Team Liquid will face Cloud9 in the North American League of Legends Championship Series final this weekend with their spot at the World Championship already secured. The organisation, which won its only LCS title earlier this year, is aiming to add a second trophy at the 20,000-capacity Oracle Arena.
Support Kim "Olleh" Joo-sung, who has established himself as one of the region's best supports, says the match is about proving himself on the international stage. He wants to show he belongs among the best supports in the world and how much he has grown over the past year.
Olleh got his first taste of international competition earlier this season at the Mid-Season Invitational while playing for Team Liquid, but the tournament did not go as planned as the team racked up losses. The Korean support let nerves get the better of him and asked to be substituted out of a match, a decision that shocked many at the time.
"It wasn't about comments from the internet," Olleh said. "I wasn't confident enough, there were so many things letting me down that I was shaky about. I tried my best to deal with them but I couldn't, that was why I asked my coaches to let me bench myself to watch a game from backstage."
"That situation was a really good experience for me, I saw all my problems and I've done my best to deal with those," he said. "I've grown up a lot since MSI, I'm definitely stronger than ever."
Confidence heading into the final
Team Liquid have dominated the NA LCS all year, and Olleh's belief in his teammates shows. Asked whether he was worried about Cloud9's use of substitutes, he was unfazed: "I think Pobelter and Xmithie will deal with and do well against their duos, our team will find ways to win."
He shares the same confidence in his AD carry, Yiliang "Doublelift" Peng. The pair have struggled with communication in the past, but Olleh says their synergy is now at an all-time high. That form was on display last week when the duo dismantled 100 Thieves, leaving rookie AD carry Richard "Rikara" Samuel Oh with little chance.
Worlds ambitions
With marksmen returning to prominence in the meta, Team Liquid's bot lane will need to perform in Korea if the team wants to compete with the world's best. Olleh is determined to leave his nerves behind and show what he can do.
"I am sure our team will do well at Worlds, I was kinda too excited last year because it was my first time but now I have experience," he said. "I will keep being calm and focusing on my performance and communication with my team."
"This time I wanna do my best to prove that NA is stronger than other regions. At least I want to get out of groups for sure and go to semi-finals at least. I wanna play against the bot duos of RNG (Uzi and Ming) and KT (Deft and Mata). They are always strong and proved a lot so it's my time to prove myself against them."
Playing at home in Korea
Olleh is also looking forward to returning to South Korea, where this year's World Championship will be held. "My family will come to watch me play for sure, I'm excited to show my performance to my parents and friends in Korea," he said. "They know I am a pro player but they haven't seen me onstage in person. It'll feel so good because I haven't been back home since last year."
Olleh has played in regions including Hong Kong and Brazil, but says he now feels settled in Los Angeles. "Actually friends or girlfriends out of games helped me a lot in other regions but I decided to do my best in NA so I didn't make any other friends outside of work," he said. "It was so hard for me to adapt USA life, now I have many good friends here so I feel much much better."
He added that North America's culture may be holding the region back internationally. "Compared to other regions, NA has so much free time. That's why NA didn't do well in international matches. If NA put the same effort in as other regions, they will be way stronger."