Showmaker: The current patch feels like LOL2 with massive changes. The red side's bottom lane is a living hell
The South Korean newspaper, The National Daily, released a video interview featuring DK's mid-laner, ShowMaker.
Q: When did you start feeling less nervous?
ShowMaker: As I kept playing, naturally, the nervousness reduced. It's not that I'm not nervous, I still do feel nervous, just not excessively. Every pro player gets nervous during games; it's crucial to enjoy it despite the nerves. Feeling the tension and wanting to get into the game quickly is essential; that's how you work harder. If you resent the nerves, it's tough to succeed. Performing well and getting good results on a nerve-wracking stage feels amazing. That's why, when I was contemplating retirement, I decided to continue playing professionally. I've heard retired players regret because they can't experience the feelings that the stage brings.
Q: What were your thoughts after the Worlds ended?
ShowMaker: Initially, it felt unreal. After losing, I kept thinking, "Is it really over? Is it really?" I was confused for a while, and it took a few days to accept reality. After the season ended and everyone's contracts were up, I had to think about what to do next year. It was my first time being eliminated so early in Worlds, and it felt unfamiliar, upsetting, and regretful.
Q: What do you think were the issues at Worlds for your team?
ShowMaker: It felt like we were all doing our own thing, our perspectives on the game weren't aligned, and there were many coordination problems. It just wasn't smooth, and it even made us wonder if our roster didn't fit. Everyone's outstanding individually, but there were many odd decisions, which was very disappointing.
Q: When did you realize there were issues within DK?
ShowMaker: It started in the Spring Split; we felt our coordination wasn't good. We continuously tried to improve teamwork and came up with various concepts for matches. But during Worlds, even our draft opinions weren't aligned. We could've done better, and that's really regrettable.
Q: How was 2023 for ShowMaker?
ShowMaker: From a team perspective, it was a very disappointing year. Personally, there were good and sad times. 2023 was a tough year; the results and the process weren't good. But I think it's these tough challenges that help us grow. If we achieve good results next year, it would mean we've built on this year's foundation.
Q: How are the recent training matches?
ShowMaker: It feels like League of Legends 2 now, all the concepts I knew have been shattered. Even though it doesn't feel like a big change, I believe the changes are significant. Also, from what I know, the game patch won't update until January 10th, but the matches start on January 17th. Usually, when playing a hero, ranked data and other details provide specific information, and we can refer to plays by pros. If it was an open-book exam before, now there's no reference material; we have to create our data and try ourselves, which is tough. There have been many changes in items, and it would've been great to have reference data, like looking at builds and runes from other pros. But we don't have that now, so the data we're preparing for the new season is all we've got. So, I predict the early Spring Split might be chaotic; everyone's hero priorities might differ.
I think the changes in the bottom lane terrain have a significant impact; the red side's bottom lane is like hell because everything's open. I believe there will be significant changes in the selected heroes. The mid-lane is similar, so I'm not sure how it will turn out. Depending on our team's understanding of the game, the match results may vary. I think drafting and organizing hero priorities won't be easy.
And during training, after playing six practice matches, we usually play ranked. But the ranked version now is the old version; the map hasn't changed yet, so it feels odd to play ranked. As someone who needs to accumulate data from competitive servers, not being able to play ranked on the updated version feels uncomfortable.
Q: How are the new teammates?
ShowMaker: It feels like we've bonded quickly; everyone's personalities are great, and we're all about the same age, very interesting too.
Q: You and the top laner and AD are of the same age, right?
ShowMaker: Yes, we're the same age. Actually, I've heard a lot about Kingen from others. When I asked who's the toughest opponent in lane, many said, "Kingen is hard to play against." To be honest, he didn't perform like that last year (PS: usually referring to the just-ended 2023 season), but I've always heard people praise Kingen's laning and team fights. He has an MVP potential; that's the highest limit in the League of Legends domain, so I'm really looking forward to it.
I think Aiming played exceptionally well last year. After training with him, I feel he communicates actively and plays like a proper AD, dealing a lot of damage, so I'm really looking forward to it.
