KC Busio: “[Coming to the LEC] was probably the most difficult decision I’ve made in my life.”

Q: I guess to start, how different does it feel playing in the LEC?

Busio: How different? I mean, the big difference is probably the new team rather than the difference in the league because I played on FlyQuest for two years so I became very familiar with my apartment there, with the lifestyle, with the day-to-day, with the people, with the way we did things.

And now it’s like I’m joining a new league but I’m also joining a new org. So everything feels very different and I just have to get used to it. So yeah, I would say it feels very different.

Q: The LEC support pool is generally considered a lot stronger than the LCS’s — especially with your move. Have you felt that?

Busio: So far I’m not really feeling that. I think CoreJJ is better than a lot of the LEC supports. I think Vulcan’s also very solid.

But I will say, the biggest difference in LEC is the bottom teams are much better than the bottom teams in LCS. So the overall strength is higher, the overall scrim quality is higher, and your day-to-day gives you better practice. 

I think the bottom LEC support is a lot better than the bottom LCS support, but for the top-level supports, I think in both regions, they’re very solid — at least I can’t tell a huge difference yet.

Q: Have you noticed gaps — in either direction — between the best players in any of the roles?

Busio: I would say… not even with the best players, but junglers [overall] are much more aggressive in LEC and they’re much more active in the map, especially [with] taking vision. They treat vision and waves as an objective before they finish all their camps.

In LCS, I felt like I could ego super hard as a support because [I know] the enemy jungler will do all 6 of his camps before he looks for vision, or looks to contest this wave and whatnot in midgame.

I think that’s actually a big difference that did surprise me — early on when scrimming, I was like, “Why is their jungler here? He has all his camps!”

And I [realized], “Oh, he’s treating this as such an important objective. Interesting. Very aggressive.” So that’s a big difference. And more to your question about which role shocked me with its top players, let me think. […] Man, I can’t really think of something that shocked me. So honestly, right now, it’s hard to tell.

Q: Caps, more than any other player, is known for a particular in-game pressure. You’ve played against him before, but have you felt that “GOAT Aura” against G2 in the LEC?

Busio: Not yet. I don’t think they’re in form to where I feel this “Aura.” But I know G2, as an org and the way they do things, is very respected — and it’s very proven to work.

I think, once they get rolling, then they get very good and [well-practiced], I’ll feel like, “Wow, these guys are playing as a team. Respect.” But so far, I’m not feeling that as much. So yeah, no strong opinions yet.

Q: Talk about the decision to move to Europe. How hard was it, emotionally and logically? Who did you talk to about it?

Busio: Yeah, I mean, the decision was not easy. It was very, very difficult — probably the most difficult decision I’ve made in my life. I don’t think I’ve made a harder decision or a more potentially impactful decision.

So it was very, very hard. It was very, very stressful. And I consulted many people — I consulted my agent, I consulted my friends, my family, [and] uh… people very close to me.

And yeah, I took the risk because I heard you grow from it — because it is an uncomfortable decision to make. It was close to my other decisions, and I wasn’t sure — [but] it was the uncomfortable one, so it’s probably the right one.

Because if it’s even close, and it’s the uncomfortable [choice], then it’s probably the right decision.

But, you know, it’ll be the right decision depending on how I play and how my year goes. I need to work every day to make sure it’s the right decision — otherwise it’s not worth it.

Q: You saw Quad’s quote about you. How’s your relationship with the former FLY players? Do you still chat with Quad and Massu?

Busio: Yeah, I mean I have really good relationships with them — and yeah, I want to keep [them]. I think I’m bad at interacting with pro players that aren’t on my team, because I usually view them as enemies — but they’re not really my enemies, as they’re in a different region.

So I like when they message me. They’ve been messaging me recently, […] like on TR, just messaging me like some little stim that makes no sense.

I should probably put more of an effort on my side to maintain the relationship, because I really like them — I hope we both make it to internationals so I can see them and do something fun. But, yeah … I forgot what the question was.

Q: FlyQuest just announced that LS will be the team’s “Strategic Consultant” this year. Thoughts?

Busio: I mean, I don’t know what that means — because Strategic Consultant could mean once a month he watches some scrims online, or it could mean he’s watching every scrim online and giving feedback, or it means he’s in person, you know?

Depending on what it means, I think it’ll have a very big effect. Like if he’s in person, I think you’ll see a lot of [LS’s input] in the draft and his way of thinking, but I think if he’s watching once a month, then he might bring some ideas in some one-off situations, but it’s not gonna have that much of an effect.

I think it can be really cool, but I’d just love to know how involved he’s gonna be, because that’s gonna change whether or not the fans can actually see the difference on stage.

Q: I know you two speak a good amount, and that many pro players appreciate his view of the game.

Busio: Yeah, I mean, he thinks outside of the box — and I think it’s really good to pair him with other coaches, because some people have like a traditional game understanding and then he has the very theoretical, “Let’s test it, let’s try it, think outside of the box” approach. 

If you have a coaching staff that can understand both together, that’s gonna be nice. And I really like talking to LS, and I really respect him — in modern League, there’s a meta that people follow, and the meta exists because of what the best players pick. Everyone kind of [just] follows. 

For example, champs like Mundo or Anivia that come out and then they’re now suddenly meta. What do mean they’re suddenly meta? Nothing can change, and something can become meta.

It just shows that the meta is like a perception, it’s mostly people just following what top LCK teams do. There’s many, many champs that are viable, many more strategies that are viable, and ways of playing — especially on the champion front. It’s just really cool to explore that and get an advantage that way.

Q: Personally, I was concerned for you; I worried that KC — with Reapered, known for a very traditional approach, and Canna & Kyeahoo, who come from the LCK system — wouldn’t be a good environment for your creativity.

Busio: I don’t think you should be concerned because I don’t view myself as needing to play the weird champs to get an advantage and whatnot. I’m very comfortable playing the meta and [the moments] to pick my certain champions because I know the conditions for them.

And of course right now I’m the best of ones, you’re not really going to see them. But as we get into Fearless, you’ll see them more and more. […]

I mean, for sure [I’m still prepping those picks]. I don’t pick my random picks just to be funny — I pick them when I actually think they’re good. They’re more rare champs, so they’re not going to be good in every situation.

Reapered is, I guess, more traditional like that — but he’s also very open-minded. And we have Zeph, who is kind of on the other end of the spectrum; he’s a lot more invested into specialty picks. I think they pair together very nicely.

Our Korean mid laner and Korean top laner have no problem with creative picks as we’ve scrimmed … ah… many of them — and they just like them in the good spots. Just, to pick a weird champ, you have to have a reason — and it has to be in the spot that makes sense — and nobody has a problem with it.

Q: I know you saw Keria’s Lissandra support…

Busio: I actually scrimmed that champ a lot on FlyQuest, but I don’t think we ever played it on stage.