TSM Doublelift prefers playing "pop off" champions and wants to back up his statement about becoming the best ADC at 2017 Rift Rivals.

The 2017 Rift Rivals opening match between TSM and G2 ended in the NA’s favor after a 41-minute game in which Doublelift on Tristana had gone deathless with a 6/0/5 record. He was invited to the post-match interview with Daniel Drakos to share his feelings about the match and what can be expected of him in the next few days.

When asked about his thoughts on the first victory for NA despite a hectic schedule, Doublelift casually shared his experience so far.

“We were a little bit jetlagged when we got here but were pretty pumped because Rift Rivals is hyped. We woke up right before the match and were all sleepy. We stayed up until 4:30 pm and got into game mode when we were doing make-up. I’m happy that we were able to pull our team composition.”

A point of interest for the match was the face-off between two iconic ADCs of the respective regions: G2 Zven on Kog’Maw versus TSM Doublelift on Tristana. Doublelift was asked if he would you play more hyper carry picks like Tristana as the event goes on.

“I hope for this season, which is notorious for being teamplay-centric, I can play more pop off champions. It’s always been my specialty, not Ashe, Varus, or Jhin. I play pop off champions like Kalitsta, Trish, Caitlyn, Vayne, and Lucian, but those champions haven’t been meta for so long. Right now, bottom lane is really diverse, you see Zven pulling out Kog’Maw, which is not played in NA very much. In NA, we have our own micro meta and, in Korea, they play Xayah. I feel like bottom lane right now is very exciting to watch. Well, to be fair, support’s super boring — Tahm Kench and Braum.”

Doublelift previously said in an interview with David “Phreak” Turley that he wanted to be the best ADC at Rift Rivals. Drakos inquired Doublelift whether he thought he could stand by his words.

“I think Zven’s pretty good, and he’s regarded as the best ADC in Europe at least. I know Rekkles challenges that spot right now, but I think my matchup against EU ADCs is pretty even or at least favored for me because — I don’t know — I just feel very confident coming into this tournament. Last game was pretty easy. We had a losing matchup but still won it. And I was able to make some pop off plays.”