Interview with Curse Cop "Edward's aggressive playstyle forced me to shift my play... I would be more farmed and carry harder"

 Just crossing the halfway point in the LCS split, I got a chance to talk to David "Cop" Robertson about the addition of Edward to the team, and Team Curse learning to adapt their playstyle.  

Cop you are being seen as one of the most improved players between the Splits in LCS, what do you attribute that to?

Cop: Determination. I was seen as a passive player that would never make aggressive movements, so I focused hard on changing that playstyle to one that would fit the current meta.

 

So we're now half way through the split, how has the addition of Edward gone for the team, and how is laning with him? How do you feel you stand up to other North American bot lanes?

Cop: Edward had a big impact on my playstyle because before, I had supports that weren't as aggressive or experienced - but Edward's aggressive playstyle forced me to shift my playstyle to one that would better fit his. With this, I would be more farmed every game and I could carry a lot harder, helping the team with the number of threats in our compositions. I believe that we are on par with the other bottom laners, but we have a long way to go if we want to be the best.

 

Edward's native language is not English, have you ever felt like the language barrier has posed a problem for your synergy?

Cop: The language barrier hasn't been a huge problem for our duo synergy, but it has been a big problem for team synergy. He might have problems in discussions because he doesn't understand some of the things we say or he might misunderstand a call we make in-game (I said to ping a brush in an LCS game and he thought I said to pink ward a brush haha) - but we are devoting a lot of time during practice to preventing any problems the language barrier may present.

 

You were not known as a Draven player in the last split, but now he is your best champion and you've been getting a lot of praise on your play. What about Draven draws you to him?

Cop: Draven allowed me to change my playstyle because you HAVE to be aggressive on him if you want to do anything. His aggression also can't really be countered - he will win in trades against any other ADC.

 

In the recent patch Draven's passive was changed to one that rewards him bonus gold for champion kills. How do you feel about this change and what do you think it will do to his early game? Will we see a decline of Draven play?

Cop: There are pros and cons to these changes - but it's mostly a nerf. I've already missed so many kills because I forgot Bleed was removed :( - but now you can harass under tower and snowball a lot harder. I could definitely see a decline in play for Draven.

 

Last split you were a well known Miss Fortune player, even getting her banned out against you, but you haven't played her even one game this split. Why have you stopped playing her, and is there a chance you may still pull her out?

Cop: After she got banned out a lot in the first 5 or 6 weeks of LCS, I stopped playing her completely. She was banned in 90% of our games so I didn't see a reason to keep practicing her. I don't really enjoy playing her anymore because in the current meta there are too many picks that screw with her kit, so I don't think I'll be playing her at all - plus I can play Draven. :D

 

Certain LCS Teams have run strategies that revolve around helping the AD Carry do well. Curse has always been a team that has had threats and playmakers in every lane, allowing you to play a conservative role on your team. This half of the split you have been taking much more of the spotlight when you switched to a very aggressive style of play. What is the team dynamic like now, and does your team expect a little more of you in terms of carrying them in team fights?

Cop: We just focus on what's best in the current meta - which is just going for objectives. Tower pushing and holding all day. 2v1ing hurt our playstyle of "get Voy fed" so we just focus on teamplay and what works best against other teams. I don't think they really expect more of me in carrying them, but now we at least have more threats. :P

Curse had a slow start to the Season but last week you had some great wins against top teams CLG and Dignitas. This was kind of the opposite of last split where Curse was undefeated for a long time. Has your team gotten back into it's old strength, and what did you need to do to build back to it?

Cop: During the last split, the meta was much more in our favor because it relied on skill match-ups instead of pushing and pushing. This helped Voyboy, Saint, or Jacky get fed and Elementz and I would just support them with Miss Fortune, Elementz with Fiddlesticks, etc.. The meta has shifted to something we're not as comfortable with, but I think we're getting there.

 

Cloud9 is a new team to the LCS but has a strong hold in first place. Was this a surprise to you, and do you think they live up to the hype they've been getting?

Cop: I didn't think C9 would do that great early in the season, but I was obviously wrong. They've brought a different playstyle to the league that dominated most other playstyles that were being run and this allowed them to win almost all of their games. They definitely deserve the hype since they're #1 right now. :P

 

What do you mean about their different playstyle?

Cop: It's their focus on pushing and objective control.

 

In Season 2 you were well known for your Corki play. This last patch he got a couple of buffs to his mana costs, do you have any plans of picking him back up?

Cop: I've been trying Corki out a bit in solo queue but I don't know if I'm going to pick him back up - he has a lot of counters so I have no idea. Depends on if I can actually hit rockets now, haha.

 

Right now on the Public Beta servers they are changing a lot of magic resistance items with nerfs to the aura Aegis of the Legion gives, and buffs to items like Banshee's Veil, Guardian Angel, and a new AD Carry style item Spellbreaker. Do you think with the Aegis aura nerfed we will see more AD Carries picking up a little magic resistance? Do you see Spellbreaker as the type of item an AD Carry will want to buy?

Cop: It all really depends on the composition of the enemy team. I don't see it being any different just because 720 gold for a Negatron or 1400 for a Hexdrinker is a bit out of the way, but if they are super heavy AP, I could see an AD picking up some early MR with Aegis nerfed. Spellbreaker looks good, especially if you're against a heavy AP team with lots of CC.

 

What is your alltime favorite champion?

Cop: My favorite champion would have to be URFRIDER ONLY Corki. His kit is a lot of fun in-game and because he was my main for a super long time.

 

What kind of music do you like to listen to?

Cop: #jbiebs

 

Thanks for letting me talk to you. Do you have any shoutouts you'd like to make?

Cop: Thanks for the interview! Thanks to the fans that have been supporting me through these rough 4-5 weeks of LCS, it really helped me focus on improvement. Big thanks to our sponsors - CM Storm, Alienware, Teamspeak, and LoLPro - for supporting us. Also, be sure to check out teamcurse.net for the Curse store ^^

 

You can also follow me on Twitter @crscop and Facebook at facebook.com/crscop.