The match for the last ticket to the LCK finals. Afreeca Freecs are finally heading to Busan, South Korea with a 3:1 win against kt Rolsters. We caught up with Park “TusiN” Jong-ik to hear his thoughts about going to the finals and what he had to say about Kuro’s ‘Yasuo’ pick.

Q. You’ve won the semi-finals against kt Rolsters. How’s your current state?

I feel great because this is a dream come true. I’m going to try to win the title as well.


Q. On the second round of this Spring season, kt Rolster got a rather easy win against Afreeca Freecs. Compared to last time, the team’s performance has increased. What is the reason for it?

After we lost that match, we thought that we might lose to any other team as well. That’s why we tried to work harder. After that loss, we were more focused on our game.


Q. What was the focal point of this match against kt Rolsters?

Kt Rolster tries to snowball early using strong lane picks. If we didn’t have a good solution to that, we’d lose. That was our focal point.


Q. Your performance was excellent throughout the match. Which set do you think you performed the best in?

In the second set, my ‘Rakan’ was a panic pick because we were rather surprised about the opponent’s picks and bans. I was still confident since ‘Rakan’ is a signature champion for me. I’m happy that it worked out.


Q. People say that ‘Caitlyn-Morgana’ is a great bottom duo these days. For what reasons does it make it a great duo?

The ‘Caitlyn-Morgana’ pick has a CC combination and has a good amount of damage too. It is useful because the two make a stable bottom duo that does well in both attack and defense.


Q. The team’s mid(Kuro) ‘Yasuo’ pick... Any thoughts about this?

We helped out ‘Yasuo’ so many times! He started off with 4 kills! After he claimed those kills and started to split push, we warned him, “Be careful. The opponent laners are out of sight. Take care”. Right after that, he said “What! I think I’m dead again”. We were angry (laughter). We said “If you play like this we’re going to lose. Our team has the advantage. You don’t want to go to the finals?”. Then he said “Sorry. I’ll focus” (laughter).


Q. I think a lot of users are going to pick ‘Yasuo’ in solo queues(laughter).

If you get many early kills in a solo queue like we did today, the game will be totally one-sided. However, if it is for ‘Yasuo’, you might lose. We were able to give him help because this was a team match. If he died like that in a solo queue… I don’t even want to imagine (laughter). (Q. Is ‘Yasuo’ science?) Yes, ‘Yasuo’ is science.


Q. In the finals, can we expect additional champion variety?

We always have a hidden pick and ban strategy. We used ‘Yasuo’ because certain conditions were met; the team is open to this. That’s why we can research new picks and actually use them in an official match.  


Q. Once again, ‘Prilla (PraY+GorillA)’ is your next bottom matchup. Are you confident?

Frankly speaking, our bottom duo isn’t that bad. We are part of a great team. However, the results were bad. Jong-hun (Kramer) and I have played in the Promotion Tournament match. However, this time we’ve made it to the finals. I’m going to try my best and win.


Q. The final match in Busan awaits. Any comments about the finals?

Seo-haeng (Kuro) is thirsty for a trophy because he was a member of a champion team. We learned a lot from him. Sometimes, we make jokes by saying “Please lead me to the finals. I want it bad”. However, now that we really made it, the team is ready to aim for a higher summit. We are going to claim the trophy.