As of now, all domestic tournaments have concluded, and everyone is gearing up for the upcoming journey of the League of Legends community known as Worlds 2021. The intense matches, the pinnacle of competitions… and especially, what everyone is eagerly waiting for is undoubtedly the battle for the championship trophy between the two regions with the most powerful League of Legends scenes in the world today: China and South Korea.
On his streaming channel, former jungler of Invictus Gaming – Ning shared his thoughts on the differences between coaches in the Chinese and Korean regions. In these countries, the coaching staff can be considered an extremely important factor, especially in Korea. In fact, the coach’s directions are the only path that players must follow, even if they themselves feel uncomfortable with those strategies. A prime example is T1 under the leadership of the coaching duo Daeny and Zefa and after their dismissal.
Ning stated that in the LPL region, the coaching staff tends to be more lenient and gentle with players compared to the LCK. When a player makes a mistake, LPL coaches do not tend to yell or scold much, whereas in the LCK, coaches are very strict and do not hesitate to raise their voices at their students. Players must strive to avoid making similar mistakes.
Ning also added: “I remember back in 2019 Worlds, the coach of DAMWON Gaming was Coach Kim. On the way to the practice room, as I passed by DWG’s room, I heard Coach Kim scolding Nuguri, and it sounded very harsh. I don’t understand Korean very well, but Nuguri didn’t even dare to look up.”
Ning’s comments are further supported when recalling the case of Griffin in the past. The internal scandal of GRF stemmed from Coach cvMax being accused of yelling, using harsh words, and being violent with his players during both practice and competition.
Through Ning’s revelations, it can be seen that it is not a coincidence that coaches in the LCK always play an extremely important role in guiding players. Although their coaching methods may not be particularly soft, or even easily misunderstood as violent, in a highly competitive environment like the LCK, they understand better than anyone what will happen if one or more players go off course and impact the team’s performance.