On June 30th (KST) Kingzone DragonX (KZ) defeated Hanwha Life Esports (HLE) 2:0.  

Game 1 was rather one-sided to HLE. With their early-game lane advantage, they quickly snowballed throughout the game. On game 2, KZ went with the ‘Smite Xayah’. She succeeded to hit her power spikes early and started to dominate the Rift. KZ went back to their, bruiser champion composition on game 3. With ‘Aatrox - Irelia - Swain’ as their main bruisers, they showed quality performance in fights. Using Aatrox’s early-game advantage, KZ started to dominate the game and secured their first Baron on the 21-minute mark. Using the buff, they quickly closed down the game and defeated HLE.

After the match, KZ’s PraY and Khan were interviewed by OGN.

Q. It’s your 400th appearance in the LCK. What was your mindset on today’s match?

PraY: I did know that it was my 400th LCK game, but I didn’t expect to lose my 400th game. (laughs) As I’m growing older, I do feel more exhausted. Still, the other younger players in my time are giving me energy and I’m still having fun.

Q. Khan. Are you still okay right? Well, you should be healthy since you are young.

Khan: You might not see it, but I’m only 2 years younger than him [PraY].

Q. Xayah has become one of those ‘winning-picks’ in the meta. Can you explain how she became a so much better pick?

PraY: Well, although Xayah is the focus, the other supporting champions have to be good. When I’m farming up on mid, the champions in the bottom lane has to lane well.

Q. Khan. Are you satisfied with the ‘Smite Xayah’ strategy?

Khan: Um...  A bad example is when we used it against SKT. A good example is what we managed to show in today’s match.

Q. HLE used some unique champion picks. How did you feel about this?

PraY: When I saw Twisted Fate, I thought that they were trying to split push our side lanes. But, fortunately things worked out for us and I eventually thought that we’d win.

Q. Bdd used Irelia on game 3 once again. What happened?

Khan: We thought that there were no problems on using the champion itself; it was more about how we didn’t manage to perform well as a team. That’s why we used her again on game 3.

Q. But, don’t you think that Irelia’s win rate is rather too low?

PraY: Um… Those bruisers… By the way, we call them “the swordmasters”. However, Bdd’s Irelia is one of a kind, so that’s why we have faith in him.

Q. I’ve seen that you’ve been using traditional ADCs as well as other mage champs such as Swain.

PraY: I think that this split is the perfect timing to use different champions. Well, we’ve been using ‘Xayah-Rakan’, Swain… I think more champions can appear in the Rift soon.

Q. Any last words for the fans?

PraY: We lost our last match… By the way, we’re getting our first vacation tomorrow. We’re glad that we’ve won before setting off for our vacation. I’ll ask for support on the Rift Rivals as well. Thank you.

Q. What are your plans for the Rift Rivals?

Khan: I felt that too much confidence does not help. Well, I learned it this time for sure. I’ll control myself and try to make good results.