Echo Fox have gone 1-1 in Week 1 on the 2019 Spring Split. With a game that was lead by their bot lane pressure, Echo Fox defeated Golden Guardians in a great display of bot lane synergy, as Apollo and Hakuho carried the early game, helping their top and mid through the early game deficits those lanes accrued. Esports Heaven spoke with Hakuho about his Leona performance, the transfer from Clutch Gaming to Echo Fox and where he rates himself and Apollo among other ADCs.

You guys just took a victory over Golden Guardians and particularly you and Apollo smashed bot lane. What are your thoughts on Deftly and Olleh as a bot lane duo?

They’re definitely on the weaker side. Unless they’re playing Draven with a good support matchup, it’s hard for them to get priority and they have poor decision making whereas Apollo and myself are really confident. We know the good times to fight, how to keep push and when to roam.  

You played Leona this match. It’s kind of surprising to see her in meta, but it looks like it’s specifically against Rakan. What are your thoughts on Leona in the meta currently?

I think people only play Leona into Rakan; it’s a good matchup. Leona is just really good if you can get priority because you can pressure mid, you can go invade the jungle and the champion just gives you a lot of teamfight potential and just general fighting.  

Which is exactly what you guys did! You stole blue buff and gromp really early. Alright, going to bot lanes in general, you’ve decided to stick with Apollo for another season. Was this a priority to stick with each other to a new team?

Apollo and I play really well together and we showed our potential last year, but the Summer Split wasn’t that great for us due to team issues. I think we’ll show this year that we’re still a really strong duo.  

It’s strange looking at Echo Fox and Clutch Gaming because it seems like you guys just swapped players between each other. You have experience with both of these teams now, so what are your thoughts on the organizations themselves and the team environment? How do they differ or how are they similar?

When we were on Clutch Gaming, the team environment was really bad and it didn’t really get fixed. There were a lot of management issues and player issues that never got addressed, whereas on Echo Fox, all of the players get along well and the office area and practice environment is a lot nicer than we had last year on CG. So, I think FOX is a lot better fit for Apollo and I.  

Was it just CG coaches were swapping out, because I know there was an instance of that? Do you feel as though it’s because your coaching staff is a bit more consistent?

I feel like our coaching staff is a lot better now and the general atmosphere of practice is higher quality whereas last year usually we had to wait 20 minutes in-between scrim games because of mental breakdowns and emotional stuff. Now, we’re more focused on our practice than last year.  

It seems for some power rankings, Echo Fox is lower ranked. Likewise, both you and Apollo haven’t been ranked consistently high in the past either. What are your opinions on your status as a bot lane compared to everyone else?

Apollo and I are a strong bot lane and we know that, we just have to show it this year. We’ve showed it in the past, we just don’t have the star name or the stream credibility that everyone wants on Reddit. ___ Izento has been a writer for the LoL scene since Season 7, and has been playing the game since Season 1. Follow him on Twitter at @ggIzento for more League content. Image courtesy of LoL Esports Flickr