[hkes_show_google_ad] No “Arrow” Dong-hyeon was one of the LCK’s most dominant AD carries over the last two years, and his decision to move to the NA LCS was a head-scratcher for many. As Arrow explained to Slingshot’s Andrew Kim, his sights were always set on Worlds. “Since I left the best team I could enter, KT, I wanted to seek out a new experience away from Korea. So I was thinking of going abroad since then, and another big reason is making it to worlds, since it’s really tough because of the level of Korean teams,” he said. While Arrow says that other regions aren’t necessarily weaker than Korea, he believes he could excel on a new team in a different region. Initially, he wanted to move to, China but received several offers from North American organizations. “I felt like I would be able to go to worlds as long as I do well and carry,” he said about teams outside of the LCK. “NA was the first to extend the an offer. I think it was Phoenix 1 and Immortals. After talking with both of the teams, I thought that P1 was more eager to work with me and that they really wanted me, so I chose here.” His decision to move to North America was heavily influenced by Yoo “Ryu” Sang-ook, and Arrow openly stated that Ryu’s presence was always important for him both in-game and out. “[I thought] if I do end up going, I’ll be going with Ryu as a set, and I thought that if Ryu was in the mid lane, the team had potential to make it far,” Arrow said. When it comes to Korean players transitioning to other regions, one of the biggest negatives brought up is the language barrier. Arrow admitted that it was a problem for him when he began scrimming with his new team, Phoenix1. “At first that was very difficult. Around Dec. 16, I scrimmed with the team when they came to Korea, and I scrimmed with them from January 1-11, and I got more used to playing in English in that time. At first was kind of tough,” he said, “But it’s much better now. From time to time, Korean and English gets mixed up in-game.” Heading into their first matches this week, Arrow is excited for the atmosphere but worries about the criticism he may face as a Korean import. “This happened in Korea [as] well, but I think I would get more upset if I receive mean comments, because they’d be foreigners to me, “he admitted. “In Korea, I’d just think, “people like this exist, I guess,” and I could say the same with NA fans, but I think it’ll feel different.” Pheonix1 has what many consider one of the strongest NA LCS rosters on paper. Their potential will be front and center this week when they play their first LCS game against Echo Fox Friday night. [hkes_show_google_ad]