Off to a rough start, TSM seems to have gotten a hold on things.

Having the TSM label on your back, it puts an immense amount of pressure. However from the results from the 3rd and 4th of February, TSM appears to have gotten back on their feet. Performing well against Golden Guardians, TSM scored a much needed win under their belt. Whilst most people look at the carries throughout a game, the unsung hero for the early game revolves around the support. Offering vision and map assistance through roams, the support aids a substantial amount of input into a team’s succession. What better player to give credit where credit is due than TSM Mithy himself.

Transitioning from G2, Mithy has proven why his support was so famous in EU and why Zven rates Mithy’s support so highly. Curious on what his opinions are on the current standing of TSM, MikeYeung, and his move from G2 to TSM, lets see what Mithy has to say.

¤ How do you feel about your win against Golden Guardians?

I guess it feels good that we won. It was an easy win. Since we won against the last place team, it at least shows nothing is crumbling yet on TSM. However, it feels like we could have won in 30 minutes. That is the only regret I have about the game.


¤ It seems like TSM has finally started to improve as a team. Do you think you are well on your way to be the TSM you guys always wanted to be?

I don’t know what my other teammates want TSM to be. The reason why I joined TSM was the expectations they have to do well at Worlds. Of course, I want to win the split and I want to do well. However looking at things now, us winning the split does not necessarily mean we will do well at Worlds. I just think we have a long way to go. If we make it to MSI, it would be so good for us. We would get all that practice from international teams in order to do well at Worlds. My goal right now is to get the MSI practice. This is because, the international experience helped G2 so much to become a stronger team. I feel like it would help TSM a lot and especially MikeYeung because he can learn from other junglers. Not everyone is that good in NA. Playing against everyone from every region contains a lot more experience than playing against the best players in one region.

¤ G2 brought themselves up from when they started not too many years ago. On the other hand, TSM has always been a prominent team in NA. Was there any difference in pressure being in a team such as G2 and being in a team such as TSM?

When I joined G2, I had similar pressure to what I am experiencing right now. This is because when I was in G2, I had recently left my former team, Origen. I left the second best team in Europe to join the best team in Europe. Everyone hated us. If we would lose, I probably wouldn’t have been able to leave my house (laughs). The pressure was still on even though G2 was not recognized internationally. Although it was a lot of pressure, it helped me grow not only as a leader but also as a person. This is why I took the offer for TSM. Of course, there were other things that came with going to TSM. For example, I would be able to go to America. I just feel like being in a position where everything is very challenging for you makes you grow as a person. This is why I joined TSM.

¤ Did Zven also have the same mindset when he came with you to TSM?

This might sound egotistical because I am saying this for him, but he will tell you this also (laughs). Zven said there is no one better than me that is even worth losing the synergy for. Because of this, he decided he would keep playing with me. It made no sense to switch bot lane with me. We both want to play for the highest ranking team and not just for the money. When I told him I was going to NA for a challenge, Zven said ok. We tried to find a team together, and we only had 2 options. One of them being TSM. So, we chose TSM.


¤ Of course it must have felt good hearing that from Zven. How did you react to him saying this to you?

It felt very affirming. I played my best and put everything that I had. Having your duo partner say ‘Hey, I can’t find anyone better than you so lets stick together’ is a good feeling. It goes both ways. We both respect each other. Of course, I make mistakes and he makes mistakes as well (laughs). I like to believe we cover each other’s weaknesses and work well together.


¤ Was there any hesitation? Or was it absolute?

Yeah, it was absolute. The only choice I could make, which I didn’t even get a chance to, was that support doesn’t make a million dollars (laughs). The only choice that I would even consider was the choice that Reignover had. The choice where he was offered a lot of money to change teams. If you were offered that much money, you can just be like ‘well this team has a lot of money so hopefully they can just buy a good ADC’ (laughs). However, I didn’t get that. My only option was pretty clear from the start.

