*This interview was conducted and provided by a guest contributor

Golden Guardians have been on a tear since the beginning of the 2019 Summer Split. This is a stark change from their previous start of 0-4 in Spring Split to now having a record of 4-2 at the end of Week 3, in no small part due to Kim "Olleh" Joo-sung’s fantastic support play throughout the split.

Olleh sat down with Inven Global to talk about his new Nautilus pick, being viewed as a Tahm-Kench one-trick, Lux, experimental picks, friendship in the team and health as a pro player.

This is your first game on Nautilus. Is this something that you guys practiced a lot in scrims?

This has been a meta support so of course I was playing this in scrims. Most times people allow Tahm Kench to go through, so that’s why I’ve picked it. It’s kind of weird for me because I was playing more champions last year, or even two years ago in Immortals and now people call me a “Tahm Kench one-trick”. Maybe this can be a compliment or a bad image for me.


So how do you feel about that? That fans and analysts have said you’re a one-trick Tahm Kench player?

If they say, 'oh, Olleh is good at Tahm Kench', I’ll be happy! Oh, they’ve complimented me! But instead it’s like, 'oh, I think Olleh without Tahm Kench is ****', but I’ve been playing other champions for 5 years! Two years ago, people called me a Thresh or Bard one-trick, and last year I was a Braum or Tahm Kench one-trick, it’s just weird. When I hear this, it’s like, people call me a Bard, Thresh, Morgana one-trick, but I have so many picks, so now I’m suddenly the Tahm Kench player.


I noticed you guys put Lux mid, but that’s generally thought of as a support pick. Have you guys been practicing both as far as mid Lux and support Lux?

Yeah, I’ve been playing support Lux and other champions and I’m looking for more champions to play. Even in LPL people are picking Bard, and I was like, 'ok, I like Bard, so I’m kind of looking for a chance to play it.' However, I can’t just always pick Bard. Now the draft is more standard, so if they take one pick, we take the other, unless you are super confident in something. To win in this game I have to pick something standard.

Do you feel that since Froggen is picking all these different champions, do you think that you don’t get to experiment as much because he’s the one experimenting?

I think it’s all about coordination. So when he was playing Anivia and I was playing Tahm Kench, the enemy can’t kill the turret unless they kill Anivia, but I have Tahm Kench, so it’s really hard for them to play against.

Froggen is really good at mages, even though he’s good at a meta pick like Irelia, he’s just far better at mages than other mid laners. I feel whenever Froggen gets a mage and I get Tahm Kench, it’s hard to lose the game. There’s no counter. 


On the broadcast, your AD Carry Deftly had said GGS feels more like friends now. Do you feel that you’re getting more of a connection to your teammates compared to last split?

I think after everyone in the team faced their own problems. My own problem was that I didn’t take care of myself, so I just started working out every day in the morning, like 7 or 8 AM. Then people were like, 'Olleh, you changed a lot!' Then Contractz changed a lot and Deftly has been trying to shotcall more. So everyone is just getting better and better.

I think our team environment has shifted from, for example, instead of blaming your teammate’s mistake, you try to help each other. I think this environment is really good for us. I don’t even compare this to other teams now. We focus on our stuff and continue be better than we were today.


That’s funny that you say that because you’re known as this grind lord. You’ll stay and play solo queue instead of going out. So, have you changed your mentality on limiting how much you play the game and focusing on wellness and health?

Two years ago when I was on IMT, and even when I was rank 1 in Taiwan, rank 1 in Brazil, rank 1 in NA, I was really focusing on myself. Realistically, that attitude was kind of bad for the team because I was thinking, 'guys, I’m better than any other support. Haha! I can’t lose against them in solo queue but why do I have to lose against them in scrims or on stage'? I think that mindset was really bad for me because I didn’t really try to make good plays with my team.

Now I mainly focus on team stuff. If I can spend one hour where I’m going to spend time with my teammates and how to draft better, how to make better combos, instead of getting 20 LP and saying, 'haha, I’m better than this other support', I think that’s really bad. Now, if I’m bad at a champion, I’m going to play that in solo queue, but if I don’t have to, I just focus on the team aspect.