It’s been a rough couple of weeks for the Golden Guardians roster, hitting a wall again and again in their bid to break free from the bottom of the standings. We caught up with GG support Leandro “Newbie” Marcos to talk about the game vs C9, his transition to NA, and feeling like a rookie despite his years of experience.
Newbie and the rest of GG have been experiencing some growing pains, but he feels that one day he can be a top support in the LCS (Photo via Codigo Esports)
Hotspawn: Thanks so much for joining me! I wanted to start off by getting some of your thoughts after that loss to C9. How you’re feeling?
Newbie: I think our game plan was really good. We played what we wanted and what we practiced this week. I feel like we just made some individual mistakes, and they snowballed the game from that. It was a hard game, but I feel like we’re improving every week, and of course, we didn’t show good results today, but I hope [our] next games are better
Hotspawn: What are some of the main things that Golden Guardians, and you individually, are focusing on improving right now?
Newbie: For me individually, my work right now is looking for fights and setting up fights, when I play engage supports. But this game I played a different champ, Janna [is] way different. In general, my job is trying to engage and trying to look where to fight. I’ve been working on that.
Hotspawn: I wanted to ask you about that Janna pick— it’s the second time you’ve pulled it out, and you’re the only one so far. Do you think she’s strong, or is it just a matter of countering the popular engage supports?
Newbie: I don’t think she’s that good [of a] champion, but it’s good into Rell. You can cancel her engage. We played Janna last week versus 100 Thieves, and I think it’s good for our playstyle. We’re playing some tanky junglers, tanky tops, [and] Janna feels good in our comps. She’s not that good, but in teamfights it’s hard for Rell to engage. This game was pretty hard— they have Hecarim, Rell, Kai’sa, they have a lot of tools to fight.
Hotspawn: You mentioned before that she works with Golden Guardians’ playstyle. Do you feel like you’re developing a team style, or is it too early to say?
Newbie: I think it’s a bit early. We’re working a lot on our playstyle. Last week we were working a lot on that, and we’ve been improving. Our results in LCS weren’t that good last week, and of course today. But I feel good with our improvement every week. Of course, I want to show better results and win, but I think we’re in a good way now.
Hotspawn: Shifting away from the game, how’s the transition to North America been for you? Has it been hard?
Newbie: It’s a bit hard of course, moving to another country [and] another league. It’s been a bit difficult, but of course, it feels good to be here. It’s like a dream to be here, and be working with a lot of people that are very tryhard and very nice to work [with]. I really like working every day with them. It’s hard, but I’m happy to be here. I want to take this opportunity— it’s a big challenge for me of course, personally and as a pro player, but I’m very happy to be here. I want to get more wins and improve as a team [laughs].
Newbie played for All Knights and Isurus in the LLA before coming to the LCS (Photo via Riot Games)
Hotspawn: You mentioned that this is something that you’ve wanted for a long time. What were some of your goals when you decided to come to North America?
Newbie: When I came here, I’m more like a rookie because no one knows me. I want to show that I can be good, and I want to show I can be someone here. Maybe in [the] future, a top support. Of course, I have a lot of work still, but I feel like I’m improving a lot every day because here everyone is very good. I need to improve, and I feel good with that.
Hotspawn: You mentioned that it’s a different environment, with everyone being talented and, as you say, tryhard. What’re some of the differences between the LATAM scene and the NA scene?
Newbie: Overall it’s more professional, how I say “more tryhard.” They really want to win and they really want to improve and play better. Of course, in LATAM they do it, but I feel like here they’re more professional.
Hotspawn: What about in terms of regional playstyles? Have you found that NA solo queue is different than what you’re used to?
Newbie: Of course it’s a bit different. Here there are a lot of players that are very good. I feel like LATAM solo queue is not that good, there aren’t too many players that play very well. If you’re good it’s hard to improve more, but here every one is good. Almost everyone punishes you for your mistakes so you learn a lot. It feels good to play versus good players.
Hotspawn: You feel like you’re learning more quickly playing in NA?
Newbie: Yeah, of course. I feel like I learn something every week.
Hotspawn: To close us out, do you have any words or thoughts for the Golden Guardians fans out there and the Newbie fans back in LATAM?
Newbie: Just keep supporting us. We’re a new team, and we’re working really hard every week. We want to show better results. Just keep supporting us! We’ll try to do better next game.