¤ What do you think are the differences of going against Bjergsen and now playing with Bjergsen?

I think the biggest difference is the way you see a player. When you look at a player on stage, you only see their best performances. For me, Bjergsen was a very consistent player. He has good mechanics, and he would almost never play bad. Bjergsen would always hold the bus but maybe not be able to carry it sometimes. Back then, everyone was bad. He could do really well and carry the game 1v5. However right now, the game has evolved into a more team based game and he can’t carry. Bjergsen was just consistent, and he played teamfights really well. That is what I thought of Bjergsen, a good player. Now that I have played with him, I can see him in scrims. I can see him play good, but I also can see him play really bad (laughs). I see him how he is now, but I also noticed the other aspects of him as a player. How Bjergsen behaves or how Bjergsen talks to his teammates. The personality side of him which you don’t see on stage. Overall, I think Bjergsen is an extremely strong professional.


¤ What is the biggest difference you saw when you played with Bjergsen?

The biggest difference I saw was that he is really outspoken. When I first met Bjergsen in Season 3, he was shorter than me, skinnier than me, and super quiet. Just a very young kid. Being in a team with him, he makes sure to get his point across. Bjergsen used to be very introverted but now he is more like a leader. It was very powerful for me to see that. He has grown a lot alongside eSports.


¤ Coming into TSM, what were some of the aspects that you liked the most?

I think the biggest thing that I liked about TSM is how professional they are. TSM really does well taking care of their players. I don’t even want to go home. I feel a lot better here. Everything is taken care of. TSM puts an extreme amount of effort on player well-being. On top of all this, TSM has a different coaching style compared to that of G2 that I like. In G2, the coaches would talk with us until we get picks/bans finalized. Meanwhile on TSM, Ssong and Lustboy would talk to us for 30 minutes and discuss amongst themselves then come back. It would be done in an instant. The small things like having powerpoint presentations before games would make it feel more professional. I don’t want to say anything bad about my previous coaches since they helped me out so much. However, I can feel from the different coaching style why TSM had the success they had just because of how things are run in the background.

¤ What are thoughts on MikeYeung? For far do you see him go as a jungler?

In my opinion, I think it is going to take awhile for MikeYeung to be a top class jungler. I regard myself highly on the amount of effort I put in to suck on information and learn. I know I work hard, but MikeYeung works harder than me. Regardless, I believe it will take awhile to become a good jungler. Jungle is one of the most demanding roles in the game. MikeYeung came straight from soloq. In Korea, you have subs from soloq who observe for a year to get an idea. Since MikeYeung came directly from soloq to scrims, jungling is extremely hard. You don’t lv 3 gank every game and hope there is a kill somewhere (laughs). There is a lot of thought process being involved. Look at Ambition for example. He was MVP for Worlds. It took him one or two years to become how good he is now. Right now, I think he is one of the best if not the best jungler in the World.

It is one of the hardest roles. Probably more demanding than support. Jungle has more impact regarding decisions. Support is just for the bot lane, but jungle is for the entire game. It is hard. I feel so sorry for Mike because it is just a big task (laughs). I think if he keeps working hard and he doesn’t put too much stress on himself, he will slowly start learning. The best way to learn is to get s*** on. It is going to take a lot of time. This doesn’t mean we can’t win. It just means we can’t play every style we want to play. In the end, I think he will become a good jungler.


¤ Lastly, anything you want to say to your fans?

First of all, I want to thank all the hardcore TSM fans. It has been very different for me. When I first joined G2, all I got was hate. In general, all I saw was hate comments. However in TSM when we went 1-3, all I saw was people cheering me up. They would say things like ‘Hey man, I still believe in you. Don’t give up’. It really means a lot to me and especially to my teammates. To the TSM fans who stuck around to see if we win or lose, I want to say hello to them. But yeah, I am really happy at where things are at right now. I am working hard, and I think all of my teammates are as well. I hope things will go well for us.