Atlantic League All-Stars starter Sung-hyeon "JJoNak" Bang, the MVP of Overwatch League’s Inaugural Season, entertained fans as he exchanged his orbs of discord and harmony for a sniper rifle during the 2019 All-Stars Event. After facing his teammate Pine in a 1v1 Widowmaker duel after playing as everyone’s favorite cyborg-ninja in the Sibling Rivalry Arcade mode, Jjonak sat down with Upcomer to discuss the event and his hopes for Stage 3.





Congratulations on being an All-Stars starter for the second year in a row.





Jjonak: I’m really glad I got to take part in this All-Stars game. Usually some international players are a little sad because they don’t get to go home right away after the stage ends, but for me I’m really happy and I’m really honored to be taking part in this game.





Were you excited to play in the Sibling Rivalry – Genji vs. Hanzo matchup?





As for the Hanzo and Genji one, I’m going to have to be honest, that wasn’t really that much fun. I think I just died a lot, that’s why I didn’t have that much fun. But the Widow 1v1, I had a blast, it was a lot of fun, it was really great.









You also got to face off against Do-hyeon "Pine" Kim in the Widow 1v1 tournament.





It was really great to be playing with Pine, who is also my teammate, I feel like if I really tried my best, I would’ve beaten him, but if I did beat him, I would’ve probably felt bad for Pine. It would’ve been a little bit weird because he’s a DPS player as well, so I went easy on him and then I happily lost to him.





There were so many of your teammates looking over your shoulder, did that make you nervous at all?





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The Widow 1v1 game itself was really nerve-racking and so just having my friends and colleagues around, it just felt like I was in Korea, that I was in a PC Bang just playing a fun game.









Last year at All-Stars, Saebyeolbe said “Never Practice, No Plan.” Did Team Atlantic adhere to that strategy again?





I do believe last year we were just enjoying the match, not practicing, not preparing. I recall that even though we had a fun mentality, as soon as we went up on stage, it wasn’t as much about fun anymore. So we were trying to be a bit more prepped, and really treat the All-Stars Game as a match.





Will you have an opportunity to go back home over this break?





I do have a lot of time to go back, so I’m really going to use that time to spend time with family and friends.





Do you feel strong going into Stage 3 after the mid-season break?





Unfortunately we were not able to take Stage 1 and Stage 2 playoffs, we didn’t go to finals. But we weren’t really depressed or sad. After our loss in Stage 2, we still felt we could take Stages 3 and 4. So going into Stage 3 I think we have a good chance.





Photo via Robert Paul for Blizzard Entertainment



