An Interview With Oceanic Pro League AD Carry Raydere

Recently, I sat down and had a talk with Derek "Raydere" Trang. He is a professional league of legends player in the Oceanic region representing The Chiefs and has found an insurmountable amount of success taking multiple OPL split titles as well as impressive international play at the Wildcard Qualifiers. We sat with him to talk about the AD Carry meta, international play and his opinion on the wildcard regions.

The meta for AD carries is heavily centered around Sivir, Jhin, Ashe and Lucian. However, Ezreal and Caitlyn still find their way into drafts every now and then. Why are these two still viable choices?

Raydere: Ezreal has a unique toolset for kite and poke. Caitlyn also has a unique skillset for sieging, long range poke as well as being a lane bully.

Doublelift in NA is spamming Lucian every game. Why do you believe people are still picking Lucian after all of his nerfs?

Raydere: Lucian has lane priority after towers are done and can also function as an aggressive self-sustainable ADC.

Are there certain teams that you believe are really benefiting off of the utility ad carry style? Which teams do you believe would not be as strong had it been a hypercarry meta for AD Carries?

Raydere:  Most teams are using utility ADC styles. Teams that have had been focused on playing around their ADC's will find that this meta is harder to play with, for example TM from OCE.

Do you believe that hyper carries like Jinx or Tristana could work against the aforementioned AD’s?

Raydere: Once trinity-force is nerfed and top-lane carry meta has gone, hypercarries will find their way back into the meta. However, as of right now, it is much better to allocate resources to carry top laners.

Are there any AD Carries or champions that you would like to see come back and vice versa? Do you have a dream botlane that you wish could become viable?

Raydere: I would like to see Jinx come back or Vayne as they are both favourites of mine to play. My favourite bot lane has always been Kalista Thresh which i wish will come back.

On the topic of champions coming back, I have also been noticing people picking Alistar more often. Why do you believe Alistar is able to come back when ranged supports are still the main meta?

Raydere: Alistar is able to come back due to his unique ability to hardengage fights as well as act as a tank. Lane swaps are easily used to counter-act lane disadvantages.

Do you believe that Alistar coming back along would change the prioritized picks for the botlane? Could this possibly mean Taric can become the top support choice?

Raydere: It would have very little impact on the prioritized picks for the botlane and does not mean Taric would become the top support of choice.

If the meta were to shift back to tank supports, how much do you believe that would change the botlane dynamic? Would we see pick’s like Annie and Lulu come back?

Raydere: If the meta shifted back to tank supports, it would be a result of the change of playstyle rather than picks so much. Annie and Lulu won't be back until hypercarries emerge again.

What botlane has been your favorite to play against both domestically and internationally?

Raydere: Domestically, I find playing against TM's bot lane the most enjoyable. Internationally I found playing against BKT's bot lane most enjoyable.

Are there any botlane duo’s that you would really want to play against internationally?

Raydere: I would love to play against Uzi at all.

The Chiefs were extremely dominant in previous OPL splits, do you believe the change from AD Carry centric teams to utility AD’s is the reason behind the current lesser performance?

Raydere:  It has been to an extent.

Raydere(middle) with his team, The Chiefs. Taken from Riot Games

How much stronger has the region’s gameplay and infrastructure improved? Is this possibly another reason why The Chief’s are not just wrecking everyone in the region now?

Raydere: This region's gameplay has improved quite significantly as well as its infrastructure. It has contributed somewhat towards Chiefs lack of complete dominance.

What do you believe the Oceanic region must still improve in order to be able to compete with the five major regions or send a team to the world championships?

Raydere: The Oceania region needs to play against other regions in terms of consistent practice.

Which regions do you believe will be tough opponents for the Oceanic region at the Worlds Qualifier? Do you believe a wildcard team could finally make it out of the group stages at the World Championship or do you believe the teams need another year?

Raydere: I believe Turkish teams as well as Brazil will be tough opponents. I don't believe the WIldcard teams can make it out of the group stages however.

You can follow Raydere's twitter at https://twitter.com/RaydereOfficial and https://twitter.com/ChiefsESC for for constant news about the teams whereabout's.