Articulo/entrevista MUY interesante, al que para mi es uno de los mejores coachs de occidente.
No tengo tiempo de traducirla, es enorme, pero MUY interesante, si alguno tiene tiempo y ganas que haga un resumen o lo traduzca, se lo agradecería.
Julian "Pastrytime" Carr visits the Cloud9 house to observe the finer details behind how their Head Coach approaches his craft.
“So, what did you think of this game?”
Needing no other prompting, Cloud9 bursts to life, beginning to break down the game themselves.
Mid-laner Nicolaj “Jensen” Jensen, offers his initial thoughts on where the game got de-railed for the team.
Often quiet Jungler Juan “Contractz” Garcia offers his take on the early game, bemoaning how reactively he needed to play this game. “[The opposing jungler] just got so far ahead of me in experience early and I couldn’t really do much from behind.”
I’m sitting in the living room and review space in the Cloud9 team house, hearing five players shuffle their feet over the tiles from the practice room. It’s early for a group of gamers on a Thursday morning and the first of many scrims games of the day just wrapped up.
Han-gyu “Reapered” Bok, their head coach, is sitting in the same spot he has been in all morning, calmly listening, having just watched the game on an adjacent enormous review monitor. Robin Lee, the team’s in-house manager, analyst, and translator sits down on standby, ready to interpret whatever he has to say.
Primary top laner and Korean native Eon-yeong “Impact” Jung explains his thought process in rapid Korean, which is fluidly translated and relayed back to the English-speaking members of the team in a manner so smooth you barely realize the team needs to speak more than one language to each other.
While I think the difficulty of having non-English speaking staff or players is massively outweighed by the benefits of strong personnel, according to Robin, the translation isn’t even strictly necessary, it’s just more accurate and significantly faster, evident in just how efficient and democratic this whole process seems.
Continuing the discussion, the team’s 24-year-old ‘veteran’, AD carry Zach “Sneaky” Scuderi begins a back and forth, offering his alternative to what happened in the game and how, from his perspective, things could’ve played out differently.
This dialogue continues between Sneaky and primarily Impact and Jensen, continuing for minutes about how they could’ve approached situations differently, with the conversation flowing as freely as you’d expect from a group of elite players.
Minutes pass with Reapered simply listening with that same quiet intensity I observed when he was watching the game. When he finally moves to speak, the room immediately softens.
Having never heard a coach review a game with his team before, my first instinct is that he’ll launch straight into what happened, begin breaking down and pulling apart every nuance of the game. Instead, he says, "I think, your only focus should be on this area. In this position, recognize the strength of your opponents and back away, there’s no need to pick a fight here,” then pauses.
“Am I right?”
His tone is careful. Heavy. One that carries the weight of a coach who not only is supremely confident in his knowledge but also knows his players think the same way.
When I inquire about the tone Robin confirms that even he intentionally raises his voice when translating Reapered’s words.
“It’s to sound more authoritative, more powerful. Because it’s coming from him,” as he gestures towards Reapered.
With his legs folded in a simple computer chair, softly contemplating each moment, Reapered commands the room as he slowly and methodically talks his team through the rest of the game.
In so many ways, Reapered is a natural fit for a coach. A superstar in the very early days of professional League of Legends, Reapered’s League IQ was always one of the most consistent pieces of praise during his tenure as a top laner. And his captaincy and shotcalling were renowned on every team he played on, including the first ever LCK Champions, MiG Blaze, and the initial iteration of the legendary SK Telecom T1.
Having been the only real star on a team of otherwise unknown or underwhelming talents, Reapered’s ability to think outside the box and micromanage his teammates came well before the advent of full time coaches or analysts. Before lane swaps were drilled into teams, Reapered himself orchestrated some of the most complex and intricate swaps and double swaps, always looking at his creativity to try and grant him a strategic edge on his opponents.
Yet Reapered’s playing career, while initially impressive, did not last. And after a number of team and role swaps he announced his retirement from pro gaming in 2014. From there, he moved his League expertise to casting on the Korean broadcast, before shifting into his first coaching role with the LPL’s Edward Gaming.
Once his tenure in China ended, Reapered found himself back home in Korea looking toward his next opportunity in esports.
He would find it with Cloud9.
Coming off their single worst post-season finish since Cloud9 had joined the NA LCS, they traveled to Korea for a bootcamp, looking to re-build a team that had things stay the same for so long.
During the team’s bootcamp in Korea, part of the re-building process included the hunt for a new coach. They tried a multitude of options, and after just one day in front of the team, Reapered ushered in a new era for the organization as the Head Coach of Cloud9.
It seemed that the instant impression he had made on the team was a simple one: that he knew exactly what he was talking about. Pro players are savvy, they’re going to call bullshit on your League knowledge in an instant. If you tell them a simple macro call that isn’t correct, if you criticize a team fight situation without fully considering all the variables or even if you just claim to understand a matchup that you don’t, they’re going to know.
The benchmark for knowledge is already so high to be able to just contend with a top-level player, without even considering the challenge of teaching them. But with a confidence that made it seems almost effortless, that’s how Reapered came off to the team. As attuned to the game as its full-time professionals, like his career had never missed a beat.
