Dominating the Challengers Korea Tournament and now coming in a close second place in the LCK regular split, people have been calling Griffin the “super rookies” of the Korean LoL scene. This young team quickly adjusted and improved; it didn’t take long for them to start competing against the veteran players of the LCK. In the blink of an eye, these LCK rookies succeeded in securing their place in the finals.

The most remarkable thing about Griffin is that each player of the team managed to deliver outstanding performance throughout the split. If there was a ‘rookie of the year’ award in the LCK, no doubt a player in Griffin would have received it. Notably, in the ‘non-ADC’ meta, Griffin's bottom duo was able to stand out and show off their talents. With Viper leading the team to victory using AP mages such as Vladimir and Swain, Lehends backed him with solid support at all times; his initiations were one of the key elements of Griffin’s victories.

With the LCK finals just around the corner, we luckily got the chance to meet up for an interview with Viper and Lehends who have been practicing day and night. Although these two rookies were in the middle of a busy schedule, they were earnest throughout the interview. They answered the questions with a calm and collected outlook; it almost felt like we were interviewing veteran players.
In our short time with Viper and Lehends, the two shared some of their honest thoughts on the finals. Despite the fact that most competitors’ first finals match comes with a lot of pressure, the rookies’ answers were full of confidence.

The following is the interview with Griffin’s bottom duo, Viper, and Lehends.

Can you say hi to our readers?

Viper: Hello, I’m Viper. I’m currently playing as Griffin’s bottom laner. It’s a pleasure to meet you guys.

Lehends: Hi. This is Lehends. I’m the support for Griffin. These days I’m also streaming while I’m preparing for the finals.

The LCK finals are just around the corner. How are you preparing for the finals?

Viper: I’m mostly playing solo queue and I’m playing with a different mindset. I’m trying my best to focus on the fundamentals and improve in League.

Lehends: In my case, I’m trying out a lot of new things. I’m using a diverse range of champions.

Griffin proceeded to the finals by winning a highly competitive match against Afreeca Freecs, which must have been tough. What came to your mind after your victory?  

Viper: It was my first time performing in the playoffs. Everything was new for me, so it was really fun. Even if we luckily made it directly to the finals, we still had to prove that we were capable of it. I was happy since we won in the playoffs and proved our strength as finals contenders. We came from behind and won such a competitive series, so that’s why we seemed so happy in the broadcast.

Lehends: After winning, I thought “I’ve been playing games in order to experience this very moment.” I was very excited. I was more emotional since we won teamfights even though we were at a disadvantage; it was such a dramatic victory.

You failed to directly advance to the playoffs because the team lost against kt Rolster in the split. Did you feel frustrated?

Viper: I think that it’s a relief that the team experienced the playoffs. In the playoffs match, we were able to gain experience which was a good chance for the team to improve. I personally think that we needed this kind of experience. This split was new for us; I wanted to experience everything I can.

Lehends: At first, I was frustrated since if we played well in one of those games we lost, we could have made it to the finals as 1st place. It reminded me of the games we lost after making mistakes and I regretted it. However, thinking about it now, experiencing the playoffs did help us a lot. Of course, I’m able to say this because we won the semifinals. (laughs)

The interest in Griffin is high these days. Do you recognize the team’s high popularity?

Viper: Honestly, I’m not that sure yet. I don’t exactly know what others say about our team. In fact, our victory in the semifinals was a really close one which means that we still have a lot of weaknesses and more to improve on. I’m currently focusing on improving the team’s performance rather than caring about our popularity. I personally think that once we win the finals, the popularity will follow.

Lehends: I don’t really feel it either. Sometimes I look up my name, but I mostly find reactions such as ‘Lehends is quite good’.

Let’s talk about the Summer split. After stacking 8 wins and only losing once in round 1, the team somewhat underperformed in round 2 with a record of 5 wins and 4 losses. What do you think was the reason for it?

Viper: I wanted to protect our first place position since we were so good in round 1. That’s why we played rather passively. We didn’t focus on how we should’ve played in order to win against the opponent. Our mindset was set on how we’d stay in first place. We were definitely caught off guard in round 2.

At that time, we didn’t have accomplishments and so, of course, our 1st place position wasn’t confirmed. However, our plays became passive; we weren’t able to deal with the opponents’ aggressive plays. So, in most of our games, we were the ones to hole up and the opponent freely carried out their plans.  

