Interview with Firebathero!

[Interview] From Starcraft II Commentator to LoL Head Coach, the Challenger ‘Firebathero’




Lee Seung-Eun (firebathero), ex-progamer, has always been adventurous. At least, I got that vibe from him. He’s always positive about new environment, and new challenges. He never lost his smile during the interview and explained his situation calmly.

Lee Seung-Eun (firebathero) was an impactful player that was hard to forget if you were a Starcraft 1 fan. He was especially known for innovative plays as well as his interesting ceremonies. During his time in Samsung Khan, his salary was far more superior compared to his peers. He has not won a championship, but he was still a star player.

His path after his retirement was also an adventure. As an analytical commentator in Starcraft 2, his clear tone and his accurate read on games were more than enough to impress the fans.

Now, he is starting another challenge. He is becoming a head coach of not Starcraft 2, but League of Legends. People that do not know firebathero would ask, ‘why?’, but people that do know firebathero would say, ‘it would be something that he would do’.

Head coach of a team is no longer a responsible for himself, but for the whole team. Head coach needs to lead the players and be equally responsible for his players’ faults and mistakes. While in the past, it was about challenging himself, but now it is about challenging himself as well as others. Firebathero had a very mature look about him as we started the interview.
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Q. Hello, Coach Lee Seung-Eun. Please say hello to the readers first.
Hello! My name is Lee Seung-Eun (firebathero). I am a retired Starcraft 1 progamer who used to be a Starcraft 2 commentator. Now I am a head coach for the Big File LoL team.

Q. I want to know what your motivation was in transitioning from a caster to a head coach.
Big File team actually contacted me towards the end of last year with an offer. I debated about it for a long time, but in the end, I turned down the offer. They contacted me again in the beginning of this year and I thought for a long time again.

I talked with a lot of people that has been in the eSports industry for a long time. They all told me that it was a good offer and I also thought it was worth a challenge.

Q. Did you know about the Big File team before you became a head coach?
I actually formed an amateur team last year. It was done in secret so you wouldn’t know. I actually oversaw the team as well as the recruitment process. Unfortunately, it had to disband due to circumstances. However, that was when I met the current owner of the Big File team.

Q. You loved to challenge yourself when you were a progamer. For example, you studied as well as learned piano. Did this (love for challenge) affect your decision to accept the offer?
Yes. I studied as well as learned piano when I was a progamer. However, now I look back on it, I think it was very immature of me. I can now understand how much stress the Samsung coach then (January) went through because of me (smiles).

I am confident that whatever I do will work out in the end. When I had nothing to do as a commentator, I was confident that something big will come up soon.

That same confidence was what made me accept this offer. I undoubtedly believe that our team will do well.

Q. Isn’t commentating a respected job in eSports? I want to know the thoughts behind your decision to give it all up to become a head coach.
It is very true. I actually thought that being a commentator meant you had a lot more free time, better salary, and better life before when I was a player. However, there are still downsides and a lot of obstacles. I worked as a commentator for about a year and a half and I had numerous problems.

For example, I knew that accents, diction, word choice, stutters, and stating the obvious things were huge problems for me. However, it was very hard to fix it. I just thought that commentating was not a job for me. I was confident in my abilities before, but now that I have done it, I’ve realized that I’m just a retired progamer that cannot speak well. Big File contacted me when I was having these thoughts. They had a good timing.




Q. Please tell me more about the Big File team.
Of course, We run two teams, ‘Amor’ and ‘Miracle’. Our team house is located in Shindorim. Our ‘Amor’ team is currently in the second qualifier stage of LoL Champs.

Big File wants to turn us into a proper progaming team. They have sponsored a Starcraft 1 league in the past. They are also sponsoring the Nice GameTV Battle Royale currently. They are very active in the eSports industry.

I joined because I agreed with the vision of the company. I am not here with a short term goal because of LoL’s popularity, but I am here with a long term goal for the proper progaming team.

Q.. Team ‘Amor’ is currently in a very hard group in the qualifiers. What do you think?
*Group D: Jin Air Falcons, Alienware Top, IM Team 2, Big File Amor

(Smiling) To be honest, I think our chances of making it out of the group is very low. However, I am going to try to teach them my know-hows. It is very possible to win even in hard situations. I will try to exploit that as much as possible.

Q. Is the team structure finalized yet? Do you have any plans in rebuilding?
I actually sent two players home as soon as I joined the team. I sent one of the players back home the first day I was at the team house. I have a strict principle when evaluating players. While I am a head coach, I want to form the team that satisfies those principles.

Q. Even the best amateur teams are having hard times in NLB or LoL Champs. How does your team stack up against the other teams?
I think Clan Mook is currently the best amateur team out there. I don’t have an objective data to support this claim, but I believe Big File is probably in the top 3 when it comes to amateur teams.

I feel like the players are still very amateur. Whenever someone joins the team, I always tell them ‘you should conduct yourselves like a pro, and practice like a pro,’ but it is very hard for the players to follow this. For example, there are players that spend all night browsing the internet, and there are players that watch videos or read web comics during practice hours.

So right now, I am trying to fix those problems. If there is no sign of improving, I am not going to care how good the person is at LoL, I will kick him out of the team. If we survive this process, then we will only have good players left.

Also, the support that we get from Big File is very good considering that we are only an amateur team. As long as we have the motivation and the passion, I don’t think it will be difficult to be in LoL Champs.



Q. What kind of team do you want to the Big File team into?
I want the other teams to fear us. When I was a player, whenever I met Flash, I would immediately think, ‘that is one scary player’. I want the other teams to have the same reactions as that.

Q. What kind of advice would you give to people who are trying to become a LoL progamer?
Amateurs are very arrogant these days. They also do not have a healthy mentality. I know that there are a lot more people that think this, but no one ever says it. Sometimes when I talk to amateur players, I think ‘what kind of a trash thinks like that? How can he be so arrogant?’.

They also expect too much when they have shown or proves nothing. Being a progamers always have bright sides and dark sides, but amateurs do not think about the dark sides at all.

If you really want to become a progamer, then you should practice like a pro and live like a pro. And always play with a professional mindset.

Q. Right now, there are too many Korean teams that are good at LoL. Comparatively, Big File team is newborn. It is not going to be an easy challenge.
It may fail. No matter how hard the coaches and staff members work, in the end, it’s the players that play the games. However, I can’t just sit around. I have to find a gemstone and work hard and turn it into a jewel. I believe that is the job of the head coach.

We can’t be weak if we are only made of jewels. If I focus on that process, I believe the results will follow.

Q. You are especially known for your innovative plays and interesting ceremonies. Now that you have become a head coach of a team, I feel like the players would be motivated to be like you?
There are actually about three players that I am watching closely (smiles). One of them is even more entertaining than I am. As long as I am the head coach, I believe that my personality will rub off on the players.

Q. How much longer will you work as a commentator?
I have actually quit my job at GomTV. I will only work for GomTV Classics and GSL RO32. After that, I will focus on my new coach position.

Q. Thank you for your interview.
There are many people that may or may not know me. However, there is one fact that is certain. I have been a progamer for a very long time. I will turn the Big File into a big team by taking both the players and the coach’s perspective. Please support me. Thank you!