After putting everything on the line to secure the last ticket to Worlds, and succeeding in dramatic fashion, the Samsung players had to cancel their celebratory dinner; they were simply too exhausted to eat. Trusting their appetites to have recovered since, Inven invited members of the team to a Chinese restaurant to congratulate their victory.

Seong Jin “CuVee” Lee was first to the table. CuVee has enjoyed a meteoric rise in terms of performance and popularity this year; after a short slump at the start of the Summer season, he stepped up his game rapidly to soon become one of the region’s more reliable toplaners. In the Regional Finals, CuVee shocked everyone by steamrolling over KT Rolster’s star toplaner Chan Ho “ssumday” Kim with a well-prepared Kennen counterpick.

It’s nice to meet outside the stadium for once. Care for a brief hello to our readers?

CuVee: Hello, I’m Samsung Galaxy’s top laner Seong Jin “CuVee” Lee.

How would you rate today’s Jajangmyeon (stir-fried black soybean paste noodles)?

CuVee: This place goes for a strong sour flavor - it’s quite different from what I’m used to.

Since a photo of you eating Jajangmyeon went viral to become a meme, fans have been affectionately calling you “King Jajang”. What does Jajangmyeon mean to you?

CuVee: Actually, I don’t eat that much Jajangmyeon. We have them delivered to our team house sometimes, but I prefer meat more. I guess people made a big deal out of it because I’ve often been seen eating it, but I enjoy the meat in the dish more than the noodles.

You’ll be heading over to America for Worlds. Do you have any favorite Western food?

CuVee: I’ve never been to the States and I don’t really know Western cuisine. I’d like to try American steak, though. I like beef more than pork. I wonder what American steak tastes like.

Let’s talk about your Gauntlet run. You had a history of struggling against ssumday - how did you turn that completely around to dismantle him in the Regional Finals?

CuVee: I lost to ssumday a lot during the regular season, so prepared a cold dish of revenge for the qualifiers [laughs]. I practiced hard not only to improve my individual skill but to also become a more useful teammate. I thought long and hard about how I could play to contribute more to the team, and asked my teammates for their feedback on what they think I should do. Our manager and coach also gave me tips on specific areas of my play and general stability. I also picked up new champions on ranked, including Kennen. It ended up working out.

Early on in the season, you would make faulty Teleports every now and then. How did you manage to fix this problem? Is the team now calling Teleports differently?

CuVee: I used to Teleport mostly when my teammates asked for it, which led me to use it in unfavorable circumstances and end up with negative results. After a while, both Ambition and our coaching staff told me to just trust my own judgment and use Teleport independently. So starting from our very next scrim, I tried holding onto Teleport and ignoring other lanes. That practice helped me recognize when I should stay and shove instead of going to help.

For long stretches during the season, Ambition neglected top in favor of ganking other lanes or clearing the jungle. Have you ever been annoyed at the lack of attention?

CuVee: That was when the meta revolved around strong front line tanks like Maokai instead of aggressive picks like Irelia. Our team felt it was better to help out carry lanes than to camp for a tank, and I agreed for the most part. When the meta shifted to include aggressive top laners, things changed. After losing to Longzhu Gaming in the first round of the season, we decided that top lane also needs some love. Nowadays I just ask Ambition if he can come up top whenever I need a gank.

Ambition once threw a game against Jin Air with a fateful Baron call. How did you feel then?

CuVee: We know he didn’t mean to throw, but it was a terrible call. Feedback was necess -

CuVee: - you see, we ended up winning that match anyway! It was all good!

Are you happy with Ambition’s shotcalling, CuVee?

CuVee: I just trust and follow his judgment [laughs]. If something goes wrong in scrims, we talk it over after the game and discuss if we should have done things differently.

Ambition: I’m extremely firm about what I think are obvious calls, but when things aren’t that cut and dried, everyone gets a say.

You’ve said before that you’re really enjoying playing with your new team. What do you like most about your teammates?