Cloud9’s team house is a constant flurry of activity to the point where I’m likely the least significant disruption for the day, but people moving constantly through the house did give me an opportunity sit with Cloud9 owner Jack Etienne during the day.
We sat there like the bright-eyed sports fans we are, watching a scrim like it was an LCS game and getting equally excited and disappointed at the ebb and flow of play, invested in the game just like any other bit of League.
The whole time we’re there as standard sports background noise, Reapered is his usual quiet and unphased self, just breathing in every detail.
I asked Jack how the team went about finding Reapered and he told me about the bootcamp they had in Korea and how many different options they browsed through. When I asked him why they ultimately ended up with where they did, his story is as simple as it is incredible:
“I mean, we really tried so many different things during our time in Korea, we had people constantly coming in to try out and meet the team. One of our connections had mentioned Reapered’s name so we brought him into the house we were practicing in to spend a day with the team.”
Jack is his usual honest and verbose self, recounting the story like the proud dad of the organization he is as he continued:
“After the game he would just rattle off every little bit of criticism and analysis he could find. He was literally clicking through the replay of the game we just played with no notes at all talking about all these different moments in the game.”
As he finishes the story, you can hear the wonder in his voice as he remembers what it was like experiencing this the first time.
“He just had every timestamp right there in his memory and was just clicking through each moment of the game like some complete League of Legends genius.”
After only half a day during a C9 scrim block, I already observed just how much Reapered knows about this game. For him, understanding League feels even more than palpable, it’s innate, like it has always existed within him and had just been tempered by all his experience. While I expect coaches to be a font of expert level game knowledge, it’s the manner in which Reapered presents his knowledge that elevates him to that genius Jack described.
Personally, as someone whose professional career is built on knowing League of Legends, I understand the feeling. At some point I became so involved with the game that there are things I know that are just built into my consciousness. But I have never, and likely will never, understand the game as easily or intuitively as Reapered does.
That doesn’t mean it’s all serious all the time though. In fact, Reapered's jovial personality coupled with a healthy dose of dry sarcasm makes him one of the more approachable people I’ve had the pleasure of meeting within the League scene.
Reapered is more than willing to joke around with his teammates. In fact, he’s adopted a lot of the famous Cloud9 meme culture and honestly, I think it genuinely makes him closer to his team.
As I watched pick/ban on a scrim day I saw him just standing around the practice room, casually working through the draft with his team. During the downtime between picks he was talking to Sneaky about the MMO they were both playing
“Yeah I just sold all that stuff, I don’t think you need it and it’s worth a ton of money.”
“I like that build too, it seems really strong.”
Still, without missing a beat:
“Ban Caitlyn here.”
In a lot of ways, Reapered does what you would expect of any coach. He guides the team through Champion Select, helps review the games and different game situations, resolves issues and is even willing to tell his team exactly how he feels, especially in moments of underperformance. With all of this built on the relationship he has cultivated with each of his teammates.
When I asked about drafting, one of the few visible elements in coaching, I expected him to tell me that like most teams, drafting is not just his responsibility, it’s a team-wide effort. But the agency he gifts to his players in pick/ban is what was really left with me.
“Ray, what’s your option here?”
“Riven.”
“Ok, what other options?”
“Only Riven.”
…
“Ok, pick Riven.”
I’m stunned to learn this was a real conversation between coach and player, making it even more amusing when I learnt this took place during their Rift Rivals match against Unicorns of Love.
To me, it’s not just that he’s simply defaulting to almost blindly trust his player, but that he also realizes that if that’s the only option that’s presented to him, then there’s no point fighting the player on it, certainly not in Champion Select.
“If they only give me one option, then that’s the option we go with. If it’s something super crazy then sure why not, I trust them. But when they say they want a specific pick and it doesn’t work, that’s when I start to have questions. I don’t care what they’re picking if it works, I care about the result.”
After the draft as we sat down to watch the game start, I asked him if on-stage he would normally mention stuff to do at level one or give the team advice based on the compositions during champ select. Again, all stuff I’d expect of most coaches.
“Of course.” Came the reply.
“But it’s a scrim, so I don’t give a fuck.” he chuckled.
For a non-native English speaker, Reapered certainly has some key phrases ironed out.
He knows the time to review is after the game so he can be serious then. A full day of practice would be excruciating if it was always so heavy so why not spend some time joking around?
Even in review, Repared is willing to treat simple mistakes in a light way. He already knows that the player knows they messed up.
I remember one specific moment when the team was reviewing a level one bot fight.
“Smoothie!” he starts.
“How did you miss this skill? It’s enormous!”
The skillshot in question was a Rakan W and like almost always, Reapered was right.
“Must be those Grand Papa mechanics.”
I can’t help but laugh too with the team as one of the their well worn memes makes the rounds among everyone.
What’s truly impressive to me about Reapered is not just the knowledge he has, but the intuition that accompanies it.
