Worlds 2018: A not-so Lightning Round with Team Liquid

We forced Team Liquid to design their own champions, but what would Worlds 2018 content be without our Lightning Round?

Impact, Xmithie, Pobelter, Doublelift and Olleh all sat in the living room of their hotel during their stay in Seoul and looked at me with unamusement in their eyes as I took the Ziploc bag out of my backpack.

Note that this is a little bit different from the Rift Herald Lightning Round we had with Cloud9’s Blaber and Jensen. While we were on a time crunch with the two of them, we had a bit more free time with Team Liquid.

The guys each picked a question and answered the one they got, passed the bag and we continued this pattern for a bit.

The interview below has been edited for clarity and length.

Pobelter — How do you take your coffee?

Pobelter: Black.

The Rift Herald: Really? Just straight black? Nothing? Even at Starbucks, you just get a black coffee?

Pobelter: If I want to have something really sweet, then like, yeah. But usually if I’m just like, “I need caffiene,” then I just get a black coffee.

Doublelift: I wish I got that one.

Doublelift — What Pokémon would you want as a companion in real life?

Doublelift: God dammit! I hate Pokémon.

Pobelter: Put that in the interview. “I hate Pokémon.”

The Rift Herald: We’re on the record, boys!

Doublelift: No, I just ... hm. Any suggestions? I just don’t really like Pokémon!

Xmithie: What’s that guy’s name? Dee-to?

Doublelift: DEE-TO? DEE-TO??

[The team laughs.]

Xmithie: Ditto, so you could make it look like Bonnie.

Doublelift: I want Ditto’s foreign cousin, Dee-to.

Riot Games

Xmithie — What game console is/was your favorite?

Xmithie: If PC doesn’t count ... oh shit, when’s the last time I played another console?

Olleh: You played on the Switch!

Xmithie: I didn’t like the Switch that much. I liked the Family Computer — the Famicom.

Olleh — Who is your favorite Pokémon starter?

Olleh: Chikorita?

Pobelter: You liked Chikorita?

Olleh: The Korean name is ... Fairi, the fire dragon.

Pobelter: Charmander?

Olleh: Yes.

Impact — Do you prefer trains or planes?

Doublelift: Eels or escalators?

Impact: I don’t like jet lag, so I like trains. But trains can’t go to other countries, so ...

Xmithie: This is a hard question!

Doublelift: If you get jet lagged on a train, do you get train lagged? Woah ...

Doublelift — Who would you want to play you in a movie adaptation of your life?

Doublelift: Jackie — no, wait. The Rock. Dwayne Johnson. Can you see it?

Pobelter — What are you being for Halloween? (Of course, you’re making it to Finals, so you won’t be celebrating Halloween, but what would you be for Halloween?)

Pobelter: Wow, I don’t know. I haven’t dressed up with Halloween in like, a decade.

The Rift Herald: You guys don’t go to Halloween parties?

Pobelter: What’s a party?

Xmithie: I dressed up as Doublelift actually for the CLG Halloween party.

Doublelift: Thanks a lot, dude.

Pobelter: No costume ideas. I gotta be honest.

Doublelift: The food critic from SpongeBob who hides the pickles under his tongue.

Riot Games

Xmithie — If you had to make a League team, what would you name it?

Doublelift: XDJake

Pobelter: XDG Vulcan Tech Bargains

Xmithie: The Meme Team.

Olleh — What’s your Chipotle order?

Olleh: I don’t eat Chipotle.

The Rift Herald: Really? I feel like that’s blasphemy.

Doublelift: Koreans don’t eat Chipotle.

Olleh: Some Koreans do!

Impact — If you had to play a different game competitively instead, which would you pick?

Impact: Dota 2, guys! Insane money. Let’s go!

The rest of the team: Let’s go!

Impact: I can buy a building!

Xmithie: Dota 2 is actually hard, though ...

Doublelift — When playing FPS, do you use inverted Y-axis or no?

Doublelift: No!

Pobelter: What a fun question!

Doublelift: What a stupid question! Does anybody do that?

Pobelter — What is your favorite holiday?

Pobelter: It’d be really funny if I said Halloween. Christmas, I guess. Or Thanksgiving?

Xmithie — Imagine you just got your milk out of the refrigerator to pour it into cereal, coffee, whatever you like. Do you shake your milk before you pour it?

Xmithie: Yeah, I do actually.

Pobelter: That makes bubbles, though.

Doublelift: Yeah, why?

Xmithie: I don’t know. I think I’m so used to “shake well before” y’know? I shake everything, actually. Just not sodas.

Doublelift: Yeah, actually, Jake mixes his rice. If it’s plain white rice, he’ll just mix it.

The Rift Herald: It helps it ... cool down if it’s hot?

Xmithie: Yeah!

Riot Games

Olleh — You have to make an impressive dinner for your partner. What are you making?

Olleh: KBBQ!

The Rift Herald: You’re going to make BBQ at home? Wow.

Olleh: Yeah.

Pobelter: That’s so easy. You literally just fucking grill the meat.

The Rift Herald: You have to marinate it!

Pobelter: No, you don’t.

Xmithie: You just have salt and pepper on the side. That’s it.

Impact — Where is your ideal location to retire?

The Rift Herald: I’m talking old retirement, too. Not retiring from League.

Xmithie: Not like two years from now, when you retire from League.

Impact: In my bedroom. I’ll just tweet, “I’m done.”

Xmithie: No, like when you’re old!

Impact: I haven’t thought about that, actually. Hm. Still my bedroom.

Doublelift — Cake or pie?

Pobelter: Wow, you’re getting all the hard hitters.

Doublelift: Pie.

Pobelter: You know what they say. The cake is a lie.

Doublelift: That was terrible.

Pobelter — If you could have one superpower, what would it be?

Xmithie: Ryze TP.

Olleh and Impact: Time stop.

Pobelter: Is it a cop out answer to say the superpower to have many superpowers? Flying? Flying would be pretty cool.

The Rift Herald: You would never have to drive.

Doublelift: Eugene might have a high IQ, but he has no creativity.

Pobelter: Time traveling sounds really chill. I’m going to be a time traveler.

Xmithie — If you could only play one champion for the rest of your life, who would you pick?

The rest of the team: Trundle! [laughs]

Xmithie: Probably Graves!

Doublelift: What?

Xmithie: Because I can’t even play him in scrims!

Doublelift: “Guys, I can literally only play Graves. You don’t understand!”

Riot Games

Olleh — What is your favorite candle scent?

Olleh: I don’t use candles.

Xmithie: Like sex in the rocks? Sex on the beach, not sex in the rocks.

Pobelter: Sex in the rocks? Phew.

Olleh: Just mint or green tea!

Impact — What champion your skin for if/when you win Worlds?

Impact: I already have one. Next question!

[team laughs]

Doublelift: He wants Ornn.

Olleh: Ornn would be a good one. Team Liquid Ornn.

Pobelter: Maokai. You want Maokai?

Impact: I want GP.