Ambition: My teammates aren’t stubborn and know how to listen to other people. We have this atmosphere where everyone’s feedback matters.

Is this true?

CuVee: Yes.

So have you ever given feedback to Ambition?

CuVee: ...

...is anyone man enough to give feedback to Ambition?

CuVee: Crown does. I think Ambition having been a midlaner helps them connect.

Ambition: My teammates are a bit timid, and sometimes they want to give feedback but don’t know how to express themselves properly. I usually take initiative by owning up and offering a concrete solution. If we had trouble in the previous game because I didn’t gank top enough, going into the next game, I just say “Guys, I’ll prioritize top this game” and try to deliver.

How would you describe your teammates, including CuVee?

Ambition: We’re all good friends and everyone practices diligently all the time.

CuVee: [in agreement] After blaming our playoffs defeat on the width of his champion pool, Crown spent his entire vacation in the practice room and spammed games. I was surprised. I practiced hard too, of course. After enjoying my vacation. [laughs]

It seems Ambition cares for his teammates a lot, perhaps more so since he's the eldest. Does he buy the team a nice meal every now and then?

CuVee: Not really.

Ambition: When I joined Samsung, the guys already had an entire system for deciding who’s going to clean a room to who’s going to buy dinner. We make bets to decide everything.

Don't you wish he would buy you a nice dinner once in a while?

CuVee: ...I know my place.

Worlds at last. How was the journey?

Ambition: Failing to qualify in 2012 and 2013 really gnawed at me from the inside - I was a very confident player back then. I truly believed we could have won the whole thing if only we had been there. I was ashamed and envious. Eventually, though, I came to accept I could only blame myself. That brought me inner peace. Since then, I just believed if I kept my head down and always tried hard, maybe my time would come. I had not imagined it happening this year, however. I guess that did make it feel more dramatic and fulfilling.

You’ve always had a hard time against KT Rolster’s jungler Dong-bin “Score” Go, but finally overcame it all when it truly mattered. How did you do it?

Ambition: Score is a good player, but I never felt afraid of facing him; personally, I feel more comfortable playing against Score compared to playing against really aggressive junglers. It’s not a style thing between me and Score - it’s just that we had a long losing streak against KT. In the Regional Finals, though, Score was even stronger than his usual LCK form. By the end of Game 3, I realized I had underestimated how great of a player he was.

With one defeat away from failure, I couldn’t stand the thought of playing yet another passive Gragas game in fear of Score; I didn’t even feel all that comfortable on Gragas anyway. It was then that I decided to be confident and play the game that I had prepared - if we were going to lose, at least I would go out with all guns blazing. So I picked Skarner.

What did the players and coaching staff have to say after the match? Most of you were at a blissful loss for words, so the fans didn’t get to hear all that much.

CuVee: Crown told us he could barely breathe, that it felt like he was having a heart attack... he kept asking me if he was dreaming.

Ambition: Everyone was exhausted right after the match ended; we had put everything on the line. It was dizzying when it was all over. Even I had never felt anything like it. We even postponed our celebratory dinner due to lack of appetite. It took a few days just to get back into our daily routine.

Any teams or players you want to face in Worlds?

Ambition: There are many teams I'm not famillar with, and I would prefer to face off against a team I’m used to watching. So I want to play against TSM. TSM is a strong team, but I feel we definitely have a fighting chance.

CuVee: I want to face off against Looper. I lost my lane a lot in scrims against RNG. I want to take revenge in a tournament setting.

What kind of impression do you want to make at Worlds?

CuVee: We beat KT to qualify - it would be sad to bomb out of the tournament and end up feeling sorry for taking their place. We’ll make a Worlds run that we can be proud of.

Ambition: I just want to go as far as we can.

Any last words?

CuVee: Huge thanks to my teammates, coach, and manager for helping me become the player I am today, and thanks to my fans who have supported me since my debut last year. I also want everyone to accept that Jajangmyeon is not my favorite dish.

Ambition: I know how precious a chance at Worlds is. I won’t waste mine.