On day 24 of the 2022 LCK Spring split, Hanwha Life Esports faced off against DRX in the first match of the day. HLE managed to pick up their 3rd victory of the split by 2-0ing DRX, with the mid laner for the team, Kim “Karis” Hong-jo being named Player of the Game in both games for his performance on Ryze and Lissandra respectively.

After the victory, Karis joined Lee Jeong-hyun on broadcast to speak about his victory. “There was a bit of pressure built up due to our loss streak, so I’m glad that we can kick off round 2 on a high note. I actually analyzed our last recent loss against DRX quite a bit. They’re a team that loves to play Leblanc and Lee Sin, so I thought quite a bit about what I can pick into those two champs.”

Karis seemed to have fully analyzed the Lebelnac matchup. He explained the benefits of playing tank Ryze into Leblanc, and why he decided to take Unsealed Spellbook as his keystone rune: “Even when I take Phase Rush, there are times when the rune activates after getting hit by Leblanc’s E.” Once Ryze was banned out in game 2, Karis also explained why he picked Lissandra: “While I don’t think it’s a matchup counter, Lissandra can really threaten her ability to perform in teamfights, so I think in that regard, she’s a good pick into Leblanc.”

Furthermore, he explained what he thought he did well in the series: “A lot of the plays that we make stems from OnFleek or Vsta making the first engage. I recently thought about trying to make plays in the frontlines, so I’m happy to make that happen tonight.” On his improved performance, he praised his coach and “DuDu for helping me improve at the game.”

Lastly, he stated, “Now that we’ve won our first match in round 2, I think we found a good momentum to keep winning. We’ll make sure to prepare well for a 2-0 victory against Liiv SANDBOX in our next match as well.”