Related : SSG Ambition: "I want Jarvan to be my skin. Jarvan really fits perfectly with me."
Related : SSG CuVee: "As soon as I won Worlds, I thought, 'Hmm... so how much money did I just make?'"

A lot of people are giving credit to Samsung Galaxy’s teamfighting ability as the main contributor to their victory in this year’s World Championship. Although each individual player is not a superstar on Samsung Galaxy, their teamwork knocked down the defensive line of SKT T1.

Maybe because of this, SSG’s coach, Edgar, chose “teamwork” as the source of their success on the SBS show ‘Yu-Hui-Nak-Rak’. One of the key components of teamwork is warding. It is quite interesting to categorize warding as a part of teamwork.

During the broadcast, Coach Edgar, Crown, Ruler, & CoreJJ exchanged their own stories. Let’s see what they had to say!

¤ (To Coach Edgar) Was there a congratulatory message that left an impression after the victory?

I received a lot of messages saying congratulations. Within those, I remember this message the most: "All that hard work finally paid off".


¤ (To Coach Edgar) What do you think was the biggest reason for your success?

I think our teamwork was a lot better compared to that of other teams.


¤ (To Coach Edgar) After the finals, how does it feel watching the games again?

To be honest, I watched the replay of the finals multiple times. I even watched them again after coming back to Korea...


¤ You defeated SKT 3:0. Was it the result you were anticipating?

Coach Edgar: I knew we were going to win the series if we won the first game, but I anticipated it being 3:1 instead.

Crown: Facing against Faker in the first game, I don’t think Faker was at his best. I felt he had a lot of pressure on him within his plays and thought to myself "Huh? Are we actually going to win today?".

CoreJJ: After winning the first game, I thought to myself "is it going to be a 3:0?". I thought it might go to my head so I stopped thinking about it and focused on the game.

Coach Edgar: [As CoreJJ said] There were a lot of exciting games. I was afraid we would get jinxed if we did an interview prior to the games... Usually, reporters want to ask how our condition is before the match. Because saying anything about our condition before the match was bad luck, I would nowadays politely decline the interviews.

Ruler: If we won, I thought it was going to be 3:2. I would never have imagined the games would be so one-sided.


¤ (To Coach Edgar) Did you cry after winning the championship?

Coach Edgar: After the game, I think me and CoreJJ cried.

Crown: I cried while I was preparing for the games. I had a single room for my hotel, and I cried in my room before.


¤ (To Coach Edgar) What kind of preparations did you have with the players before the game?

Since it was a Korean vs Korean final, we had no one we could practice against. Instead of scrims, we focused on VODs and reviewed those. We did pick/ban simulations between the coaches and the players. After the first game’s picks/bans, I said to myself “This is going just like we practiced”. Because the picks/bans went according to plan, the games went smoothly as well.


¤ (To Ruler) In game 3, how did it feel to accurately count down Faker’s flash to later kill him?

Honestly, I am happier that I led to closing out the game rather than killing Faker. I was also happy that we won as well.

¤ (To Ruler) Who usually keeps tabs on summoner spells?

Usually, the support or jungler keeps tabs. However, on our team, I think everyone keeps check of summoner spells except me.


¤ (To CoreJJ) It is true that supports don’t get as much recognition as ADCs. How does this feel?

I only care if my ADC notices me rather than other people. After a game, if my adc says “Thanks for saving me”, I feel incredibly happy. It also goes the other way too. When my ADC plays bad and says “Why didn’t you save me?” or “Why did you let me die?”, I feel really salty.


¤ (To Ruler) What did the players discuss with one another after the championship was over?

We were all separate during the night so there was nothing specific that was said. We told each other that they played well at the dinner after the game.


¤ (To Coach Edgar) Was there a specific player you complimented?

I just complimented and congratulated the whole team instead of specifically one player. It is a lot better when you win because of a team effort rather than winning because of one individual player.


¤ (To Coach Edgar) SSG is famous for buying an immense amount of control wards. Is this because you enforced it?

When we are all grouped together, I always say “Instead of upgrading your core items, buying control wards makes it easier to win the game”. At first, it was incredibly difficult for the team to change their habit of not buying control wards. Once it became a habit, our vision control improved immensely and our win rate also increased. Now, everyone constantly buys wards.

¤ (To Coach Edgar) During the games, what moment was the moment that SSG’s teamwork shined the brightest?

It was the 2nd game where SKT got dragon and a teamfight happened near mid. Each individual ward gave information on SKT’s whereabouts; that was probably the moment where they shined the most.


¤ (To Coach Edgar) Do you do have any specific training programs to improve teamwork?

We don’t do anything out of the ordinary. I think because I am so strict when it comes to training, the players tend to get a bit scared and practice harder.


