While New Life are a name that a few Asia-Pacific (APAC) fans will have a memory of, they will be hard pressed to identify the team’s roster.
The South Korean team first made an appearance at the Season 6 APAC LAN, finishing in second place in Korea in the inaugural APAC Pro League. At the APAC LAN, though, they failed to make a mark and made a meek exit in the quarter-finals. It was not helped that their performance overshadowed by an explosive eiNs vs Team CryptiK (now Aerowolf) game either.
Since then, they have had a tough time. The team failed to make it to the 2018 Six Invitational APAC Qualifiers LAN, the Season 7 APAC LAN, and the Six Major Paris; being denied by mantisFPS (ex-Team Yetti and ex-Element Mystic) for both the Major Qualifiers.
This season, though, New Life has had a bit of a resurgence. Finishing a comfortable second in the regular Pro League season, and then beating their far more established opponents mantisFPS 2-1 for seeding, they are looking far stronger than before. They will have no easy path to Rio, however, with their first match against Japanese titans NORA-Rengo, and a possible second against Aerowolf (from SEA) or Athletico (from ANZ).
We had a chat with team captain, Seo “SmileBoi” Chan Ho about his team’s performance this season, and their expectations from the Tokyo event.
(The interview responses have been lightly edited for grammar.)
New Life was first seen at the Season 6 APAC LAN Finals, but only SmileBoi and Nova is still on the roster. How has the team changed since then?
Your side finished second in the Korean Pro League, and you guys lost 3 games to mantisFPS’ (ex-Element Mystic) none. How would you say your online season played out?
In Korea, Overwatch, Starcraft II, and League of Legends seem to be far more popular than Rainbow Six: Siege. Is this the case, and if so, why did you choose to go pro in this game?
With two teams in the Korean Pro League having been disqualified due to excessive no-shows (Ready Up Gaming and Tyrant), what would you say the local Korean scene needs to grow properly?
Back in Season 6, at your only LAN appearance so far, you were defeated 2-1 by Corvidae (now DarkSided). What are your expectations now, two seasons later?
This LAN will be a good chance for you to establish your name in the APAC and international scene. How has your preparation been going?
We know mantisFPS is one of the strongest teams in all of APAC, even having defeated LATAM team Immortals -- how did you turn around to beat them 2-1 in the playoffs after having lost 0-2 on the first day of the Pro League?
Is there anything you would like to share with your fans, and to the international audience that will read this?
The New Life roster is:
Seo “SmileBoi” Chan Ho (Captain)
Lee “Nova” Si Hun
Park “ELCbis” Chan Young
Heo “CATsang” Se Woong
Lee “WATB” Jae Deok
Kim “Kom” Min Young (Coach)
Catch all the APAC LAN action from Tokyo, Japan, on the 13th and 14th of October from 9:45 AM GMT+9 onwards at twitch.tv/Rainbow6.