SK Telecom T1 defeated KT Rolster in a close 2-1 series to close out the day. Despite showing a shaky start to the match, giving up the first game after falling behind in the early game, SKT was able to come back in the next two games.

Riot Korea interviewed Kim “Khan” Dong-ha following the match.

It looks as if you prepared a lot coming into this series. Can you assess today’s performance?

Khan: For me personally, I think I did decently in the first and second game, but in the last one there were communication issues while splitpushing bot lane. As long as we fix those I think we will be better off.

The first two games had a lot of fights in the early game. Wasn’t that difficult for you?

Khan: In the first game, the Aatrox Fiora matchup isn’t that great for the Aatrox, but with the help of my teammates we managed to get a kill, which I thought would lead to advantage in game. However, I realized after a few fights that it wasn’t so. In the second game, despite KT’s low ranking, we came to the conclusion they were not a team to be underestimated, so we prepared hard.

In the second game, the top lane match up was quite interesting, picking Vladimir despite Jayce being picked already. Is there a reason for that?

Khan: Since I was knowledgable about Jayce, as well as being proficient at the champion, I also knew how to play against it. So I didn’t feel too bad about playing Vladimir against Jayce.

Did your knowledge of Jayce help in the laning phase?

Khan: Yes, since I played quite a bit of Jayce, I knew when Jayce would likely use his Accelerated Shock Blast combo. Thanks to that, I was able to dodge a lot of the combos in the second game.

Do you have any tips about facing Jayce in the top lane?

Khan: When facing Jayce, it’s much easier if you dodge the E-Q combo. So, just dodge the E-Q combo.

In the third game, it looked as if you would play Vladimir once more when the Fiora was picked last. What kind of talks were going on during the draft?

Khan: It was just mentioned that Vladimir could be flexed to bot lane, and we decided to go ahead in that direction.

Was Teddy willing to play it as well?

Khan: Yes, during scrims he does quite well on Vladimir. In fact, our top, mid and bot laners are able to play Vladimir amazingly.

In the third game, there was a moment where you, alone, were pushing the lane in the third game.

Khan: Since Fiora is more suitable for 1v1s than teamfights, I opted to splitpush in the bot lane while the rest of the team made plays around the map. I did not notice Zoe coming towards me, which my team had already warned me about. It was a regrettable mistake, and I will work on the issue.

You also made a super play, where you managed to get a kill 1v2. What inspired you to go for a fight there?

Khan: Unless it turned into a 1v3, I was confident I could win any 1v2, and played with that mindset.

Did the team trust you to win those 1v2s?

Khan: Yes, I told my teammates that if it was 1v2 to leave me alone unless more players [from KT] came for me. When the Kai’Sa and Alistar started coming, my team came to my rescue swiftly, and I would like to thank them.

There has been a recent surge of carry champions in the top lane. It was said you were the biggest beneficiary with this change in meta.

Khan: I don’t know about biggest, but I am also confident at playing tanks, and I feel it is a misconception that fans have.

Your next match will be against Hanwha Life Esports. You must win in order to continue staying in second place. How will you prepare for the series?

Khan: We have lost 2 matches in the first round, and we are already at 2 losses at this period of time. Therefore, if we don’t beat Sandbox Gaming, we will have achieved worse results this round. Therefore, we will try to win all the remaining matches.

Any last words for the fans?

Khan: Thank you for staying around so long and coming over to watch. I hope all of you return home safe and sound. Thank you!