Unicorns of Love, a contender of the EU LCS, has paid a visit to Korea.

To prepare for the upcoming season of their regional league, the players of UOL has come to Korea to boot camp and focus on practicing. Although they have added extra layers of fan anticipation through recruiting new members, they still lack a player in the support position - which they have admitted to having intentions of recruiting a Korean player for that slot through this interview. Having their eyes set on competing for the 2018 World Championship, the UOL players are lined up at the start line, ready to sprint to their destination.

Inven Global took a visit to their place of stay to hear from them in person.

Nice to meet you, this is your first interview as a new team. Can you introduce yourselves?

WhiteKnight: I’m WhiteKnight, the top lane player for the UOL. I’m known for being rank no.1 in EU for multiple seasons in a row. I’ve played in PSG and NIP. UOL contacted me a month ago, I did the tryouts, and apparently, I was good enough to join the team.

Kold: My name is Kold, formerly known as Trashy. I’ll be playing jungle for UOL this season. I’ve formerly played for Splyce where I went to Worlds last year. I’m very excited for a new start with these [win]hungry players.

Exileh: My name is Exileh. I’m mid laner for UOL. I’ve been playing here for a year and a half now. I’m excited to play with these new members.

Samux: I’m Samux, and I’m the ADC of UOL. I’ve been playing for UOL for about one year. I played in the top lane before and changed to ADC.

To the original members, what has changed in the atmosphere with the new members?

Exileh: I think we always had a positive atmosphere. Above all, the new members brought new ideas to the table. We haven’t scrimmed a lot yet, so it’s hard to tell. From what we’ve seen so far, we like what we see.

Samux: Same with me.

Who will be doing the shotcalling?

Kold: It’s mostly going to be me and Exileh. I have a lot of experience being one of the main shotcallers in my previous team. We will work together well, but it will take some time to make it perfect.


Fans pointed out before, that UOL isn’t very good in macro. Do you think it will get better?

Kold: I think at least UOL will become a different team than before. I don’t know how it was before because I’m new on the team, but on this team, we will be focusing more on the macro.


Do you think you can maintain those unique picks as of the original UOL color? Also, are you preparing any interesting picks for the next season?

Exileh: I don’t think the color of UOL will change too much. I think we organize good ideas, and with the coach implementing picks sometimes, we can test it and decide whether it’s good or bad. We are always open to new ideas.

Can we hear any ‘interesting’ champions that each of you is preparing?

WhiteKnight: Camille. It’s really strong with the new runes and it got buffed as well. It’s a really good pusher. I think it can be good.


Camille? Which runes do you use?

WhiteKnight: Arcane Comet and Scorch, so your 'W' does a lot of damage already at lv 1.

Kold: I think Nidalee is the most fun and strong in the jungle. It has always been good in the jungle. Now with XP changes, if you’re really good at Nidalee, you can play it. So I’m now trying to master the champion.


In the current tank meta, Nidalee is in the past. Do you still think she's good?

Kold: I’m aware. For stability in the game, you often go for tank jungle like Jarvan and Sejuani, which is always good. I think in some situations, Nidalee is still good.

Exileh: I think Vladimir is underrated with 'unsealed spellbook'. Especially because there are a lot of squishy champions in the bottom lane, if you once find an engage, the champion becomes really strong. I think that Vladimir went a bit under the radar and I think he’s fine in some match-ups. I think he does really well.

Vladimir seems to be already in the meta, don’t you think?

Exileh: Really? I haven’t seen much.

Kold: Another interesting champion which Koreans don’t play much is Xin Zhao. In Europe, Xin Zhao is probably the most played jungle. Now, here (in Korea), no one plays Xin Zhao.

Samux: For me, I like Miss Fortune; I know it’s already in the meta. I think there are not many special picks in ADC right now, and Miss Fortune is very strong; she can win 1v5 team fights with her ult.


Many are saying that Miss Fortune and Jhin are OP at the moment, what are your thoughts?

Samux: I mean, they are pretty strong because of the meteor meta - the comet meta - and lethality on AD Carries is really strong right now. So, that's the main reason I think.


You don’t have a support currently, what type of support do you prefer?

Samux: We’re looking for a decisive support with good shot call, and someone who is confident with his play. We are looking for a Korean support, and hopefully, he is good with his communication in English as well.

How much can we expect of UOL next year?

WhiteKnight: We will go to Worlds for sure. (Q. For sure?) For sure. No questions.

Kold: It’s very hard to say how it’s going to be because every team in EU is new. The top 6 teams in EU are all new teams. But I know for sure that we will be a team that will be in the playoffs. Usually, in EU, it’s very close between the top teams, and it comes down to how you perform when it matters. I’m confident that we have players who know how to perform when it matters. I have goals to lift the trophy someday. I’ve been to Worlds, and I want to go back to Worlds, but lifting the trophy is my biggest goal.

Exileh: I think that we will do really well. I think UOL have always done well in the past, and a big part of it comes from our coach doing well. With the new players coming with a lot of talent, a lot of decisive players who know what they want in the game, we will have a very precise play style. Maybe a bit less of the crazy play style we had before, we will have more consistent performing.

Samux: For me, my goal is to go to Worlds. I’ve never been to Worlds before; I know in the past, UOL was very close to Worlds, so this is something I really want to do.

Are there any episodes about the boot camp in Korea?

Samux: We went to a restaurant once, and the waiter continued to bring us meat. We didn’t realize that the bill was so much, it cost around 600 euros. We didn’t know the meat was that expensive.

Exileh: With the food, it’s very nice here. When we order, sometimes we don’t know what to expect, but normally we are pleasantly surprised.

WhiteKnight: I love the country like everybody said, the food is really nice. Solo Queue is very fun as well. People are very good in lower divisions, too. Even from Diamond 3, people are good, which is refreshing.

Kold: In my old team, we went to a Karaoke. We had a day off and went to a hip-hop American club. We were the only white people there, so it was a fun experience.


Will you go again this year with these members?

All: We’ll see. (Laughs)


Have you been to any places here?

Exileh: We’ve only been to the hotel and here (Game Coach Academy, the place of their practice). 

WhiteKnight: We came only four days ago, so [we haven’t been anywhere else].


Can you say hello to the fans, and share your plans for next year?

WhiteKnight: I want to thank all the fans, back at home and around the world. I don’t have many (Laughs). I think we can do pretty good next spring, but we’ll do good in summer. I’m not sure about spring, but summer we’ll be good.

Kold: Thank you to any fans I might have, I think they can expect us to work hard and try our best to reach Worlds.

Exileh: Thanks to the fans who support us, even though the hard times when we don’t perform well, which hopefully won’t be the case next split. Thank you for every support you give.

Samux: I want to thank the LoveHurtsCrew, the UOL fan club back in EU. We want our fans to expect us to reach the playoffs next year.