GE Tigers lived up to the pre-Katowice hype and flattened both Cloud9 and SK Gaming in the group stages of IEM.

And after the game, star jungler Lee Ho-Jin seems almost surprised as he relaxes after advancing to the semifinals.

– It wasn’t very difficult to win against them compared to Korean teams, he tells Aftonbladet Esport.

When Samsung White disbanded shortly after Worlds there was a void to fill in the Korean League of Legends world. Enter GE Tigers, who have been absolutely dominant so far in the LCK, leading it with an undefeated record of 10-0.

And after completely destroying Cloud9 and SK Gaming in group A and advancing to the semifinals i Katowice, they showed the rest of the world that Korean League of Legends still reigns supreme.

– I think Korean players practice more and longer compared to other countries. And Korean players take being a pro player as a serious job. When we practice and play we’ll be more serious, but we still have fun, jungler Lee Ho-Jin says.

”We have a larger champion pool”

IEM Katowice is GE Tigers first large tournament and their first international appearance, and after the first group stage Lee comments on their performance so far.

– It wasn’t very difficult to win against Cloud9 and SK Gaming compared to playing Korean teams. The favorite champions are very different in Korea compared to Europe and the US. They like to play more assassin champions and we have a larger champion pool that we use.

You say it’s easier to play here than in Korea but you’ve still dominated the LCK. What’s the main reason you’ve been playing so good?

– The other teams have really good skill as well but our teamwork is so good because we have a strong friendship, a family. That’s our mentality, we think we are family.

– Even if I die I just think that the other ones in our team will do better than me.

”Can’t even describe how happy I would be”

Are there any teams here that can threaten you?

– TSM and CJ Entus. I don’t think they’ll win against us but they are our hardest opponents.

How much would it mean for you to win IEM Katowice?

– If we win an international tournament we’ll be even more confident and I can’t even describe how happy I would be if we would win here. And our goal is to become the most famous team in the world so our end goal is Worlds.

Watch the winner’s match from Group A here: