Griffin defeated bbq Olivers 2:0 in the 2018 LCK Summer split Day 42 match 2. In both games 1 and 2, Griffin’s bottom laner Viper chose Kai’Sa and delivered concrete performance in teamfights. He proved once again that he can perform well using not only ‘non-ADCs’ but ‘traditional ADCs’ in bottom lane as well.

The following is the interview with Griffin Viper.

Congratulations on your win. How does it feel to finish the regular split?

It was my first time, so I do feel nervous. We did have the chance to proceed directly to the finals on our own, but we failed and I do feel a bit frustrated. Still, I’m going to prepare well.

You were promoted from the Challengers league and gave out a great result. What did you feel on each round 1 and 2?

In the beginning of round 1, everything went well and there were some lucky moments. Everyone did their best and they were also talented which made me put in a lot of effort as well; it was quite tough. Still, I thought that I’ll do well as long as I can put in my best. At first, we didn’t have a lot to lose, so we were really aggressive. However, as we tried to secure 1st place, we played passively. We tried to avoid fights as well. The team talked about going back to the beginning.

The MVP vs KT matchup will affect Griffin’s final standings.

We will help MVP’s scrims. If MVP decides to practice till dawn, every one of us will help till dawn. (laughs) Well, we’ll just try our best on our given situations. We have to admit [the results] and try harder. I do feel frustrated on our KT matchup in the regular split. We lacked individual performance and pick&ban strategy. If we did manage to win at least a single game, I think we would have been more confident against them in the second round.

You were really good at the “non-ADC” meta. How was that meta?

Personally, I had fun. I think I can adjust to any kind of meta. I didn’t have a hard time preparing for it as well. I think I felt more comfortable when it was the “non-ADC” meta.  

In round 2, Griffin used Teemo and Lucian-Braum. Which game goes through your mind?

When we faced Kingzone in round 2, the opponent jungler was Taliyah. In this match, I found out that we were really reliant on our jungler. Although we did win that game, from that point on, we decided to plan games that focus more on lane advantage; we tried to make it more comfortable for the jungler.

We won a lot of games in round 1, by constantly engaging teamfights. I think the team figured out something that we lacked as we lost a lot in round 2. We changed our directions in the process. The Afreeca matchup was about pick&bans whereas the reason for our defeat against Jin Air was about sheer performance. If it was like this, I thought that we’d lose even if we do advance to the finals.

Can you choose a ‘Rookie of the Year’ in your team?

After the recent international tournament, a lot of people compared LCK junglers with foreign junglers. Mostly they said that foreign junglers have better playmaking abilities. I thought that it’s not true for our team; Tarzan's performance is that much exceptional.

Any last remarks?

Griffin supports MVP. (laughs) I’ll admit the results no matter what. We’ll prepare well for the playoffs and try to deliver fun matches.