control the mid game and then provide as much damage and utility they can late game. They should communicate as much as possible and put as much pressure as they can on the map.

 

Any thoughts on the style of NA mid players vs. the other regions in their approach to how they play the role?

Arthelon: As I said before I do not follow the other regions metas all that closely (I am really busy as it is!) but I would say in general NA mids are more conservative.

 

Where do you feel you are currently lacking and wish to improve? How do you generally work on individual improvement?

Arthelon: I need to work on warding well and communicating every detail I can to my team so we can make plays. I just work on anything individually in scrims mostly, my team and coaches help me in doing this, by highlighting my mistakes and giving ways to improve.

 

What stops most teams from reaching the level of the LCS? Any specific bad habits, lack of team synergy, etc?

Arthelon: Disbanding after they hit their first wall. The scene has gotten better about this but it used to be a team would appear out of nowhere then break up after they lost in a tournament or something to that effect. Another thing is mechanics and communication, if you are too lacking in an area of either you won’t get very far.

 

How do you feel about the current item options for the AP role and is there anything specific you'd like to see in a new item? Are there any items you think should be removed or tweaked?

Arthelon: I’ve always hated the fact there are items that give you stats that are supposed to be counteracted by something, but then also fix that problem. In particular Mana regen/cooldown items, looking at you Grail, and tear combined with blue buff. I also feel like we could stand to have a couple more mid game items, doran’s rings and haunting guise is about all there is.

 

Are there any sleeper/unconventional mids you expect to see after patch 3.8? Did the patch have any effect on mid?

Arthelon: Jayce RIP. Otherwise there are no real changes in this patch to mid lane, maybe you will see some more Leblanc? Do not knowhow strong she is yet though.

 

How has the role of mid changed or evolved since season 1 compared to now?

Arthelon: Well back in the good ol days you would run Ashe mid and other AD carries. In Season 2 you would mostly only see AP carries. And in S3 you start to see AD casters and even some bruisers going mid, so it definently has evolved a lot. With the intro of 2v1ing mid you also get to see typical mid lanes transition to the bot or top lane. In general it has changed so much since Season 1, it is crazy!

 

You are currently a student. Is it difficult to manage that with League? Is it possible to go pro and still stay in college (successfully) ? Are you planning to stay if you make it into the LCS?

Arthelon: I am not currently a student, I am on my summer break. When I was a student I would just slack off on school mostly to play League so I didn’t really manage it. For the most part any pro you see is not currently in college, so I wouldn’t say it isn’t possible but it is definitely rare.

Do you think the collegiate LoL scene could ever become a counterpart to the pro scene similar to the way college sports work in the NFL/MLB etc?

Arthelon: Perhaps, I don’t personally see it because it does not include Canada or other countries when League is North American while most college sports leagues are just in America.

 

How would you describe your own playstyle? Anything you would like to start doing that you aren't currently? Who are your favorite players/role models in the mid lane?

Arthelon: I tend to go aggressive, and I usually always go even at least in lane. I would really like to shotcall really well for my team. My favorite are bursters, Elise, Gragas, Nidalee are definitely my favorites.

 

How do you feel you stack up against the current mid laners in the LCS?

Arthelon: I have gone even in lane versus most of them, as well as beating them in lane. Of course this is in scrims, where they might not play as well or the same as in the LCS.

 

Who is your favorite champion currently? Why?

Arthelon: I’d say Elise, her playstyle is just so catchy to me and I run her very differently than most people but make it work even better and that is something I love doing to any champion!

 

Who do you feel is the strongest mid champion at the moment in terms of overall benefit? (There are a lot of good mids, but who really stands out as solid all the time?)

Arthelon: Jayce before the nerf. If I would be biased I would say Nidalee, the spear and heal alone make her viable, add in her mobility and traps and you have yourself a grand slam. Although no one plays her :C

 

Congratulations on your recent win at MLG. How much preparation went into that tournament and what was the mindset of the team going in? Your own?

Arthelon: We practiced 8 hours a day for 2 weeks before hand. Going in we just wanted to do our best and have fun! We knew that if we could beat Crs Academy that we would beat Complexity. My mindset was “don’t look bad don't look bad don’t look bad!”

 

Do prospective LCS teams only train/study for the next competition or is there also research done into the LCS teams in case you do make it?

Arthelon: I wouldn’t say so, you aren’t ever going to face them unless you qualify. You would research them if you were going to face them for the qualifiers definitely though.

 

Baiting and Outsmarting your enemy, how important is it?

Arthelon: Even her teacher calls her a Siren!

 

What do you do in your free time aside from achievement whoring on WoW? Are you playing any other games currently? Anything you're looking forward to?

Arthelon: I play Pokemon Puzzle League and Pokemon time to time :3. Otherwise nope its all League and casual WoW. I haven’t bought a consolegame in years o.0 idk whats even coming out.