Watching him navigate through a game of League is like watching a master Go player navigate through a game. Understanding the fundamentals so perfectly and having each move mapped out while also appreciating the dynamic and unpredictable nature of the game as it grows in complexity over time.
It’s not just thousands of hours of practice, there’s a part of him that just sponges up League and is able to adapt to the tiniest of changes using all his built up expertise. I’m confident that if I asked him to recount the last game he saw from memory minute by minute that he’d be more than capable of doing so.
“Ray will start.”
Ray hadn’t had a great last week. So later in the week at the NA LCS studio, it was easy for Reapered to notice how surprised my face must’ve looked as he elaborated.
“No, he didn’t have a great week, but it’s worse for him as a player if I don’t start him. Coming off a bad week and getting benched the next series? Any player would be so tilted from that, so he will start.”
I was stunned by the simplicity of the answer. It should be obvious, but I never would’ve thought of it until he mentioned it and then all of a sudden the lightbulb went off in my head.
Honestly, this is a pretty typical Reapered moment.
Reapered’s focus on what’s important, despite using the lens of the game to illustrate his point, is always using the current temperament of his players. If they need to focus and wake up, then that’s the order that will come, brutal and pinpoint.
If the first game of the day was sloppy, then he’ll breeze through it and tell them to treat it more like a warm-up game. Even though he could pour through every unrelenting frame of a match, he always makes sure the team takes away whatever condensed points they need moving into the next game.
I remember on game day that week, after suffering a surprising game one loss to NV, Reapered’s tone shifted from his usual calm and deliberate manner into one underpinned by the frustration of a team that clearly threw a lead away.
Criticism came swiftly and brutally that day, with one of the more memorable moments of the between game talk simply being:
“I don’t know what you guys are doing, start to wake up!” Before the team groups together to head back stage.
As I headed back with Robin towards the team’s studio practice room to listen to the next game he summarized the meeting with simply:
“Man, Reapered hasn’t been that pissed in a long time.”
Even listening to just his words in Korean, his tone and face said enough then for me to not need Robin to translate this time. It speaks to the investment Reapered has in the team though and that manifests even in the language he uses. I consistently heard Reapered use ‘we’ when going through scenarios.
“We always get scared when playing against this.”
“We got a little unlucky in this situation.”
Reapered’s personal investment as the seventh silent player is just as critical as the six players who have to actually play on stage and it even reaches further than just a job, he demonstrates the thought and care he puts into his coaching as well, with the most delicate moment I remember of my time observing coming during a particularly tough scrim game for the team.
“When I’m backstage, watching you play against these champions, I get worried because I know we always struggle against these types of picks.”
Ultimately, he understands that as much as he may see a lot of himself in his teammates, he can only help them so much before each game starts and for a short while between them before the players have to load up again and take all the things they’ve learnt without a coach behind them to remind them.
He is so insistent on the team environment being built around empowering the players to solve the issues themselves and that's why what he’s created is geared so much towards teaching the team rather than simply telling them what’s right and wrong.
This combined approach to coaching is, to me, what really takes Reapered from smart analyst, to great coach. He doesn’t just understand the game, he understands that players are human and he needs to consider both the ‘simple’ game element alongside the innate human element of every sport.
That Reapered is able to succeed as a coach is made even more impressive in an era that - with few notable exceptions - is still a vastly underexplored entity in professional League. While he had some previous coaching experience in the LPL, it wasn’t a career he really built and refined. It was really more something he just stumbled into.
I asked him if he’d ever talked to any other coaches and again he laughed.
“No, never. I have no idea what they do or how they do things differently. I just do what feels right for me and I guess it’s working.”
He even asked me if I was visiting any of the other team houses for this article. I said no, but said that I’d like at some point.
He agreed: “If you ever speak to [TSM’s coach] Parth I’d love to know more about what he does, make sure to tell me.”
I must’ve shot him a pretty interesting look, as, laughing, he quickly clarified that he was not trying to steal information about his competitor.
“I’m just interested in their style, I really have no idea what any other coach really does.”
He’s almost aloof and even borderline arrogant in his confidence on the game, but like a lot of things, for Reapered, relating to League of Legends just makes sense.
I think Reapered’s brilliance is something that took a while for me to really appreciate. For someone who has already won Coach of the Split once, I feel like the perspective for which I had on what exactly goes into coaching could not be really informed until I had a chance to experience it personally. All of my experiences with Reapered were so laid back, so casual, that it took a while for his real value as a coach to sink in.
But the more I talked, the more questions I asked him, the more overwhelming this feeling of genius pervaded.
The unique and balanced team environment present in Cloud9 is largely attributed to the way in which Reapered helped rebuild and re-shape the team as well as the effort he’s gone to to get to know not just his players styles but their personalities as well.
By forcing the team to talk among themselves to discover the answers rather than just hand them over, even though he very well could.
For Reapered, he cares much more about the getting to the right questions than just having the right answers.
Cloud9 takes on Team Dignitas on August 19 at 12:00 pm PT. Can Reapered help propel his team into the Semifinals?
http://www.lolesports.com/en_US/articles/c9-reapered-solution
