Volamel
2017-02-21 12:48:37
“Everything has its beauty, but not everyone sees it. It does not matter how slowly you go, so long as you do not stop. Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” - Confucius
Afreeca Freecs Blue erupted onto the Korean scene in the inaugural season of OGN’s APEX Season 1, culminating in their grand finals performance against Team Envyus where they were defeated in one of the most dominant outclassings in Overwatch to date, 4-0. Their start to Season 2 has been less than stellar, the loss versus KongDoo Uncia left an uncertain cloud over the Afreeca Freecs Blue roster. However, not everything is doom and gloom for our boys in blue. Their win over North American hopefuls Cloud 9, was convincing, but was the crux on defining their own playstyle.
It seems that they have given free reign to Jeong "ArHaN" Weon Hyeop, Areeca Freecs Blue’s star Genji player. Leading with his brute force assault, they play a very in-your-face style of Overwatch. This has lead to a very sloppy and disjointed team dynamic. The constant overextension by ArHan startles most teams and forces their hand, creating space for fellow teammates; Bae “DongHyuN“ Dong Hyun and Jeong “Recry” Taek Hyun to clean up his bloodtrail. His unruly dives also pull apart his team, if he doesn’t have huge impact with his dive, ArHaN can be a large glaring flaw on Afreeca Freecs Blue.
The current roster seems at witts end. While some players fit perfectly within ArHaN’s narrative that he has instilled in the team, namely Recry and DongHyuN. Others just seem to be lack some fundamental knowledge of teamfighting and macro play. Playoff season is hot on Afreeca’s tails, and with that ArHaN may need to be benched. Without large changes or the addition of some serious support staff, Afreeca Freecs Blue is lost.
What can be done? I have a few idea’s and changes in mind. We travel east to find Afreeca. First, an unexpected detour; China.
Afreeca Freecs Blue stylistically is playing in the wrong region. Their style is more reminiscent of a stereotypical Chinese style, lush with; aggression, flashy plays and questionable risks. But, at the end of the day China has always seen success with this high octane style.
Every region has a style all their own. A detailed example of this comes from video created by League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK) color caster, Nick "LastShadow (LS)" de Cesare. LS dissects Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist, identifying succinct examples of each style from every major region in League of Legends.
These examples are not only eerily accurate, but they span across a number of historic esports titles; Warcraft 3, both iterations of Starcraft and Street Fighter. Afreeca Freecs Blue’s style of play is surprising coming out of Korea. Known for their calculated team play and reactive nature to games, Korean’s are more known to be surgical, safe and focus more on resource management or macro to games. With Lunatic-Hai on the upswing after recent roster shuffles, they look to be the antithesis to the Afreeca Freecs.
Lunatic-Hai has been known for their more reactive playstyle, systematically picking apart the enemy strategy and countering it on the fly. Having that level of presence of mind coupled with raw amazing talent is simply terrifying. Lunatic-Hai is the most Korean team, in Korea.
That being said, you can see how Afreeca Freecs Blue sticks out like a sore thumb when it comes to Korea. They are the quintessential “bull in a china shop”. Their blunt and aggressive play is like that of a bull, and is quite the sharp juxtaposition to their region, the china shop (Korea). Afreeca Freecs Blue is the Akuma, to Lunatic-Hai’s Ryu.
The term bloodtrail has become synonymous with Afreeca Freecs Blue, it's used to detail exactly how aggressive ArHaN is when he assaults the enemy. While it started as a compliment to his individual play, it’s usually ends up being a trail of his own blood. His comrades must charge in and follow his bloodtrail to save him from impending doom. Having ArHaN go too berserk is not what you want, but there is a semblance of strategy. ArHaN as shown them how to be aggressive, but the lesson here is that it has to be “controlled” aggression. ArHaN is the king of inconsistency. His valleys are just too low, but his peaks are very nice.
Something that is also worth suggesting is that there is still a resource that is not properly leveraged by players and teams; the time bank. We seldom see teams utilize time appropriately. ArHaN breaking out the Bastion during the hangar phase of Watchpoint: Gibraltar is a correct and apt example of using time to your advantage. Bastion is a hero the requires the enemy team to answer his presence quickly, but also forces them to change how they attack a map. In a recent interview with Inven Global [1] adam from Afreeca Freecs Blue mentioned that “...[ArHaN] picked Bastion thinking that doing so would effectively shut them down. I think we will be seeing Bastion more frequently in upcoming APEX matches.”.
