This interview was conducted with Park ‘TusiN’ Jong-ik of Kingzone DragonX at the second day of 2019 Rift Rivals, Seoul, South Korea.

This is your second victory in the group stage of the 2019 Rift Rivals. How do you feel?

TusiN: I feel relieved, as I feel that we took some burden off our back by this win.

Today, Kingzone really seemed to play the game in their own pace, feeling comfortable in their own playstyle.

TusiN: I feel that every team has its unique playstyle, and we have ours too. However, regardless of that, everything just went swimmingly in-game. We had the lane priority at the bot lane and was able to have good fights around objectives through our lane priorities. The variables in the game went favorably and I think that’s why we were able to end the game quickly.

If you had to pick the MVP of this game, who do you think deserves the title?

TusiN: I think Rascal did really well today. He really did everything he was capable of in Camille.

In the third week of the LCK summer split, Kingzone had a few match losses and stumbled a bit. However, during Rift Rivals, Kingzone now looks like they’re back on their feet and running. Do you personally think that the team went through a slump, and if so what did you do to overcome it?

TusiN: If you call it an under-performance you could. We just didn’t do well. The opposing teams performed well, yes, but I feel like they are matches where if we did better, we would have won. While we practised for the Rift Rivals, we found ourselves making the same mistakes we did during the regular split and we focused on fixing them.

Rift Rivals is a regional competition. The teams from their respective region, instead of competing, might instead collaborate to win for the region collectively. As a player, TusiN, what do you think the LCK teams have been doing to help each other?

TusiN: I think Rift Rivals has been a really fun experience because we share strategies. I feel like we are in a truce in the middle of a war, enemies turned into allies. It’s not something you see every day. When we practice, the players of the same position shared ideas on what match-ups and strategies are better during practices. That experience was really exciting and refreshing

When I interviewed Wolf of SK Telecom T1 in the 2018 Rift Rivals, he told me that he spent a lot of time talking with you, sharing strategies. Can you tell us any episode you had with another LCK player this Rift Rivals?

TusiN: The players last year were veterans who had been around for a while, for example, Wolf and Bang of SKT. However, this year, there are many rookie teams such as DAMWON Gaming and Griffin. I’m sad that there aren’t many players that I am familiar with, but Naehyun and Rascal seem to get along with the players of DAMWON Gaming and Griffin, like Chovy, and discuss strategies. It’s really nice to see something like that and I am a little bit jealous.