PaiN Gaming is yet another Brazilian organization to invest at foreign players. With the unique objective helping their team to back for the top of Brazilian scene of League of Legends, paiN hired, last saturday, two Korean pro-gamers Han "Lactea" Gihyun and Kim "JJOO" Joo-sung, to play as Top Laner and Support. The star Yoon "MaknooN" Ha-woon will be their new Coach.
First of all, could you briefly describe your journey through eSports?
Hello. For those who don't know my history, if we can call it that, started in Call of Duty, but at the "games of the moment" I started in esports when I joined Nex Impetus as a business partner and one of their Directors. I had a lot of good times on Nex Impetus, where we were one the best of the season, and we conquered so many championships. Since October of 2013, I've been part of paiN Gaming, and I'm sure it is the right place to develop all my ideas.
Last year was the best year in the history of paiN Gaming for League of Legends. The team won the Brazilian Championship, received a silver medal in the International Challenger and attended two international tournaments (IEM VII and International Wildcard). In 2014, paiN started the year with good results with the runner-up of Global Challenge São Paulo -- but after that, the team started to have problems with changes in their line-up and the results just weren’t the same. Besides the reformulation of the team, what does the orgazaniation intend to do for paiN to return to top of the Brazilian scene? Will the reconstituted roster be enough, or do you look to do more?
As with any sport every club goes through its ups and downs, and this isn't different with eSports. Here we are fortunate to count on people and players that are dedicated and always have the will to win. This gives us the necessary motivation which we need to ensure our constant evolution. For League of Legends, we brought two korean players so that, together, with our base, they can put paiN Gaming back in their place. And about the organization, all I can say is that news is coming soon.
PaiN isn't the first Brazilian team to hire foreign players in pro Brazilian LoL. Three months ago, we saw kStars hiring the korean pro-gamers SuNo and Winged after the organization made a negotiation in South Korea. How was the negotiation between paiN and Lactea/Olleh made, and what sprouted the idea to hire foreign players to strengthen the current line-up? With recent results, did you deem this necessary to continue as a team?
The idea to bring foreign players isn't recent, so much so that we were thinking about hiring a foreign AD Carry to replace MGuilder. But we found owN, our current ADC, has all of the desired qualities for this position. The contact with the South Koreans was made through Maknoon and PAADA, the owner of paiN Gaming.
A few hours after paiN Gaming announced the removal of Venon and Minerva, so many people in the “backstage” of the scene spoke about the new players, especially about the potential hiring of Araneae and inSec. Besides Lactea and JJOO, did paiN negotiate with other players? If yes, could you tell us which ones?
As any trading was made between Maknoon and PAADA, I don't know the names of the others players, but I know paiN contacted other South Korean players.
To work as a Coach and Analyst, paiN Gaming hired Maknoon, a former Korean pro-gamer who played for huge local teams. Could you tell us more how this plan will be executed? Will Maknoon’s work perhaps reflect that of MonteCristo, who occasionally would travel to the US to help the team locally as well?
All of the main teams of the western scene have coaches, who often don't live in the gaming house. Moreover, the unique case of the coach living together the team is with cloud9 and Team SoloMid. All other main teams work with a coach at a distance. This formula has been tested at the beginning and is working very well for paiN. About Maknoon in Brazil? Hmm, who knows?
Still talking about Maknoon’s role in the team, what will be his primary focus? Has there been any conversation between both parties? Is there a possibility that Maknoon may play on the starting line-up for paiN in the future?
All of the players of paiN Gaming are experienced, and they reached an agreement with the Maknoon about what will work for strategic reasons. I cannot reveal what will be done. But be sure that the result will be seen very quickly.
Shortly after paiN Gaming announced this new project, their fans started to question the period and longevity of which the players and coach will stay on the team. Will everyone be staying until the end of the season or not? What are the long term goals in paiN’s current vision?
This question has an easy answer. The idea is that this was, probably, the last exchange on the line-up of paiN Gaming for a long time.
Though it was not mentioned during the announcement of the new project, does paiN Gaming intend to make a bootcamp outside the borders of Brazil? If yes, is it going to be planned based around qualifying and competing in an international tournament? What are some ideas of where you might travel and train?
Answer English: The bootcamp is always an interesting point in any plan. The last time paiN Gaming went to Germany to play the International Wildcard, we made a bootcamp, and the idea is always make better plans than last time.
This Sunday, the Korean players had the first contact with the others Brazilian teams in the Week #4 of Brazilian League - Champions Series. Did the results play out as expected? Do you think, now, paiN Gaming can pull themselves together and qualify for the playoffs?
I think the result speaks for itself and like our fans, we also expect to play the finals of the Brazilian League in Fortaleza
To finish our interview, I would like to thank you for this opportunity and leave this space for your final words and thoughts.
I would like to thank everyone who support us and all of our sponsors - Razer, Avell, Alpha PC's - and GosuGamers for the opportunity to interview. See you Fortaleza
paiN Gaming
Han "Lactea" Gihyun - Top Laner
Thúlio "SirT" Carlos - Jungler
Gabriel "Kami" Santos - Mid Laner
Marcelo "owN" Shiwa - AD Carry
Kim "JJOO" Joo-Sung - Support
Interview & Translation by: Gabriel "gabrielpumba" Melo
Formatting & Editing: Gabriel "gabrielpumba" Melo
Proofreading by: Michale "DreXxiN" Lalor
?Photo Credit: TEAMPLAY
