On February 18th (PST), Team Envy played against Echo Fox in the 5th week of the 2017 NA LCS Spring Split. As if to make up for its past losses, Team Evny decisively defeated Echo Fox in both games, resulting in over 10K gold deficit.

We sat down with Wu-Yeong "Seraph" Shin, who was named MVP today for his contributions.

How does it feel to finally quench the thirst for victory and being named MVP?

Although I thought everything will go well at the season’s start, there were visa issues. Some players had to cover for jungle, and even Ninja played jungle at one point. Lira couldn’t play with us for two and a half weeks because he had to go back to Korea to resolve visa issues. With everything else going on, we couldn’t bond as a team. As time went on, individual forms have been improving nowadays. We still have a long way to go, but we’ll get there.

We saw Camille support in Game 2, which makes it the second time she was played as a support. Did you expect it and how did you prepare for it?

Camille is mostly seen playing top and mid, and she is sometimes played as a support. When Camille appeared on the draft, I expected her to go mid, but Hakuho said she’s definitely going support. I trusted my teammates and went ahead with the draft, thinking it’s a Camille support. It worked out in the end.

You’ve been playing in NA for four years. What’s it like to play in a foreign league for that long?

I’d be lying if I said I’ve never given up playing in NA because neither the results nor my performances were up to par. I’ve repeated giving up and picking myself up.

Ever since Lira came on the team, I got my mind back together. I couldn’t improve that much because NA has a suboptimal practice environment, and I’ve never properly practiced in Korea. I understand if it sounds like an excuse. Then Lira started to teach me about LCK macro plays, and something in me clicked. I can now control the games and know how to make necessary calls. I’m a more confident player now.

You caused some controversy when you said that NA Solo Queue doesn’t help at all on an interview. Would you like to provide more context?

First off, NA has unbelievably high pings. As such, you can’t practice champions with high skillcaps. Also, amateur players play for fun instead of prioritizing victory. It’s a bigger player base, but most of them play normal games more than ranked. Since less people play ranked, match quality is often subpar. I’ve even matched with Diamond players in Challenger queue.

What do you do to circumvent those issues?

I focus more on scrims and watch a lot of VODs. After realizing that Solo Queue doesn’t help, I visualize my plays from studying many tournament videos.

How’s the coordination with other teammates including Lira?

It’s pretty good with Hakuho and Ninja whom I’ve played with over a year. Granted, there are those whose forms are lacking or those who don’t play as one unit yet, but I’m sure we can improve. If Lira is 100% with LCK macro plays, that sets me at 80 to 90%. I believe I can pull in for other teammates who aren’t used to this type of macro plays.

How do you plan to carry on the rest of the season and would you like to say a few words to the fans?

Despite achieving a clean victory today, my team is in a rough spot. We’re just past the halfway point in the Split. I’ll keep in mind that there are always things to improve on and never give up.

I’ve had many thoughts since I’ve fist gone pro in NA. I used to think about how things may have been better if I started in Korea. Things will be different from now on. I want to give huge thanks Lira. I’ll keep up the good work.