On the 40th day of 2017 LCK Spring Split, the decisive match between Afreeca Freecs and Longzhu Gaming on their road to the playoffs ended in Freecs's favor with a 2-0 record.

Although Freecs's Seohaeng "KurO" Lee and Longzhu's Yongjun "Fly" Song went neck and neck in Game 1, KurO got the last laugh as the match ended in his favor. In Game 2, KurO picked Ahri, a champion that he hasn't been picked for a while, and carried the team to close the match and put themselves a lot closer to playoffs.

Here is our interview with Seohaeng "KurO" Lee.



Congratulations on winning a crucial match. How are you feeling right now?

It was practically the playoff decider, so I'm glad that we've won. However, I'm not all happy about defeating my old teammates, the PraY-GorillA duo.



How did the team react when Gyeonghwan "MaRin" Jang gave a solo kill in Game 1?

I didn't really mind, since I was playing Taliyah and Dayoon "Spirit" Lee was playing Olaf; it didn't really interfere with our farm. Also, I thought our composition was better to begin with.



Although the score was 2-0, the games were very close. Why do you think you've come out ahead?

I think it's because we made better plays in terms of teamfights and ganks. Our composition was easier to take the initiative for making plays.



The match drew a lot of attention for also being a match between two similar midlaners.

Honestly, I wanted to smack our botlane duo on the head. (Laughs) I told them to be careful since we've came out ahead, but they just couldn't be patient enough. That's why Fly scored a lot of kills against the botlane duo in Game 1.

So, I told them the same thing in Game 2, but it must have gone out the window again when Braum landed Winter's Bite. Still, I'm glad that we've won in the end. (Laughs)



Longzhu banned Katarina today. Why do you think they did that?

I did play Katarina a lot in the past, but I haven't been playing her much lately. I think it might have been because Katarina is a good pick against Taliyah.



It looked like you played a mind game with Longzhu by selecting Aurelion Sol but locking in something else at the end. which caused Longzhu to ban it. Was it intentional?

Yes, it was a mind game. Longzhu picked Aurelion Sol in Game 1, so I tried to signal that I was also capable of playing Aurelion Sol. It must have worked well because they did ban it.



You've picked Ahri against Fly who commented that he doesn't think too highly of Ahri. Did his comment influence your pick?

Honestly, I do agree with Fly in some ways. However, we have our own reasons for picking her, but it is a trade secret for now.



It looks like the team's overall champion pool is a lot deeper.

Before, we felt like machines doing the same thing over and over. Teamwork wasn't there either. Now, however, we are all cheerful and in a good mood during training. We are also consciously trying to have a deeper champion pool.



How did you change your team mood for better?

We've tried out different moods while training; we tried being cheerful, and we also tried being strict. However, we need to have a good team mood to play well; so, we've been doing our practices with that mood.



What was your impression of PraY's Ashe?

He really is good with Ashe. I couldn't dodge His Enchanted Crystal Arrow even when I saw it coming. It often has the element of surprise. He certainly deserves to be called one of the best.



Thank you for your time. Do you have something that you want to share?

I'd like to thank all of my teammates for putting a lot of effort and performing very well. I would also like to thank the fans for supporting us. We will make sure that we make the playoffs.