'Reflections' with Bischu

This article was originally published on GameSpot's sister site onGamers.com, which was dedicated to esports coverage.

Aaron 'Bischu' Kim, Mid laner of The Walking Zed, is the star of the first episode of 'Reflections', my new long form interview series.

Bischu is in the rare position of being fluent in Korean and having played in both the Korean and North American semi-pro scenes. As a result he is able to answer at length about the differences between each, while also translating cultural concepts for Westerners to understand more easily.

Timeline of topics discussed:

• 00:08 Intro
• 00:34 The expectations and reactions of netizens (Korean forum users)
• 03:36 How good is his Korean?
• 05:42 How much trash talk is there in solo q in Korea?
• 08:11 Under what circumstances do people troll in Korean solo q?
• 09:18 How strict is adherence to the meta in Korea?
• 09:57 How did he get respect despite being a 'one trick pony'?
• 11:48 How did he get high in Korean solo q?
• 13:19 What offers did he get?
• 14:18 Why not stay and play in OGN?
• 16:11 The different paths to becoming a pro in Korea and NA.
• 18:08 The problems of skilled players being unable to break into top NA teams.
• 20:03 The semi-pro scene in Korea.
• 21:56 The role of the manager in Korean teams.
• 23:06 Practice conditions.
• 24:30 Do Korean solo q stars practice more than their NA equivalents?
• 26:42 Would WildTurtle and Doublelift get into Korean Challenger?
• 27:00 Would TheOddOne?
• 27:31 How important are mechanics there?
• 30:05 Playing with top Korean players.
• 31:01 Are top Koreans that good that they would be top Western players even during their slumps?
• 32:00 Did he get discouraged at all by playing people much better than him?
• 32:44 How much of Koreans' level is cultural?
• 33:46 Thoughts on the trend of saying '[X] is the new Faker of [position]'
• 34:22 What is Faker so good at?
• 35:01 The argument some people make that piglet carried Faker at the S3WC.
• 35:46 Korean SC2 pros trying to switch to LoL.
• 37:11 If HotshotGG could speak Korean could he go to Korea and be a 'one trick pony' with Nidalee?
• 38:32 What does he like about Nidalee?
• 39:04 Who are the best Nidalee players?
• 40:09 Thoughts on EU mids compared to Korea.
• 40:56 Comparing Froggen and Faker.
• 41:33 Won't Korean dominance just continue?
• 43:46 Is the best EU and NA teams are at their absolute peak, can they be equal with the best Korean teams?
• 45:16 Which other top Koreans really stood out to him?
• 46:06 Thoughts on ryu.
• 46:49 Aliens come to Earth and give Bischu the chance to build a super team, using NA players to replace all the members of Faker's SKT line-up.
• 49:01 Final words/Outro.