¤ (To Coach Edgar) You didn’t hit the players...did you?(laughs)

I never hit the players. How could I ever hit Ambition? (laughs)


¤ (To the players) When is your coach the scariest?

Crown: When I am putting on my headset and playing bad, I can feel my coach standing right behind me. At that moment, CuVee’s voice starts to shake. He would say "Uh, we are screwed after this game".

CuVee: I don’t really get scared by our coach, but I feel my teammates do.

CoreJJ: When we are playing and I see a play so bad that it shouldn’t have ever happened, I say to myself "The aftermath is coming...".

Coach Edgar: There are a lot of times when the enemy jungler ganks mid and goes top while the team doesn’t call it. It is a problem that constantly comes up during our practice games. Top always gets ganked and dies afterward. Since it is such a basic call to notify where the enemy jungler is to the team, I get mad when I don’t see them do this.


¤ (To CoreJJ) Who is the most fussy player when it comes to practice?

CoreJJ: (Pointing at Crown) Since he has such high competitiveness, he gets tired when he is losing lane.

Crown: What...you could have just told me.

Ambition: I tell Crown every month constantly, "Improve your mental".

Coach Edgar: Because there is an emphasis on improving mid and jungle synergy, Crown sits next to Ambition. However, starting from the quarterfinals, we decided to put him next to CuVee since he has the strongest mental. Whenever Crown’s mental would shake, CuVee will always help his mental and say “It is okay. It is okay.” (laughs). I think this helped him out a lot.

¤ (To Coach Edgar) Is CuVee the player with the strongest mental on the team?

I think so. Whenever we practice and someone makes a mistake, they usually go silent. However, CuVee can die alone 6 times and still say what he wants to say and make calls. Ruler usually raises the team’s morale. During practice, Crown also raises a lot of the team’s morale.


¤ (To Crown) You won the tournament with Malzahar, but is there a reason you want a Taliyah skin?

Crown: Grabbing 6 games 6 wins with Malzahar, I think I played him well alongside the team. However, I could not show my prowess when it came to 1v1. Since I was able to show not only some strong 1v1 but also the team plays with Taliyah, I chose her for my skin.

Ruler: Mine is Xayah.

CoreJJ: I’m going to pick Rakan. Because he is a fairly recent champion to be released and he has good performance/concept, I don’t think I will ever have another chance to get a Rakan skin other than now.

¤ How have you guys spent your vacation?

Crown: For 2 days straight, I have been shopping. Although our prize money has not come in yet, I got my monthly paycheck in my account by the time I came back to Korea. I went around shopping to relieve some of my stress.

CoreJJ: I went to my hometown. My hometown is an island. Before, it used to not have internet. It was a place that didn’t have a single convenience store. Since my hometown is near the countryside, by the time I came back, my vacation was already over.

Ruler: After we returned, I have been streaming and met up with my family. I have also been playing a lot of games and enjoying myself.


¤ (To Crown) Fans are talking about ‘Lucian roulette’. What does this mean?

Crown: Lucian... is a champion I hate so much. After losing really hard against Faker’s Lucian, I started to despise the champion.

Coach Edgar: After losing to Faker’s Lucian, I saw him play 50 games of Lucian in solo queue. Because of this, I said  "Why are you spamming him so much? Stop playing him" and banned him from playing Lucian. It wasn't like we were going to use him in our games...


¤ (To Crown) If you had to rank SSG by physical appearance?

1st place is me. Coach Edgar is 2nd. 3rd is CoreJJ. 4th is Ruler. The last place is… pig (CuVee) (laughs).


¤ (To CoreJJ) When the prize money comes in, what do you want to do with it?

I don’t have a driver’s license so it is hard to buy a car... I don’t know what I am going to do with it for now, so I think I’m just going to hold on to it.


¤ (To Coach Edgar) Crown has "Electricity fee" and "Thunderer" as nicknames?

Some time ago, Crown was streaming and because of the construction downstairs, he had an interruption in his electricity. This is why fans say "Since Crown is trying so hard, his coach turned off his electricity". Fans started to joke around and it became his nickname.


¤ (To Coach Edgar) Your team is Samsung Galaxy. Do you get discounts when you buy Samsung Galaxy headphones?

We don’t (laughs).


¤ (To Coach Edgar) What is your tier for League?

It is not that high. I think I am Gold. I never really had time to play League freely (laughs).


¤ (To Coach Edgar) After Samsung White disbanded, it was a difficult time for you. Did you ever feel like quitting?

To be honest, I did think about quitting. I had a chance to [maybe go overseas]... However, at the time, I knew I didn’t really have that much I could do if I went overseas. Although it would take some time, I knew I could make a good team by picking the right players. That is why I stuck with Samsung.


¤ (To Coach Edgar) For you, Samsung is...?

A place where I spent my youth. I came to Samsung as a player in 2002 and have stayed with Samsung ever since.