G2 Esports has shocked the world. Only a few weeks ago, their prospects of qualifying for MSI looked grim, with regional foes Fnatic and Rogue looking far superior, but as if by magic the new G2 Esports team turned on just when it mattered most. The less-seasoned talent on the roster have come into their own, and veteran stars like Marcin "Jankos" Jankowski and Rasmus "caPs" Winther have begun to return to their elite form. 

The team flexed their rediscovered muscles at 2022 Mid-Season Invitational today, taking games off both Royal Never Give Up and T1. The latter was especially shocking, considering the unbelievable streak of dominance T1 have shown in domestic competition. However, according to the team’s jungler Moon "Oner" Hyeon-joon, G2’s win is a one-off. Inven Global spoke with Oner for a brief interview to discuss his thoughts on the matchup and T1’s performance at MSI.

You made some of the biggest plays in the game and were overall the best-performing member of T1 against G2 Esports. What do you think was the biggest reason you guys didn’t win that matchup?

First of all, I don't really agree that I was the best performing member of the team today. And the reason for our loss today was we didn't really have a good draft phase, and we made too many mistakes that we shouldn't have in-game as well.

Do you think T1 underperformed rather than G2 overperforming?

So, our impression of G2 is always that they're good, and they're very tricky to play against. We did underperform today, but I have to say that G2 had a great performance today. Even though G2 had a good day today, the next time we meet them, I have to say that it won't be so good.

Was this a bit of a wake-up call?

I have to say that there probably were members that kind of got a bit arrogant from winning so many matches before. And I think it's actually a good luck charm that we had a loss today. I'm 100% sure that we're going to win the next game.

So it's unlikely we'll see another support Rumble pick?

As for the Rumble support — Keria plays a lot of different picks, so I think it's very possible. I think it's actually more possible to show up than my Nidalee pick.

Jankos has long been a legendary jungler. How would you compare playing against him compared to playing against elite Korean junglers like Canyon or Peanut?

I think it's very hard to compare them, but I have to say that all three of them are very good and very tricky to play against. So I think the only common thing that they have is that they're very good junglers. 

What do you think makes Jankos unique to others? 

I think he's a very good team player, and he's very good to help his team out while keeping his camps.

If T1 wants to continue winning the rest of their games — outside of the draft phase — what does the team need to work on?

There are definitely some more discussions to be made about the draft. And more importantly, I think it's more about us kind of getting rid of the mistakes that shouldn't be there.

How have you felt about your individual performance? What do you need to work on?

I do think that it's very important for the jungler to play the macro game for the early to mid part of the game and I think I'm a little weak on that part. So, I think I have to work on my macro games for the early to mid-game part.

There were some struggles with the ping situation early in the tournament. Now that we’re in the second week, does it feel a lot more natural?

It is much better than the beginning of the event.

If you had to put money on it, what team do you expect to meet in the MSI finals?

So we're going to take first — so we will be picking our opponent for the semifinals, so it's going to be either G2 or RNG coming to the finals. But if I had to say, I would say G2 is more likely to make it.

Before we conclude, what would you like to say to T1's fans going into the rest of your matches?

We did lose today on the first day, but I'll say that it was a warm-up and we will be better starting tomorrow. So it'd be great if you guys can keep supporting us.