The 2nd day matchups of Overwatch League’s 2nd week were held at the Blizzard Arena in Irvine on January 18th. The 2nd match was between the New York Excelsior and Los Angeles Valiant, two teams that were on a winning streak, although only NYXL continued their streak with a 3-0 victory.

Following their triumph, Inven Global managed to get an interview with Saebyeolbe, the captain of NYXL.

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Today’s match was also a match between the two teams that have been consistently winning since the start of the Overwatch League. How do you feel?

Personally, I feel I didn’t do well today (laughs). Rather, I think we were able to win because Jjonak, our support, did so well. You could say Jjonak is our MVP for today’s match.

Your team has been doing so well, winning all their games so far; how is the team atmosphere?

Extremely good. It’s the early phase of the League, and I think we did well in spite of that; so everyone is in high spirits.

If you were to pick a player who has been in the best condition lately, who would it be?

I’d pick Jjonak. He always does well, without any ups and downs.

Pine played in the game as a pocket pick for all 3 sets; how do you decide on switching the players?

It’s hard to talk about that because of team strategy reasons (laughs). Pine could play in 3 sets like he did for today, or not.

It’s been a while since you started staying in LA. How is it?

It got so much better than it used to be. I struggled a bit with food, but it got so much better now that I can order Korean dishes.

How is the scrim environment when you’re practicing for the match?

Other than the internet being slower than Korea, it is very good. As for the scrims, our coaches manage to find teams to scrim against so we can stay fully focused on practicing, so it’s great.

How are you doing with other teams in the League? For example, the Seoul or London team; you all are living far away from your homes.

As for the Seoul team, I’ve become friends with them so I often keep in contact with them, but as for the London team, I didn’t quite have the chance to be friends with them, though there are a few.

Other than that, I’ve been friends with Korean players in team Houston and Philadelphia as well. We say hello to each other when we meet and have normal conversations like reviewing or commenting on each other as we scrim.

What about your English? It seems your English got much better.

It did get better, but not to the point where I don’t need any translations. Although I have gotten to the point where I can have ordinary day-to-day conversations.

Then who is the best English speaker on your team?

That would be ArK. He doesn’t need a translator so it would be nice if you could do an interview with him (laughs).

You’ll be playing against the Seoul Dynasty next week. How do you feel?

I’m anxious (laughs). I think I shouldn’t play like I did today. On the other hand, everyone is gingerly preparing for the match against the Seoul Dynasty on their on, so it will be an exciting game.

If you were to evaluate the Seoul Dynasty?

They are awfully powerful. Their supports are former members of team Korea from the OWWC and are the best supports in Korea, and they replaced their DPS with very powerful players. Even their tanks are powerful, so I think they’re a scary team overall. They deserve to be called the winning candidate.

The competition between Fleta’s Widowmaker from the Seoul team and Pine’s Widowmaker during the preseason match became a big subject in the Overwatch community. We expect Pine to look forward to getting revenge in the next match.

I think he’ll succeed in getting payback this time. Even after going through something so painful like that, he still sees himself as the best Widowmaker ever in the world. Actually, Pine is the best Widowmaker when compared to other DPS on NYXL.

Lastly, is there anything you’d like to say to your fans?

For those coming to watch the game, we will try hard to provide the best viewing experience for them. We’d also like to thank all the fans watching the game from Korea despite the time difference. We will do our best to deliver a great performance.

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