Bastion is just part of the package of heroes that haven’t seen much experimentation, others include Symmetra, Torbjorn and Junkrat. What would happen if Afreeca Freecs Blue threw the gauntlet down, and focused on the offense and capturing points quicker than their opponents? Using Symmetra and Torbjorn to “all in” the defense, not to actually hold the point that comes as a bonus, but more to slow down and effectively soak the enemies time bank.
Afreeca Freecs Blue’s level of offensive play polarized the community. Watching flashy plays and ArHaN’s in-your-face style is not only exciting but incredibly entertaining but, they need someone to reel him in when he goes a little too crazy. It is easy to write them off as an over aggressive team with poor leadership, but think of what this team could be if they had smart aggression. Studying the past and fully embracing the idea of “non-stop blitzkrieg” is one of many keys needed to unlock the potential for Afreeca Freecs Blue.
Players across esport’s vast timeline have found ways to change the mold of how their respective game should be played. Similar to Afreeca Freecs Blue’s situation, players will adapt and wield their shortcomings to fuel their success.
We follow our bloodtrail through China, reminiscing on histories ferociously relentless players along the way.
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(Image courtesy of Team Liquid)
Starcraft: Brood War forged many legends, but there were few Zergs that were known to be as aggressive and swift as Park “July” Sung Joon. Titled as the “God of War”, not only was he the first Zerg to win an OnGameNet Starleague (Gillette OSL, 2004), but he did so in his freshman qualification for the OSL making him a “Royal Roader”. July or Julyzerg would then go on to win 2005’s EVER OSL and 2008’s EVER OSL which qualified him for a “Golden Mouse Award”. The Golden Mouse was one of the most prestigious things one could do in their Brood War career. Winning an OSL title was going through hell and back, but to win 3 was unheard of. Still to this day, there are only 4 Golden Mouse Award Winners; NaDa, July, Jaedong, and Flash. Known for his dominance versus Protoss and innovating modern Mutalisk micro techniques. From 2002-2006 July boasted a 72% win rate and only ever slightly falling from 2007-2010 to a 69.9% win rate. He would later find mild success in Starcraft 2 with Startale, most notably 2011’s GSL Code S where he upset his semifinalist, and future champion IM MVP. Julyzerg goes down as one of, if not, the most aggressive Starcraft players that ever lived.
(Image courtesy of ESL, Julia Christophers)
Li "Sky" Xiaofeng is not only the best Warcraft 3 player to ever emerge from China, but the best Human player ever. He is also the first back-to-back WCG Champion, capturing victory in 2005 and 2006. Sky not only innovated a much more abrasive style to Human’s and succeeded where no one thought he could.
Sky played Human in Warcraft 3, widely accepted as having more of a macro-centric and slow methodical gameplay style to it. He turned the Human meta game on its head developing the “Sky Rush” and “Sky Push”. Both strategies would ultimately be less of your typical rushes, and more of a timing attack. Sky didn’t want to play the late game, he had no interest in drawing out the inevitable and would aim for victory during the midgame superior aggression. He would identify when your race was the weakest and create an armada of towers and walls of summoned minions to swarm over you. Sky was to Warcraft 3, what Park “fOrGG” Ji Soo was to Starcraft: Brood War. Both innovated precise build orders that would not only win them championships, but would revolutionize the way their games were played.
(Image courtesy of Moscow 5)
The most aggressive and legendary Russian League of Legend’s teams, is also one of the most apt comparisons to Afreeca Freecs Blue. Moscow 5 later rebranding to Gambit Gaming adopted a “see hero, kill hero” policy when it came to League of Legends. Unintentionally innovated AF Blue’s Bloodtrail style of play 5 years prior to Overwatch even being thought of. The strategy revolved around their top laner Evgeny "Darien" Mazaev and his over-aggression with lane dominant heroes.
By playing so far forward this drew attention away from star mid laner Alexey "Alex Ich" Ichetovkin and jungler Danil "Diamondprox" Reshetnikov. Refining and mastering multiple strategies that would mold how modern League of Legends is played. 4 man teleport dives with Evelynn mid, heavy use of star jungler Diamondprox’s skirmish and jungle invading style, and capping it off with the birth of the support carry; Edward "Edward" Abgaryan. With legendary aggression they would take not only games, but entire sets off of the seemingly unbeatable Azubu sister teams; Blaze and Frost at IEM Katowice in 2013.
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Three of the greatest stories in esports history all were based on relentless aggression and innovation. Julyzerg, Sky, and Gambit Gaming all laid the roadmap to victory through utilizing their strengths rather than conform to a meta or more efficient style of play. Call it hubris or plain ignorance, they would continuously beat their opponents by walking forward, rather then step back.
