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Original interview was published 2023, April 24 on the LoL Ninja website: https://lolninja.net/2023/04/24/37630/
LoL Ninja got an exclusive interview with Ceros, after DFM won the LJL 2023 Spring Split. Ceros played a big part in tol2’s development and he talked about what it was like working with the young top laner.
The whole coaching staff, especially Ceros, had a very unique split. DFM was a team known for fielding star players, but 2023 was a new challenge for them, promoting their academy top laner, as Evi’s successor. Ceros was his main coach. From morning to late night, from macro to improving skill, he gave all his power to develop the future of DFM. Even after winning though, Ceros said he’s not yet satisfied with himself. He thinks tol2 couldn’t improve as much as he is capable of, and there are still issues with his laning, something that tol2 himself said he would put extra effort into. Ceros tried to focus on every aspect of his gameplay, even teaching proper mouse placement and fundamentals.
Besides these smaller details, Ceros helped tol2 in more mainstream ways too. Since top lane is heavily impacted by the matchup, Ceros watched a lot of 1v1 videos with tol2, and often practiced them with him. Ceros was excited to be the mentor of tol2, even staying up late, and talking with him on Discord about the game.
At the start of the season, since the playing field got harder (with the upgrades in SHG and SG) and DFM lost their star top laner, Evi, everyone gave up on winning. Yutapon said in an interview as well, the team thought it’s impossible to win Spring, they rather focus on improving themselves. It was around the middle of the split, seeing how the team performs, and how willing tol2 was to learn, that Ceros started to believe they can actually win LJL and that became his goal.
Outside the game, tol2’s biggest improvement was with his mental. He had big ups and downs, often getting too excited or getting too depressed. According to Ceros, that is one part where tol2 improved a lot, his control over his mental is much better. He was especially surprised how tol2 reacted to the sudden news when in an emergency, Yutapon had to play support instead of Harp. Everyone gave up already and accepted the loss, except tol2. He got more worked up than ever before, so much so that Ceros had to calm him down after Game 1, because he was too loud in comms.
tol2 has a different side too. People may know him as this young guy from Twitter, who is shy but hard working and has potential. But as Ceros said “fans may think that he’s a Twisted Fate. Cool and smart. But the real tol2 is actually more like an Olaf or a Garen. He’s the type of character you may see in a manga. Who thinks he can solve anything with recklessly fighting.”
Ceros also shared that tol2 is someone who can’t just sit at his desk. Even when watching matchup videos, he would often show random videos to Ceros and ask if he likes them. tol2 can focus during stage games, but he has to work on his focus during scrims as well, and work on other aspects of the game, like learning how to shotcall, etc. When talking about these to Gismo, he just said “how can you coach tol2…”
Ceros shares tol2’s idea that winning is everything. He wants to focus more on researching international teams and bringing in international results. They think this is the only way to make LoL more popular in Japan. DFM slowly but surely is getting there, last year taking a game off RNG, and winning here and there against other teams, but they don’t want to stop there. Ceros said they need more momentum and then they can finish these series with a win. After all, DFM is a winning team. They are expected to win everything in Japan.
Original interview was published 2023, April 24 on the LoL Ninja website: https://lolninja.net/2023/04/24/37636/
LoL Ninja got an exclusive interview with tol2, after DFM won the LJL 2023 Spring Split. The young rookie won LJL in his first split as a starter.
Winning LJL was one of tol2’s dreams. He was under heavy pressure during the whole split, so much so that his hands were shaking throughout the Finals. As a successor of Evi, it would be natural for someone to feel pressure, but he said he didn’t want to think about it, and just concentrate on his own performance. He knew he had the best team around him, so he only had to play well, and trust his teammates. It’s no surprise he got the most emotional at the time of winning. The staff had to calm the team down to tell them, there are still interviews left to do and they shouldn’t jump up.
The biggest factor in tol2’s growth was Coach Ceros. He was there with him from morning to night, even after scrims were over and Ceros went home, he hopped on Discord to help tol2’s individual practice, sometimes until 4 in the morning. According to tol2, Ceros was strict with him, but that was because he wanted him to succeed. He saw tol2’s potential and it would had been a personal failure from his side, if he couldn’t train the rookie into the next great player. DFM’s future was on the coach’s shoulders.
tol2 felt like the matches DFM lost were because of his mistakes, and if he did just a little better, they could have won. He was haunted by these thoughts even in his dreams, reliving each moment he made a mistake, and what he could have done differently. tol2 realized how much it means being on DFM. DFM is a team that can’t afford losing. He can’t lose.
Even though he was never blamed by his teammates for his mistakes (only jokingly) and everyone was nice to him, he still felt the pressure coming from himself. This pressure sometimes gets to him, and it can affect his communication. For example, during unexpected situations, like against FENNEL when they had to start with an emergency roster, tol2 got too worked up, and had to be told by Ceros that it’s better if he calmed down a bit.
Just as much as in-game, Ceros was truly a guidance in every aspect of life. He taught tol2 how to have better mental, how to be professional and how to have a healthy lifestyle. Ceros recommended tol2 to have dinner at least 3 hours before going to bed, take a bath an hour before, and sleep only after stretching. This helped the rookie to have better sleep, and better performance afterwards. Ceros is shy so he hasn’t praised tol2 face to face, but when DFM CEO Umezaki told him that the coach praised the young top laner behind his back, it made him really happy.
tol2 finished the interview saying he wants LoL to be as popular as Valorant in Japan. In Korea, every teen knows about LoL and often stops at PC bangs after school to play it. He thinks the best and quickest way to make the game more popular, is to have international success. That motivates tol2, and hopes that he can elevate the game’s popularity to new heights.
Original interview was published 2023, January 7 on the LoL Ninja website: https://lolninja.net/2023/01/07/35690/
LoL Ninja got an exclusive interview with tol2, after he joined DFM, replacing the star top laner, Evi. tol2 was nervous during the interview, since this was his first time being interviewed, and he knew the pressure he’s facing as DFM’s new top laner.
tol2 always wanted to be a part of DFM, the most prestigious Japanese organization. So when the opportunity came to join DFM Academy, he decided to take the first step. He never expected to be promoted, he joined because he wanted to learn from Evi and get better in DFM’s environment. Evi wanted to convince tol2 to join another team and get stage experience, but he insisted on staying in DFM Academy so he can learn from the best Japanese top laner.
After the season, he told DFM CEO Umezaki that he wants to stay on DFM Academy so he can learn from Evi, to which the CEO replied “So, this is still a secret, but Evi is planning to go abroad. tol2, are you ready to become the starting top laner for the main roster?”
tol2 immediately replied yes, but he had mixed feelings. He was happy Evi can play abroad, sad that such a talent is leaving the region, and surprised that he could be promoted to the main team after just a split.
This was tol2’s first experience living in a gaming house, but Coach Kazu was a great help for him. He taught the young rookie how to manage his life outside the game, suggesting to have a morning routine first, and then focus on his gameplay. In DFM, tol2 could focus on his laning alone because he was surrounded with superstars, and Coach Kazu helped him in this aspect a lot.
tol2 was known for his unique champions, namely Akshan and Draven top, but he worked on widening his pool, and play whatever gives the best chance of winning. He doesn’t have preferences or mains anymore, he’s willing to learn anything for the team.
He felt a lot of pressure, because even though he’s a young rookie, it’s inevitable people will see him as Evi’s successor and compare tol2 to the legendary top laner. He wanted to keep these thoughts out, because these just take time away from improving.
DFM is a team that is always expected to win, so to be able to achieve that, tol2 wants to become the best top laner, worthy of the best team.