On April 15th KST, KT Rolster shut down Samsung Galaxy with a 3-0 sweep in the 2017 LCK Spring semifinals Playoffs, held at Sangam OGN eStadium. Regarding the grand finals matchup against SKT T1, Head Coach Ji-hun Lee expressed the team’s determination by saying, “We’ll get SKT this time.”

Below is the post-match press interview with Head Coach Lee.

How does it feel to advance to the grand finals?

I was confident that we would win the series based on the players’ forms in scrims. I did, however, feel a bit psychologically intimidated by a lot of people praising Samsung about how formidable they were. I think taking Game 1 did a number on the rest of the series.

You seemed to have put a lot of emphasis on the bot lane. Care to explain?

The current meta revolves around damage dealers rather than tanks, not to mention the importance of taking control. I thought taking initiatives in top and bot lanes would translate to better mid and jungle. Since Smeb is excellent on DPS champions and bot lane is often where the first turret goes down, my strategy was to focus on that area to take the control away from Haru and Crown. 

How do you think the finals match against SKT will pan out?

SKT and we share similar team characteristics. Huni is great on DPS champions, and Faker’s reputation precedes him. Bang and Wolf are strong laners, while Peanut and Blank are top junglers as well. What’s important here is that we’re getting back to our forms and that our confidence level is up there for support. Previously, we lost to SKT without putting up a fight because we were too intimidated by them. Things are different now as players and the mood all changed. We’ll prepare with a strong conviction to win this time.

Stitch drafted Kalista after being subbed in Game 3. Was Jinx a specifically prepared pick against her? Can the same be said about the mid Malzahar, which doesn’t see play often?

From the intelligence I got from players, I was aware that Stitch plays a lot of Kalista and is really good on her. Many ADC champions were already taken off the table. Considering our comp, I believed Jinx could shine in the mid to late game teamfights despite the risks involved. It wasn’t as an impromptu pick as a carefully thought-out one that’s been in my mind for a long time. We prepared and drafted Malzahar out of respect Crown’s Ryze.

Anything else you’d like to share?

Coach Chang-jong Oh and Coach Jaeseung Jeong have been working tirelessly with the players in the draft phase. I’m thankful that the players kept up with the efforts put by the coaching staff. We may have lost some credit due to our recent shaky performances, but we’ll be preparing for the finals like we’re starting from scratch. We’ll get SKT this time.