It would not surprise me if Afreeca Freecs Blue heavily utilizes Symmetra and Torbjorn on defense, cutting a support, to full hold against teams like Lunatic-Hai and Team Envyus. Without a strong Tracer or Phara, this “all-in” style of defense either should; burn insane amounts of time off the clock or flat out full hold the enemy.
The innovation cannot come from ArHaN, Recry and DongHyuN alone, they need a team that shares the same bloodthirst instinct. Overwatch is not a solo game, team play and dynamic is crucial in becoming successful. Afreeca Freecs Blue’s roster needs an overhaul; Recry, DongHyuN, and ArHaN all should stay. They all share that same rage, just as their forefathers did. It boils down to this; Afreeca Freecs Blue need to fully embrace ArHaN’s aggression or, in time, the calculated reactive style of play will encompass them.
It is incredibly easy to say “just continue with the aggressive playstyle”, but obviously they need something more. Here is a quick hypothetical scenario you drop adam, Amon and Mano. Time and time again the supporting staff for Afreeca have been really a big issue when it comes to resource allocation. Throwing out seemingly random Nano Boosts and the Sound Barriers have been anything but stellar. Are they protected on their flanks? Yes. Recry has multiple highlight play clips of catching Tracers and Genji’s alike trying to dive.
When it comes to ArHaN, we will have to say goodbye. However, Afreeca should drop him to Afreeca Freecs Red and work on him. When ArHaN shows up, he has an amazing Genji and recently has shown a very good Tracer. But, there are too many glaring holes in this team to keep it stagnant, changes are in order. Replacing these players leaves us with Recry and DongHyuN, two stand out players in their roles. Trimming the fat away allows us to add even more firepower to an already star studded shell.
If we are to see ArHaN step down, who could we possibly see fill his shoes? In my mind, the easiest answer to this question is Haksal. Kim "Haksal" Hyo Jong is the original Korean Genji star. With his dominant performance over Reunited in Season 1, he dashed onto the scene and into numerous highlight video’s. He would fit in well with the shell that ArHaN left. Someone who has looked very strong recently but would be a little more outside the box is pine. Certainly coming up from the Challenger scene, pine comes from a duo DPS situation. He is used to playing with Flow3r, could he find a new partner in Recry? The impact that duo would have is petrifying to think about.
Gamsu is wasting away on Conbox Spirit. Not only is he anchor, but brings solid Winston and Reinhardt play into the line-up. This sures up any tank faults when it comes to running anything including dive. With Gamsu’s in game play, he also adds a certain level of experience and veteran knowledge from his history with League of Legends. This is something you cannot overlook or really quantify, its hard to put numbers to experience. Gamsu has been across the world and back, he knows how to be a professional player. With ArHaN and Recry calling targets well, the more skirmish style of a dive composition really plays into the wheelhouse of Afreeca Freecs Blue.
Rox Orca looks quite solid overall. Their Ana player, Try, follows in the footsteps of fellow aggressive Ana, RyuJeHong. His Biotic Grenades are accurate and well placed as well as his Nano Boost’s being meaningful and well coordinated. Try could also fill the role as a Zenyatta player if the meta would allow for it.
Quatermain is already on an Afreeca roster, except he is on the wrong Afreeca roster. Quatermain is known for being in the mix with his Lucio play, he enjoys being in the mix and adding more to the team. Both Sylph and Quartermain seemingly could split the use on a Zenyatta. His already pre-established aggression, he fits within the team dynamic almost perfectly. And, he’s free. He’s already signed to Afreeca, just move him over to Afreeca Freecs Blue.
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These are some of the top prospects in Korean Overwatch that are not already on a successful teams. Not only are they some of Korea’s best, but they repair or improve anything that Afreeca look to do in the future. Think about this roster that i’ve proposed; Gamsu, DongHyuN, Recry, pine/Haksal, Try and Quatermain. If i’ve ever seen a roster that could compete with powerhouses like LW Blue, the KongDoo sisters, and Lunatic-Hai, it has to be this roster.
Finally, with our bloodstained roadmap in hand, we arrive in South Korea. We’ve identified exactly what Afreeca Freecs Blue needs to flourish coming into Season 3 of OGN’s APEX League.
Using the specter of blind fury to shroud their path, remember that complacency is the enemy of the champion. We may have to depart from our brothers, but it is for the greater good. Continue to walk forward Afreeca, continue to innovate and continue to win.
“Success only feeds the appetite of aggression” - Lyndon B. Johnson
Written by: @Volamel
Images courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment, Afreeca.tv, TeamLiquid.net, ESL(Julia Christophers) and Moscow 5.
[1]: https://www.invenglobal.com/articles/1081
