GG Huhi on online LCS matches: “I perform better on the stage.”

The Golden Guardians didn’t have a good weekend. They went 0-2, falling to TSM and Team Liquid. Even though it didn’t go their way, Choi “Huhi” Jae-hyun still has hope they will make playoffs. They just have to give it their all next weekend despite all the craziness and uncertainty the coronavirus has brought to the LCS schedule.

WIN.gg spoke with Huhi about how GG was dealing with the Los Angeles lockdown, from scrims and LCS matches to preparing meals and chatting on webcam with a bunch of dudes.

How are you feeling about this weekend’s matches?

Huhi: Because we went 0-2, we all know that this week’s matches were really important to make playoffs. It doesn’t feel good, but the outcome wasn’t bad. We still talked about a lot of the problems we had and use this as an opportunity to really be serious about those small mistakes we were making in-game and trying to really improve on it.

It’s sad and emotional, but we tried to take something positive from it.

What is your motivation for the rest of the Spring Split?

Our motivation, well we still have some hope. We can still make it to playoffs. That’s why we really have to grab the wins next week.

You’re facing FlyQuest and Counter Logic Gaming next weekend. How do you see those matches going?

I think we are pretty comfortable versus those teams. We have a pretty good chance to beat both of them based on scrim results. But also their form recently.

FlyQuest doesn’t look as strong as before. CLG is also last place and knocked out out of playoff. But that doesn’t mean we will underestimate them, though.

How was it playing online this weekend? 

I think playing online feels really different from playing at the LCS physically. For myself, when I drive to the LCS Arena, I try to prepare myself to be competitive. I can’t really do that anymore. When we go to makeup or I see my teammates bonding and talking about the game, those things are missing when playing online.

But I think we just need some time to get used to it and we’ll eventually adapt to it.

What are some issues you think might arise from having matches online? 

The biggest issue is some lag, since we’re playing online. Some players might have some FPS drop or ping spikes that are unavoidable. I think that will be the biggest issue. That didn’t happen this weekend, luckily.

Were you all playing together at the facility over the weekend?

Yes, we’re all at the facility. We played from home yesterday. We weren’t really comfortable because I never scrimmed from home either. So today we decided to all come in to the office and play here so we can see each other face-to-face and have a better game.

What were the benefits of playing together at the facility rather than from home seperately?

For myself, the setup is much more comfortable. When I play from home it doesn’t really feel like I’m playing an LCS match. I have two dogs in the background, too. When I come to the office, it puts me on a more work mindset. That’s a pretty big change.

How was it not competing on the LCS Arena stage, not having the crowd or opponents present?

I’d rather have the crowd and opponents there. It puts me in a competitive mindset. Them not being there isn’t a bad thing. But for me, I perform better when they’re there.

Do you think that played a part in your team’s performance this weekend at all? 

Yes and no. It definitely affected us to some degree. For example, some teammates go to the gym to get into the right mindset, but that’s not an option under lockdown.

But in a sense it’s also a no. It’s fair for everyone. We’re all having this same disadvantage.

How have you guys been practicing together? 

We only tried one day where we practiced from home. It was pretty weird to have a VOD review through a webcam. And not being next to each other. It was funny in some ways. Being in a video call with seven other guys for like eight hours, it’s a new experience for me.

How has the coronavirus disrupted your schedule the past few weeks?

I’m not sure what will happen for next week. It depends on the situation. But so far, we scrim at the office. The last day before LCS match we scrimmed from home. I’m not sure what will happen in the future.

We scrimmed the same amount of days this week but we definitely had a lot more days off the week it got postponed. Instead of having zero or one, I had three days off. I think that hurt us as a team. Instead of moving forward we lost momentum. This week were trying to get that back. So that felt kind of bad.

Now that you’re trapped inside, what have you been doing when you’re not scrimming?

I’ve been cooking more meals. When I came to the office, they’d have meals delivered for us. Now I went to the grocery store to stock up and cook myself some meals.

Have you cooked anything interesting?

We made some pho broth, a decent amount, so we could freeze it and eat it any time. It took us a day to cook it.

Is there anything you wanted to say to fans?

To everyone, be safe and we’ll get through this together.