On the 10th of August, KST, Hanwha Life Esports upset the LCK. The team shut down SK Telecom T1, stopping their 10-match win streak with a match score of 2-1.

After the match, Riot Korea interviewed the two MVPs of the match, jugler Kim “BonO” Gi-beom and ad-carry Gwon “Sangyoon” Sangyoon.

BonO, you have been awarded three MVPs in a row. How do you feel?

BonO: Today’s match was, in my opinion, the hardest match in the remainder of the summer split. We fortunately won, thanks to my teammate. and I feel really good today.

Sangyoon, it seems that the team has improved on its teamwork after the recent victory over DAMWON Gaming. In which way has the team changed the most?

Sangyoon: We used to have a passive playstyle. Now, we play with a different mindset: “Let’s play without any room for regret; we live for today”.

I’ve noticed the players saying that in the in-game comm, even during the games. What does it mean?

Sangyoon: This is something that Key has been saying recently. “The person who lives for today does not lose to the person who lives for tomorrow”. So our motto became “We live for today”, and I think that’s why we were able to win today.

Let us go back to the first game. Hanwha Life Esports took lane advantage and BonO’s Skarner contributed greatly to the advantage. HLE has only picked Skarner once in the entire summer split, prior to today’s match. Why did you choose to lock him in today?

BonO: I have always been open to the possibility of picking Skarner as I’ve been practising him frequently. Things clicked during the drafting phase, so I picked him straight away.

The second game was a bit regretful. HLE had to good lead for the game, however the situation became reversed toward the end of the game. What kind of feedback did the team make internally after that loss, Sangyoon.

Sangyoon: All of us threw. We all threw and there’s nothing we can do about it. Mistakes are made during the games and we should focus on reducing such mistakes.

With feedback, Hanwha Life Esports game back in the third game in a different mode. Khan locked Quinn in, BonO, did HLE prepare for such picks? (Quinn’s last appearance in the LCK: 358 days ago)

BonO: I was very intimidated since the Quinn pick was completely out of the blue. Our top laner [Sohwan] especially had a tough time, but he did not complain and pushed on throughout the games. I guess that also led to good teamwork.

HLE played Lucian and Yuumi today, and it was the first time the team picked Yuumi. Can you tell us what the team was thinking?

Sangyoon: We honestly didn’t practice a whole lot with Yuumi. We barely had any experience playing her. However, we knew that we would have to play her under certain circumstances. When we saw SKT draft Xayah and Rakan, we decided that [Yuumi] would be useful, so we locked her in.

And how was Yuumi? Did she seem quite strong during the lane phase?

Sangyoon: The laning phase becomes very comfortable. It was an easy ride.

What was going through your mind as your team destroyed the Nexus, BonO?

BonO: I was looking at SoHwan as he sat next to me, and he was completely out of it from being pressured the entire time. I was so grateful that he was able to absorb the pressure, and I’m really happy and grateful that everyone performed well.

I think everyone in the team deserves some praise. And the fans, too. Sangyoon, do you have anything to say to your fans?

Sangyoon: To be honest, we were really down after our loss against KT Rolster. I’m sure it was the same for our fans, but thank you for always supporting us despite this. We’ll try our best since we’re not completely off the hook [from the relegations]. We’ll focus on performing well in the rest of our matches. Thank you.

Sangyoon's message to @KTRolster_tw "Ah – KT! You thought that you could escape [the relegations]? Hahahahaha if you lose today it's almost confirmed! Jin Air Fighting!" The gloat is real #LCK pic.twitter.com/QrE1d0KUp5 — Ashley Kang #LCK (@AshleyKang) August 10, 2019

Speaking of KT Rolster, do you have anything to say to them?

Sangyoon: Ah – KT! You thought that you could escape [the relegations]? [laughs] If you lose today it’s almost confirmed! Jin Air Fighting!”

Next, for BonO, your next matches are against Afreeca Freecs and Griffin. I can only imagine how anxious you are. Do you have any word for those teams?

BonO: I’ll do my best to win both of our remaining matches and conclude the summer split with a 4 game winning streak.