The beauty in covering the World Champions does not only come from watching the games live and meeting the players. It also comes from meeting acclaimed people from regions all around the world. Above all, any reporter will want the once in a lifetime opportunity to interview and talk with the announcers who are responsible for a smooth broadcast in their own respective region.

Yushuang "Candice" is an LPL host. With this year, she’s been apart of the Chinese Worlds broadcast for 2 consecutive years. Unlike last year, when Worlds came to an unfortunate end for the Chinese region, Candice’s face seems brighter than ever.

Having met Candice last year, Inven Global decided to meet up with her again at this year’s Worlds. As always, Candice welcomed us with an everlasting bright smile. Let’s see what Candice has to say on how she has been doing, her appreciations for the announcers from each region, and her dream of becoming the greatest announcer!

Read: Candice, Hostess of Worlds 2017: "I really like Fnatic... Rekkles is really handsome!"

It’s been almost a year since our last interview. Can you introduce yourself once again for the fans that didn’t read our previous interview yet?

Hello, my name is Yushuang, also known by my English name, Candice. I’m currently the hostess/announcer of LPL.

How’s your year so far?

It was a busy year for me so far. I’ve been covering a lot of LPL tournaments. I also covered the MSI, Rift Rivals, and Asian Games.

On our previous interview, you said that you were currently on the Silver tier. Currently, what tier are you on?

Now I’m Gold 4! Well, I heard that there will be some new tiers added in League. Some of my friends told me that I should be on Iron tier. (laughs) (Q. You told us you deserve a higher tier.) Yes! I personally like the Grandmaster tier.

These days I’m trying to play as a jungler and bottom laner. In the jungle, I use Nocturne. I sometimes feel scared since if I play jungle, it’s hard to spot the enemy jungler. In bottom lane, I usually go with Miss Fortune and Jhin since they both have a long ranged ultimate.

You’ve been in Korea since the 2018 Worlds Play-Ins. Were there any fun or interesting story you would like to share with our readers?

I do remember the interview with iBoy in the Play-Ins. One of the questions I asked was, “This is your second Worlds. What is the difference between your last year’s and this year’s Worlds experience?”. Then he simply answered, “Last year I was 17 and this year I’m 18.” So I was like, ‘excuse me?’. (laughs) I also asked him if he wanted to say anything for the fans since their performance was a bit shaky at times. He answered, “Oh, this is EDG. We are young.”. Actually, the phrase, ‘this is EDG’ has an ambiguous meaning in Chinese. Well, it was funny and I also thought that he seemed cute by saying that.

Well, in the case of EDG… Although they are playing well in this Worlds, they’ll be facing KT which I think is kind of like a ticking bomb; no one wants it to blow it in their hands. (laughs) I hope EDG would perform well.

Notes: This interview was conducted right before the Groups Stage day 4 started.

You told us that you’d like to interview Rekkles. Did you get a chance to talk to him?

Not yet, but I’d love to. I guess they seemed to be a bit under the mood. Well, his beard looks really good on him, to be honest.  

Did you get to meet the other announcers that are here at Worlds?

I think the Korean announcer/translator, Ji-sun Park is really cute! She’s also so talented. Currently, there are so many talented people working in the League scene. I met Ovilee in last year’s All-Stars in LA. I also met her here as well. As a matter of fact, I taught her how to make cute faces; she was so adorable.

Yesterday, I met Sjokz. She’s probably getting ready to do the interviews starting from today. I admired her for her professionalism; she’s my idol. Even though she is already such a talented person, she never stops to work harder. I heard that she watches almost every single game before getting into an interview. She’s now at the analyst desk and I think she is doing such a fantastic job as an announcer and an analyst. Sjokz has been always a person to look up to.

Would you like to become an analyst?

Maybe a few years from now? Currently, I’m not that good in League of Legends. I’ll have to study more on the meta in general and I got to know more about the counter picks. I have to analyze more on every team since my job would be to give out a concrete prediction on which team would win and how they’ll win. Since I’m not ready yet, I’ll need years of preparation. I’m currently reading a lot of articles and interviews; I’d like to know what went on in every game. It’s really helpful when making interview questions. Maybe, this will be a good starting point for becoming an analyst in the future.

Although the LPL teams did well in last year’s Worlds, they still failed to lift the trophy in their own home turf. However, this year, the LPL teams are doing an outstanding job in the Groups. Do you think a Chinese team can lift the Worlds trophy this year?

RNG is one of the most favorable team here in 2018 Worlds. If there was Faker for the previous Worlds, this time there is Uzi. IG was an unbeatable team in the Spring and Summer LPL regular split. They had a solid 'win game' strategy. Their highly aggressive playstyle made them as one of the strongest teams in China. In the case of EDG… I think they’ve grown. Although they seem to have some problems in their mid-game decision makings, they were very solid in the Summer split gauntlets. As a matter of fact, a lot of the Chinese fans didn’t expect them to make it to Worlds. EDG seemed to improve through winning the gauntlet.

While the LPL teams were performing well, the LCK teams have been going through some tough times in this Worlds.

Well, Gen.G didn’t perform well in last year’s Worlds Groups. However, as we all know, they improved and eventually won the Worlds title. I personally think that the teams that can learn and improve a lot during the tournament have a good chance of winning Worlds. The LCK teams might have been nervous, or they just might have not adjusted to the Worlds meta yet. However, they’ve always improved during the tournament and I do think they’ll bounce back. They’re super strong teams; it’s just a matter of time.

I think EU performed pretty well. They seemed to make their own meta. One of the reasons why the LCK and LPL teams performed well in international tournaments is that they know how to play by their styles. We might not be able to see the Heimerdinger or Ekko pick again, but I’m pretty sure they’ve prepared more.

NA hasn’t been in their best shapes. I’m not sure whether they’re going through some nerve issues or something but currently, they aren’t doing well. Still, I believe that they have the capabilities of bouncing back so we’ll have to see how they’ll do in the Groups round 2.

What was your worst and best memory working as an announcer?

Last year, I was heartbroken to see the LPL teams lose in Worlds. You know, we prepared so much but to see another region lifting the trophy… I think this made us and the players more humble in general.

The best would be my times at the MSI. Winning Kingzone in b05s and watching the players lift the trophy was a good memory indeed. That probably was our first international tournament title since EDG lifted on 2 years ago.

What kind of announcer would you like to be in the future?

I would like to become the most ‘professional’ one. There are so many talented announcers across the world. Also, there will be more young and good looking announcers working for the scene. But still, I believe that ‘professionalism’ would be the most important trait for maintaining an announcer career.

In order to represent your own region in an international tournament, not only you’ll have to look good and talented, but you’ll have to have professionalism. That’s why I adore Sjokz. In case of professionalism, I have so much to learn from her.

Before wrapping up the interview, do you have any words for your global fans?

I’ll try to be better in my job as an announcer. I’m not sure whether I’ll be able to become a ‘Grandmaster’ tier in League, but I’m going to put in my utmost to become and known as a ‘professional’ announcer; that’ll probably be my lifelong goal.