Beating his previous team, Lourlo seemed happy to be able to take a game away from Team Liquid.

Starting from the beginning of the Spring Split to now, Golden Guardians has performed not as good as they had hoped. Creating either massive upsets or getting crushed, Golden Guardians was unable to leave a footprint in the eyes of the NA LCS. Despite this, a new split has begun and alongside, hopefully, a new Golden Guardians.

After Sunday’s game, we sat down with Lourlo, GGS’ top laner. Let’s see what he has to say about his Aatrox, Team Liquid, and Huni.

¤ How do you feel about beating Team Liquid on Sunday’s game?

It always feels really good to beat TL because they were my family from the start of the Esports scene. It always feels refreshing and even better every time I beat them. I believe now, we have a 2-2 score against them. Hopefully, we can get the upper hand next time as well.


¤ I heard from Contractz that GGS is the scrim gods. Is this true?

The last split, I think our scrims went super poorly. This split, I wouldn’t say we are winning every game of scrims. But, we are performing above average for sure. I wouldn’t say we are the scrim gods (laughs). We are performing well, and we are getting a lot out of every day. We are seeing what our team is more capable of. 


¤ Talking a little bit about the top lane matchup against Impact. Did you have any specific preparation against him?

In specific for preparation, I don’t believe there was too much. At least, in my opinion, I was pretty sure that Impact was going to be playing a tank. I made sure that my counter picks for tanks were set. I had an Aatrox, Illaoi, and even Darius ready. I wanted to pick strong laners into almost anything he played. Although Impact did pick Ornn, a lot of champions are good against Ornn. I felt pretty good with whatever he picked.

¤ Since Ornn has a great time against any matchup in the early game, were you worried at all?

After we had the winning mid-jungle matchup (Graves-Lulu), I was pretty confident in whatever he picked. Even though he had a lead on me early and Xin was invading top side, there is nothing Ornn can really do to Aatrox post lv 6. As long as my bot or mid lane got a lead, I was sure that it would go smoothly. It showed in the game. My champion got good after the 10-minute mark.


¤ Aatrox appeared into the meta out of the blue. What are your thoughts on Aatrox? What are his good/bad matchups?

I believe Aatrox is fairly weak early game. His lv 1-6 is not the best. Once Aatrox is post 6, he comes really strong. He has Tiamat by then and can start pushing waves. Aatrox’s 2v2 all in is good as well. For matchup-wise, Aatrox is really good into melees.

There isn’t a difficult lane for him other than Jax and Camille. They just have better dueling presence than him. For tanks, Malphite is okay into Aatrox. Even then, Aatrox out scales that matchup. He is really good in the meta because he spikes so hard in the mid-game. His passive is really good. Having a GA every 2 minutes is pretty broken. Overall, Aatrox is a good champion and excellent in team fights. He fits right into the meta.


¤ Moving to a bit of a fun question, what are your thoughts on the Aatrox rework? It is kind of funny how he is finally in the meta, but Riot decided to release his rework.

That hype video of the new Aatrox was pretty cool. It is interesting. It is kind of hard to say how good he is going to be. This is because it all has to do with his numbers. Aatrox might be complete garbage on his first release (laughs). It kind of sucks that he finally resurfaced into the meta and Riot decided “Alright, we are going to switch him up!”. Aatrox might be complete trash for another 2 months and you will probably never see him again. I’m just like “Whelp, I’m crossing my fingers but ehh whatever.”.


¤ Going back to what Contractz said the last split, he claimed that GGS’ philosophy is to be a good consistent team for the LCS in the long haul. Has this view changed since the last split? GGS seems to have improved a lot.

My personal goal for this split is to make it to playoffs. I don’t think there is any doubt with the 5 we have now that it will be a long shot. I know we have a lot of potentials. We have learned a lot from split to split. We found our footing in Spring Split, and we are growing rapidly even more. I think we just need to keep on that upwards trend and focus on things we need to improve on day to day. It will be an easy road to playoffs as long as we don’t have any hiccups along the way.

¤ Is there a specific team you want to take revenge on this split?

It would feel pretty good to beat C9. I don’t recall us beating them in the Spring Split. I would also love beating TL again. It does feel good to beat a team you have been on for 2 years so.


¤ Talking a bit about the meta, the carry jungle and support mid have been quite prevalent. Do you agree that this combo has helped you shine more as a top laner because of the 2v2s and rotations? Or do you disagree?

In the top lane, there are definitely a lot more tanks. This is because you just want something stable. A lot of the times, the default for top is to just pick a lot of tanks. However, there are a lot of opportunities where you can play champions such as Aatrox, Darius, or Camille. It just depends on whether you have a winning mid-jungle or not. If you don’t, it is extremely difficult to play those champions. Although the meta does allow more variety, most of the times you do want to play a tank. It is just easier to execute. It does suck in that regard, but I hope I can get more carry performances. I love playing carries over tanks.


¤ What are your thoughts on Mickey? I have heard that he had a very strong personality back in Korea.

I was actually surprised at Mickey. I believe he has a very positive approach to the team. At the start, he had a bit of a hiccup on how fell within the team. Mickey didn’t really find his place. However, after we got through that, I think he has spoken up more and really is a good fit. Mickey is solid mechanically and a good laner overall. He has a positive and passionate approach to the game. It was refreshing.


¤ Due to the meta shifting a lot of the power level from teams, where do you see/rank yourself within the top laners in the NA LCS?

I definitely see myself in the upper half of the top laners. This split will represent how much I can show myself and how I rank myself. With the two games in mind, it is difficult to put myself where exactly. Throughout the split, I believe I will be able to show where I am meant to be. I think it is going to be at the top end of the split.


¤ Other than yourself, who do you think is one of the best top laners in the scene right now?

I definitely respect Huni a lot because of his innovation. I think he has a very smart grasp of picking up things really fast. He finds what is good for him and not necessarily just following what is good in the meta. This sets him apart from the normal North American top laner.


¤ Lastly, is there anything you want to say to your fans, friends, and team? In addition, maybe a statement for the start of a new split?

We had a rough time last split. A lot of ups and downs. This Summer Split is a new beginning for us. We have a lot of positive things to gain from it. It is going to be a good start for people to start following us. Fans, friends, or family. Anyone in general. We have plenty to show, and it is going to be a good run for us this split.