What have you been up to since your Superleague victory?

Seung Chul “sCsC” Kim: I’ve been resting for the most part. I played some Heroes and caught up on foreign tournaments. The Taiwanese league ended a couple days ago, and it was interesting to see last season’s champions PBA barely make it through by 4-3.

Do Joon “Noblesse” Chae: I’ve been hanging out with friends I couldn’t see during the season and practiced here and there. Nothing out of the ordinary.

Jin Soo “NacHoJin” Park: I’ve been streaming Heroes and other games - mostly Starcraft, Warcraft, and some RPGs - to relax and blow off some stress.

Congratulations on the Ballistix sponsorship. Did it affect your attitude toward the game?

NacHoJin: Not a lot has changed, but I feel I should act more carefully. I will probably chat less in-game, for instance.

Noblesse: My personal motto is “give back what you’ve been given.” I’ll do my best to repay Ballistix with good results.

sCsC: I feel less financially pressured now after the sponsorship. Other than that, not much.

I'd like to just add here that Swoy had to undergo a lot of hardships during the season. He lives really far away from Seoul, still is a high school senior who has to think about studies and college, and had to practice with us. He had an extremely hectic schedule all season long.

Is running a team without any administrative staff managable?

sCsC: I’ve never had any real issues. I guess I’m used to it because I’ve been a professional gamer for a long time. My teammates don't have any motivational problems either, so I’ve never felt the need for a manager.

You had difficulties finding scrim partners ever since the TNL days.

Noblesse: It still is a problem. It has always been challenging to find scrim partners, especially as more teams drop out of the tournament. The root of the problem is the small playerbase, of course. We’re lucky to have had scrim connections with Chinese teams.

Anything special you're planning for BlizzCon prep?

NacHoJin: Team Dignitas has recently set up a boot camp in Korea, and we plan to scrim with them this weekend. Other than that, nothing special.

Are recent heroes such as Alarak, Auriel, and Zarya overpowered?

sCsC: They’re all strong. I can see Blizzard worked hard on these new heroes. Auriel is managable, though. You can exploit the delays between her heals.

We didn’t think we’d see Alarak, even after the slight buff he received prior to the finals, but once MVP Black pulled it out, we quickly realized he was potent. Fortunately, our strategy to prioritize Malfurion over Alarak worked. Swoy plays an excellent Malfurion.

Noblesse: They’re decent heroes but I’m not still entirely sold on their tournament viability. I’ll have a more informed opinion after we see them in more scrims.

NacHoJin: I mostly agree with sCsC and Noblesse.However, I think that Zarya is extremely powerful and she’ll be either picked or banned in tournaments. She’s be in a balanced state after a couple nerfs at least.

The latest hero - Samuro - will not be allowed at BlizzCon. Any gripes?

NacHoJin: Not at all. Samuro is a hero that can singlehandedly carry games, but doesn’t quite fit well with our style of play. We thought Samuro would just be yet another power pick for Rich. 

It's the second season in a row that MVP Black has failed to take home a trophy. Thoughts?

sCsC: It’s all about pressure. Losing the first two games in the finals actually made us feel we had nothing to lose, so we played much better from then on. In contrast, Black failed to recover from tilt after losing Game 3.

Noblesse: Even when we reversed the series 3-2, I was still skeptical of our chances, but after the draft in Game 6 went in our favor, I finally started to think that we could actually win it all.

NacHoJin: The less pressured team won every Superleague final up until now.

What are L5's characteristics as a team?

NacHoJin: We ride off of momentum pretty well. None of us feel pressured to solo carry, which prevents overextensions. We also have great teamwork.

What’s your take on the new league format for next year?

Noblesse: It’s hard to say at this point since the details have not been fully released. I'm quite happy about the news about Blizzard stipends, though.

What advice do you have for gamers aspiring to go pro?

sCsC: Considering the size of its playerbase, there are plenty of tournaments in Heroes. Heroes also has a lower barrier to entry compared to other games. If you’re thinking about going pro in a game, Heroes is a very reasonable title to choose.

You've recently earned praise for becoming less reckless and more deadly. Would you agree?

Noblesse: I don’t consider my plays reckless. Muradin mains should know that simply engaging head-on often offers a better chance for survival than retreating.

What did you mean when you said you wanted to apologize to your old teammates?

NacHoJin: After our victory, I felt sorry towards my old RAVE teammates. I couldn't help but ask myself why I couldn't play this well before.

Would you like to say a few parting words to your fans?

sCsC: I’d like to express my utmost gratitude to the fans. I was amazed when nearly half of the crowd were cheering for us in the Superleague finals. I know we disappointed you last BlizzCon. We’ll do our best to reach the finals this time. Please root for us.

Noblesse: I’ve never been as harshly criticized in my life as I had during BlizzCon 2015. This time I want to earn and receive praise.

NacHoJin: I think I still have a ways to go, but I’ll try my best to become a world-class player through hard work and practice. I would like to again thank Ballistix for sponsoring us!

Source article by Inven Zuma