On July 31st (KST), T1 swept kt Rolster in the 2020 League of Legends Champions Korea Summer Split. While Lee “Clozer” Ju-hyeon had his debut in place of Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok, T1 had a great performance in the telecom derby. After the match, Lee “Effort “Sang-ho joined Inven Global for an interview.

How do you feel about today’s win?

I’m happy that we were able to start a winning streak through today’s 2-0 victory.

T1 hasn't been doing that well recently. How was the team atmosphere?

As much as our results weren’t very good, we all had a more serious atmosphere, practicing harder. We tried to work on what we lacked, to improve those areas.

What was the reason behind the slight slump?

If we play as we want, we could beat any team, but there were several parts that didn’t go as we intended. That was the biggest problem regardless of the opponent. For example, our teamwork was rather creaky when we gathered for objectives and that led to losses. We acknowledged those parts and have been doing our best to fix those things.

Clozer had his debut today. According to his performance, he didn’t seem nervous at all. How did he seem to you, as his teammate?

When he played with us during practice, he showed nervousness since he was playing with older players. But in the match today, he simply did what he needed to do. It seemed he wasn’t nervous at all.

Was he more nervous during practice and scrims?

Yes. He gets all nervous and talks less. [Laughs]

Do you remember your debut? How was it then?

I remember. I was extremely nervous and shaky, so I wasn’t able to play that well. On the other hand, Clozer played well without any nervousness. I was really impressed.

Did you give him any advice on his debut?

I just talked with him, trying to make him comfortable. Other players tried to relieve his nervousness by kidding around with him. I gave him serious advice.

What was intended with Clozer starting in place of Faker today?

As much as he’s extremely young, wouldn’t his mechanics be really good? I think that was what our head coach probably wanted so he started Clozer.

You were originally the youngest player on the team. Now there’s another player, who’s three years younger than you are in the team. How is it?

Frankly, I don’t really know since it hasn’t been long. I’m still very young, but it’s really refreshing that someone who’s a lot younger than me is playing so well.

You’re known to be a lot more mature than your age. How does it feel looking at someone who’s 17?

Clozer would probably look at me as I looked at Faker or Wolf. He’s kind of like me in a way, being serious and more mature than his age. But sometimes, he behaves as his age which is really cute.

How much of the foreign leagues do you watch?

I try to watch all four major leagues, but mostly, I watch the LPL. Since they’ve won two consecutive Worlds, I watch them. TES had been doing really well recently. Their plays are smart and they have outstanding mechanics.

In the LCS, Cloud9 played Sona-Lux bot lane. Did you see it? How do you see this strategy?

Yes, I saw it. It’s starting to rise recently in the meta. With a bit more research, I think the duo will become a similar pick to the Sona-Taric. I haven’t tried it out, but I think it would be worth trying, as much as they’ve already used it in an official match.

G2 isn’t doing that well. How do you think they’ll do?

As much as we’re all human, we can’t always do well. They could stutter, but they’re great players and a great team. They’ll be able to find their pace in no time if they just get back on track.

The upcoming matches for T1 are mostly against relatively weak teams. How are you planning to play?

We’ve been rather sloppy in the recent matches, but we’ll do our best to play well against our upcoming schedules.

To the fans?

Our performance has been improving little by little. We’re doing our best to make it better, so please keep an eye on us. We’ll show you good results in the end. Thank you.