It’s been quite a while… but Noh “Arrow” Dong-hyeon has at last made his comeback to the LCS. He couldn’t perform since he had troubles with his visa; finally, the issue has been resolved and Arrow successfully returned to the OpTic Gaming roster. However, OpTic is currently in quite a depressing situation. The team is placed low in the rankings and their performance, in general, has not been positive.

During our short meeting with Arrow, he managed to share some of his own solutions for the team. He believed that he also needs to improve more and stated that he’ll do his best to help his team to climb up in the standings.

The following is the post-match interview with OpTic Gaming's bottom laner, Arrow.

During your time off from the OpTic Gaming roster, the team has been in quite a difficult situation. What were your thoughts after watching the team’s performance?

Our early to mid game is okay. However, I found out we made a lot of mistakes in the mid to late game which made us lose the strength to go forward. We should reduce our mistakes in the early-mid game and try our best to finish that way. Well, the team has to be aggressive in the late game as well, but we simply made mistakes.

It must be different to actually perform inside the booth compared to watching your team play. What came to mind while performing on-stage?

I didn’t feel pressured during the match. It was just tough in general; I couldn’t do a whole lot. I felt tied down inside the game. I really wanted to do something but I couldn’t find a solution.

Crown is the new member of the team. What are your thoughts on Crown after having him around for a while?

Although his English isn’t that good, he’s actually better than I expected and he tries to improve a lot as well. Since he can’t share detailed feedback with the team, I translate for him. He’ll need some more time to improve his English; he’ll need some more time to blend into the team.

He’s putting immense effort into practicing. He’s been playing solo queue a lot too. However, Crown sometimes says “Why is the game like this? Why do they want to play this way?” NA users tend to engage in skirmishes and teamfights whereas KR server users try to win using their macro game. That’s why I think the NA solo queue is more difficult to win.

It’s already your third year performing in NA. Do you sense any differences compared to your past days here?

During my 1-2 years in NA, I thought, “Okay, this would be enough to end this game.” However, I learned that games don’t end that easily. If you have a draft that has the advantage in the early-mid game, it’s hard to end that game without making a mistake. Also, now I know other team players’ champion preference. Now I can confidently say things like, “That guy will never use that champ.” (laughs)

Looking back at your 3 years in the NA LCS, which player made you think, “That guy is so good!”?

Among the bottom laners, Doublelift has been constantly performing well. He’s been exceptional when he’s on the ball. He was only a bit ‘bad’ when he underperformed. I also thought that Cloud9 was a rather unique team. With mostly rookie players in their roster, I was able to witness them rapidly improving in the game. Although I do not know if that comes from the players’ effort or the coaching staff’s, nevertheless, it’s an unbelievable thing to watch.

Who do you think has more to prove among the OpTic Gaming roster?

First off, I haven’t shown everything I have yet. I think I go along well my support and we understand each other fairly well. Our top laner has more to show too. I do understand that it will be difficult to pull off. To elaborate, if we’ve revealed 3 of our abilities in the past, now it’s time for us to give 5. However, it’s more difficult to go from 3 to 5 compared to 1 to 3.

What do you do outside of the game?

I work out. I wake up at 8 in the morning and exercise with Dhokla for 40 minutes to an hour. After I return, I drink a cup of coffee and go straight to practice. I try not to eat too much and get to sleep on a regular basis. Sometimes I do have the craving to watch the LCK which is broadcasted live late at night. (laughs) I’m doing my best to maintain a healthy life.

Do you have any last words?

I’m sad that I lost doing nothing for the team. Before I came to the team, Asta was on a 2W-2L record; I’d like to have a better one. I want to deliver good results for the fans.

I want to add that the NA solo queue is fun. All you need to do is turn off the "send all" button. Here's a tip - it's best to go for a champion that is very strong in laning phase. Although at first, I doubted the way I played LoL since the NA solo queue style was so different, nowadays I do think that the NA playstyle might actually be the right answer.

Photo credit: LoL Esports flickr