On the 12th (KST), Hanwha Life Esports faced off against Gen.G in Round 2 of the 2020 LCK Spring. With a set score of 2-1, HLE pulls off the upset victory against the top team in the standings. Gen.G, DRX, and T1, the top three teams in the standings, now all have the same win-loss record, while HLE continues their fight to stay in the LCK.

The Top Laner of HLE, CuVee, joined Inven Global to talk about the match.

Congratulations on the victory. How does it feel to defeat your former team?

In order to avoid the Relegations tournament, we desperately needed a win, and not only does this victory bring us a bit of room to breath, it feels even sweeter that the victory was against Gen.G.

How does it feel to play a full Bo3 like tonight?

I thought tonight’s match was really fun.

You picked Kayle in Game 2. Can you tell us how draft was like in that game for your team?

At the very end of the draft, I said that I’ll play Kayle. The coaching staff and the team all trusted my decision and let me play her.

In Game 2, both HLE and Gen.G traded heavy blows throughout the game, and your team eventually took the victory. In that moment where the game almost ended by rushing down Mid Lane, what did the team talk about?

We were going to get Dragon, but the enemy had better positioning than we did. Then, we saw that Mid Lane was completely empty, so we all went together, but proceeded to make a misplay.

After Game 3, it sounded like the whole team threw their headphones in joy. What was the team’s atmosphere like?

I just sat there and watched, but Lava was especially hyped up, so everyone else got hyped because of him.

The nickname, “Kingslayers” has been going around the community, because HLE managed to defeat the top three teams. How did this come to be? Just like Lehends said, do you actually throw the game a little when playing against weaker teams?

I gave this a bit of thought, and I think that I actually don’t feel pressured to play against strong teams. However, against lower tier teams, I have this mindset of feeling like I have to win no matter what, and since there’s much more to lose, I think that it gives me a bit of anxiety.

Because of how the team takes down strong teams, some people are calling HLE “The G2 of Korea”, and even jokingly saying that HLE should be sent to play in international matches.

(Laughter) It’s nice to hear nicknames like that, but on the other hand, it does make me feel a bit sad.

Compared to the team’s performance tonight, what aspects do you think the team lacked?

The fact that we couldn’t play to our maximum potential is something that’s very disappointing. We did not performing as well as we did in practice.

Although the team’s not completely out of the woods just yet, your next opponent is Griffin. How will you prepare for HLE’s last match of the regular season?

Losing is not an option against Griffin. Especially because of Lehends and Griffin’s interesting relationship, I think I can also help Lehends prepare mentally as well.

Isn’t tonight a good night for a late-night snack? What are you going to eat?

I think everything will taste fantastic tonight (laughter).

Lastly, any words to your fans?

We only have one match left, and we’ll make sure to win to avoid the Relegations Tournament. And I’m sorry that we played so poorly this season.