Worlds 2015 Quarterfinal Interviews Article: MoonBear TLMoonBear October 19th, 2015 16:37 GMT





Lee "Easyhoon" Ji-hoon



Despite SKT's win, do you feel sad not to have been able to play today?



It's not so simple to say that I'm sad. However, I only learned about Faker being the starting player about 1-2 days ago. When I found out I wasn't sad, but was feeling down. I thought to myself: "The reason Faker was chosen was because he is doing so well, so I have to do better in order to start next week."



In that case, is your personal aim to surpass Faker as a midlane player and become the best?



Someone asked me a similar thing during the Group Stage. The answer I gave them then and will always be that I want what's best for my team and if Faker is the best then that's good. As for myself, my only goal is to be a player that can be satisfied by my performance.



When you do play for SKT and sub for Faker, do you feel that you have to adapt to how the team plays, or does the team adapt to your style of play in order to execute the game strategy?



Regardless of whether myself or Faker is playing, LoL is a dynamic and fluid game. You can't say that one member of a team should fit into the other team members' playstyle or vice versa to succeed. This is how SKT has been for the entire time.



If you had a choice, who would you want to play against out of the remaining teams in the tournament?



So we've determined that in the semifinals if we have to face Origen that I will play against xPeke and I'm really looking forward to playing against him [1] . However, if I could play against anyone in the Finals then I would want to play against Pawn as I'm personally friends with him.



[1] Editor's Note: This originally said Fnatic and Febiven and was a transcription error. This should have been caught in editing. Many apologies for this confusion.



By friends you have a rival relationship or is it a deeper friendship?



We're rivals but we've also known each other for a very long time. If we get to face each other... well... whoever wins will win the World Championship. If he manages to win, I will be personally sad, but at the same time I will also be happy for him.







Kim "Reignover" Ui-jin



In Game 2 when the Gragas bug occurred, it must have been very stressful for the team. How did you manage to deal with it an recover you form to play the next game?



We were definitely stressed due to the bug that occurred and having to go to the game rule wasn't how we wanted the game to play out. Our comp had a disadvantage early game, however our comp overall was good to face EDG with because it was a scaling comp. Especially so going later into the game, like 30-40 minutes onwards and we were reaching that point. It was now our turn to counter them so it sucked. Most of us didn't want to remake the game because out team was a one-use team composition versus them. We really wanted to win that game... But in the end we felt that we could win easily if we remade the game.



In the games today you went deep to try and snowball Huni and making plays very fearlessly. How do you find the confidence to consistently execute these plays?



In the first game I had a hard time. Our original plan was to pressure the top and middle lane. However Huni wasn't able to pressure top and I found it hard to respond and snowball a lane, especially without assistance. The three Teleports EDG had meant that I couldn't play aggressively and I had to be careful of wards they could TP to and respond to me. It was especially bad when they counterganked the top tribrush.



But even though that happened my attitude is that when I go into a game, I don't remember and linger on what happened before. For me, I focus on playing my style - the Fnatic style. Even if I'm about to make a risky play but it's high reward, I do it because my team is good and we can always recover. I have a lot of confidence in them so I have confidence to make these plays.



Fnatic will play against the winner of KT Rolster vs Koo Tigers. Are there any players you really want to play against from those teams?



Hm. I know Smeb and Kuro from my time when we used to be on the same team together. It would be pretty exciting when I can now imgine us being able to play together. Actually, we joked before "Oh you know maybe we can meet at Worlds!" but now this could really be true. Hm, on KT Rolster I happen to know Piccaboo. We did the SKT tryouts together and played on the same team so we talked with each other. I think these three are the players I look forward to being able to play against.



When Fnatic walked on stage today, there were huge cheers for Huni. While he is your team member, do you ever feel jealous that the crowd isn't cheering your name when you walk onto the stage?



I think everyone on the team is the same in that we don't feel jealous about these things. It would obviously be great if the crowd could cheer all of our names of course and hearing them yell "Reignover! Febiven! Yellowstar! Rekkles!" But Huni is our mascot. To us, cherring for Huni means cheering for Fnatic and cheering for us.



What would you want your legacy as a player to be?



Hm... I want to be remembered as the player who was really important and needed by his team.









Lee "Kuro" Seo-haeng

Yesterday in Reignover's interview he said that he still remembers his time with you and Smeb on Incredible Miracle and he looked forward to being able to play against you. Do you have anything you want to say to him?



I'm really thankful to Reignover. I was able to talk to him before the games today and he told me that he believed that Koo Tigers was the stronger team and that we would win. This gave us a lot of confidence to beat KT Rolster and help us win. I'm really looking forward to playing against him and that we can get a good match. Hopefully we can also talk and reminisce about the past together!



In today's games you were finally able to defeat KT Rolster after the heartbreaking loss in the SBENU LoL Champions Summer Playoffs. How does it feel to have finally beaten KT Rolster and so convincingly on such a big stage?



We were losing at the beginning of the second game, just after our loss in Game 1. It felt like a repeat of the playoffs games against KT and we had a moment of depression... but we were able to overcome that and from there we managed to win the whole series and end on a victory so we feel very very happy.



In Game 4 today you were behind very early. How did the team find the strength to make that big comeback and win the series?



Initially our top lane and bot lane were behind. But mid was going decent and our team comp was well balanced versus theirs. So we decided that we would create a teamfight where we could have an advantage, and that way we could mount a comeback. Once I got that Triple Kill, I knew we had reached the turning point in the game.



You played Veigar today and it managed to get a respect ban from KT Rolster in the middle of the series. Do you think Veigar is OP and is he one of your secret weapons for this tournament?



I don't think Veigar is all that OP actually. But he does have a lot of teamfighr synergy and can burst someone from 100 to 0. We think that by now the other teams know about him and are prepared both to face against him and also use him themselves so he's not our only weapon.



In your next game you play against Febiven who is very highly rated in the West and is known for having killed Faker. Are you scared to face him in lane?



I think we just have to play well as a team effort.



In the games today you did things in your Pick/Ban phase such as banning Mordekaiser even when on Blue side which teams such as SKT have done to hide strategies. If you face against SKT in the finals, do you feel that your strategies would beat theirs?



Obviously I can't reveal what our strategies are for Pick/Ban. However, our champion pool is as deep as SKT's is and I don't think we're behind them. We're not afraid from a strategic perspective. We have strategies prepared to take them on.





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Writers: MoonBear



MoonBear Graphics: dranblat, JonGalt



dranblat, JonGalt Thanks To: Lee "Easyhoon" Ji-hoon, Kim "Reignover" Ui-jin, Lee "Kuro" Seo-haeng



Moderator A dream. Do you have one that has cursed you like that? Or maybe... a wish?