The first split of the Legends North American League Championship Series match offered surprises, but none were more surprising than Shopify Rebellion losing all three of their matches and every game it played in the lightning-quick sprint.
"Shopify going 0-6 was a shock to me," LCS commissioner Mark Zimmerman said. "Zinie, being a new kid, it makes some sense that he had a tough first couple of weeks."
But 232 days since their last victory, Shopify Rebellion broke through on April 5, defeating Dignitas 2-0 in Week 1 of the LCS. Shopify Rebellion will play Team Liquid Alienware at 1 p.m. Saturday.
"We're on the board finally," Shopify Rebellion jungler Juan Arturo "Contractz" Garcia said.
Lost in Translation
Yoo "Zinie" Baek-jin is in his first season in a Tier 1 competition after coming to North America. He spent the first three years part of Korean powerhouse KT Rolster's academy and League Championship of Korea Challengers League, the region's second-tier competition.
Garcia agreed with Zimmerman's assessment of the team's opening split.
"It was hard to integrate a new mid laner," Garcia said.
The main challenge for Yoo was the language barrier.
Shopify Rebellion's lone Korean player is attack-damage carry Ju "Bvoy" Yeong-hoon, while Seong "Reven" Sang-hyeon acts as the team's head coach. This created a difficult arrangement where the team's desired tempo conflicted with Yoo's vision.
"Sometimes we'll want to play slower, but then he'll want to play faster," Garcia said. "All those small details of how you move around the map with mid, jungle, and support. It requires a lot of fine tuning, and it's something that you can't really fix overnight."
The barrier also made communicating his opinions during video review much more complicated.
Assistant coach Tanner "Damonte" Damonte sympathized with Yoo. Damonte sensed that Yoo was growing frustrated not being able to fully communicate what he was seeing in game, which prompted them to change their video review approach.
It prompted the team to try a different approach to video recaps.
Slowing Down to Speed Up
Instead of moving through the session after everything was discussed, Shopify Rebellion opted to slow down video reviews to allow Yoo to speak his mind during them. This way, he was able to provide insight on what he's seeing, while utilizing Ju and Seong to communicate more complicated concepts.
The process managed to get Yoo more engaged, allowing his talent to come through. It also helps that his English has been improving.
"Zinie's been working really hard just to get on the same page as us," Garcia said. "For him to be able to speak his mind, and, for us, to just have really good back and forth, to really have a feel of how we want to play in game. We kind of are identifying our style and how we like to play. It's been a really good process so far."
Yoo was a major part of the team's sweep of Dignitas. He dominated his lane in Game 1 with meta staple champion Annie. He posted six kills, two deaths and 10 assists — an eight KDA — to earn MVP honors. Things weren't as dominant in Game 2, finishing with two deaths and 11 assists for a 5.5 KDA.
"He's got a very good eye and read for the game," Garcia said. "He's always looking for that opportunity, that play. It's a good quality to have a player to be opportunistic. He always tries to find the best play.
"He's more comfortable within the whole group, and he's feeling a lot closer to us."
The Next Test
But there is a difference between beating a team that some have projected to finish eighth in the LCS and a team that is considered one of the favorites to earn a spot at Korea's Mid-Season Invitational.
Team Liquid serves as a major step up in competition from Dignitas, which is in the early stages of a long-term rebuild.
"Team Liquid is a very scary team," Damonte said. "This new iteration of Team Liquid is more in my opinion about individual skill expression and how they use the early game to their advantage."
Yoo will line up initially across from former Gen.G Academy player Lim "Quid" Hyeon-seung. Lim dominated in Team Liquid's two wins against FlyQuest, posting a 10.5 KDA in the match-sealing game.
But Damonte isn't worried about Yoo. He remains confident that Yoo will compete in the early-game laning phase, but it will be critical that Yoo adapts when it comes to supporting the side lanes when pressure comes.
"This is something we're working on: how to use Zinie in the side lane," Damonte said. "What does he want to do? What does our team want to do with him. … We'll have to make sure we're on top of the mid-jungle-support process in the early and mid-game."
World-Class and Waiting
That will be easier said than done when Team Liquid is home to one of the more experienced players in the region.
Support Jo "CoreJJ" Yong-in, who was a member of the 2017 League of Legends World Championship-winning Samsung Galaxy team, brings a wealth of knowledge to his team. He sees on a regular basis the talent and potential of Team Liquid.
"Some of the plays we are making are definitely world class," Jo said. "But we are not consistent yet. Our level is quite low compared to the other top teams. What I know is that we can make world-class plays, so I will try to help where we can consistently make really good plays, so that we can beat [world-class teams]."
It's when Jo synergizes with his other teammates, particularly his mid-laner and jungler, that makes Team Liquid dangerous.
"You can't give these players an inch, as they'll take a mile, especially with CoreJJ," Damonte said. "CoreJJ is super-efficient on the map, and he can impact the game a lot.
"He has always been one of the best players. He just knows how to spread influence across the map."
The key to competing, Damonte said, is how well they keep up with Team Liquid in the early game. If Shopify Rebellion can do that, he remains confident that they can have an edge in team fights.
Regardless of the result, Shopify Rebellion is hoping that it won't go another two-thirds of a year for another series win.
Paul Delos Santos covers esports for The Sporting Tribune. He also writes a weekly newsletter at InsideEsports.media.