The Taipei Assassins have long been the top dog in the Taiwanese scene, so it wasn't a surprise when they were a dominant force during the first half of the inaugural League Masters Series (LMS). While they fell twice to Yoe after the mid-point, the Assassins still entered the playoffs with a 17-4 record, good enough for second place. Leading the charge has been longtime Southeast Asia all-star Wong "Chawy" Xing Lei, who took over TPA's mid-lane this year. I got a chance to ask him about his return to the starting line-up, the LMS, and his hopes for the playoffs.

In April will be your first anniversary with TPA after leaving the Singapore Sentinels. While with TPA for the Summer Split of the GPL and the World Championships, you were a bench player for the most part. How does it feel to return to the starting line-up?

Chawy: Of course it feels great to be in the starting line-up because I came here to play, not to be a bench warmer. (laughs) Of course it's great to be in the starting line-up be able to showcase my skill and show the world what I'm capable of.

One of the biggest changes to the Season 5 in Southeast Asia was the partition of the GPL. Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau moved over to the LMS which took the "major" slot, while the rest of SEA remains in the GPL. You're in a rather unique position of playing on both sides of the new divide, do you think this is a good change for both regions?

Chawy: I think that this change is actually quite good. As we can see now, in the LMS, there are a lot more stronger teams compared to GPL last [split]. I feel that Taiwan/Macau/Hong Kong have a lot of talented players, but they weren't able to take part in the GPL due to the restriction of only two Taiwanese teams

You guys are doing well in the LMS, ending up second in the regular season behind the Yoe Flash Wolves. Are you surprised by any of the results so far?

Chawy: I feel that we are not doing that well if we are getting second in our region, because our aim ever since the very beginning was being first and having even zero losses. So actually, I'm quite surprised, but Yoe Flash Wolves had improved a lot, especially after the roster change.

Most of the established organizations are finding success in the LMS, the three newcomers at the bottom. How long do you think it will take until the bottom of the table is able to compete with the old guard?

Chawy: I feel that it might take at least one more season for the newcomers to overtake the old guard, because the old guard consists of players who have played in the competitive scene for over a year, two years, maybe three years. So the new players, their mechanics are good, but they don't have the knowledge, especially during the mid-late game.

You guys qualified as the first seed at IEM Taipei and had a pretty successful tournament until the end, where you fell in a tough fought series to the Flash Wolves. Do you guys regret giving Steak Gnar three games in a row?

Chawy: We do not regret giving Steak Gnar at all, because we lost because we didn't play to what we are capable of. We actually crapped out [after] we lost the first game, because during the week before IEM we had zero losses be it team training or solo queue, so having our first loss was actually quite a big impact to us. Our callers didn't speak much that day, so it was more of our problem then them playing very well on their champions.

It's rough to lose a series like that, but did you guys take any thing from it for the LMS?

Chawy: We found out quite a few things, because like maybe our Jungler is old and he can't play a best of five because of his health. So he had to start exercising so he can last longer for the best of five. (laughs)

The playoffs are coming up - you're facing the winner of Hong Kong Esports and AHQ. Who do you expect to come out of that match?

Chawy: I feel that Hong Kong Esports will win this face-off because Hong Kong Esports is a more stabilized team. They make less mistakes than AHQ. And AHQ consists of really, really strong players but they play the game like solo queue and they make tons of mistakes.

If you guys want to get to the Mid-Season Invitational, you need to beat Yoe, who was the only team to have a winning record against you during the season. What do you guys need to do to beat them?

Chawy: I feel to be able to beat Yoe Flash Wolves we just need all of us to be at our peak and not crap out during tournaments. I think it's the stress we put on ourselves that made us not play to our peak when versus them.

If you did get to the Mid-Season Invitational, what teams would you like to face?

Chawy: I would like to face TSM, as TSM is one of the strongest teams in the world now and I really want to play against Bjergsen.

Thanks for taking the time out of your day to do this interview, do you have any shout-outs?

Chawy: I want to thank Team Dignitas for having this interview with me and I want to thank all my overseas fans who have always supported me ever since I started my eSports career.

I'd like to thank Chawy again for doing this interview with me, and I wish him luck this weekend during the LMS Spring Playoffs. Follow Chawy on Facebook and Twitch and follow me on Twitter for more eSports content