Lehends: I agree. My teammates and I were caught off guard because we finished round 1 with a record of 8 wins and 1 loss. We thought that we really might finish the split in 1st place; this made us focus too much on the standings which led us to underperform in round 2.

Although the team failed to directly advance to the finals, Griffin did finish second in the regular split and advanced to the finals by winning the playoff semis. Did you expect the team to perform this well?

Viper: While we performed in Challengers Korea, I learned a lot of things and that’s why I thought that we’d do quite well in the LCK as long as we can practice and perform like we usually did. Well, I thought that we’d do better in round 2 since we lacked experience before. However, unlike our expectations, we did better in round 1.

Lehends: I thought that we’d finish 2nd - 6th place. At that time, I was a bit nervous since the team had a lot of weaknesses and made a lot of mistakes. I think we were able to perform well because we had fun in round 1. Also, we had some good momentum going.

Your head coach, cvMax said in an interview that his goal was to qualify for Worlds. Did the players have the same goal? Also, did you feel any pressure?

Viper: Well, every pro gamer’s ultimate goal is to win Worlds. I wouldn’t have even started my career in the first place if I didn’t have that goal. I didn’t feel pressure after hearing my head coach’s goal. If I felt pressure about that, wouldn’t it mean that I don’t have trust in my teammates? I was rather inspired by that and put in more effort.

Lehends: Our head coach is really passionate. After hearing his goal, I thought that I had to put in more effort; I didn’t feel pressured.

In the regular split, the team seemed to use similar pick & ban strategies such as the ‘Lucian carry’ strategy. Was there any special reason for using a rather risky composition?

Viper:  We might have seemed a bit stubborn. However, if the reason for our defeat lies in our poor performance rather than our champion composition, I thought that it was more important to prove why we chose that certain composition.

The ‘Lucian carry’ composition was a strategy that our head coach and our teammates planned together. Although it was a bit risky, we all thought that the composition had clear advantages. Also, we performed well with it in practice, so we believed that we’d win as long as we could perform as we planned. We had trust in our own performance and I thought that the team would learn a lot if we could win using that composition.

Lehends: The ‘Lucian carry’ was a composition that we used and never lost in practice. Like Viper said, we used it because there were more advantages than risks. That composition becomes stronger when players engage for a lot of fights, but we failed to do that against Afreeca Freecs; we didn’t fight when we were at our power spikes. I think that’s why we lost.

Griffin delivered some unbelievable teamfights. Why do you think the team is so strong in teamfights?

Lehends: I think the players plan the best teamfight scenario in their heads beforehand. For example, we think, ‘if I’m in this position, our main dealers will be able to deal more damage’, or ‘if I’m in this position, the opponent will have more things to be concerned about’. When I’m using Alistar, I mostly initiate fights. I tell my teammates about my teamfight scenario beforehand to give them a heads up. This is how we fought and I think that’s the reason for our good teamfights.  

Viper: To be frank, I don’t know the reason. Teamfights are just a small part of the game and we didn’t really practice our teamfight abilities either. I think the praise of our teamfight abilities means that we’re focusing well on our game and performing well.

On the other hand, Griffin was weak against teams that avoided teamfights and constantly used split push strategies. People say, “You can win against Griffin as long as you avoid teamfights.” What are your thoughts on this?

Viper: We lost like that in the playoff semifinals and I think it’s quite obvious for other teams to think like that. You know, teamfights are full of variables which makes it so hard to predict. I think the opponents chose to avoid dealing with uncertain situations and chose a safer way to win.

This might be a clear weak point for teams that only like to teamfight. However, I believe that it’s something that we can improve on since we’re not a team that only focuses on teamfights. It’s all about the macro game. I personally think that macro is about making a team win fights in any kind of situation. Well, you have to fight at least once before the Nexus gets destroyed. It’s important to choose the best way to win.

Lehends: I think the thought that ‘you can win against Griffin as long as you avoid teamfights’ is contradictory. In order to get ahead [in League], you have to engage in small and big fights which are born from someone’s mistake. I think of teamfights as a small part of the game, so it’s not much to be concerned about.

Teamwork is extremely important for bottom duos. How’s the teamwork for the Griffin bottom duo? Also, do the two of you have similar characteristics?

Lehends: I’ve never thought about whether our teamwork is good or bad. Well, I think there aren’t any problems to point out, so I guess we’re getting along pretty well.

Viper: Our characteristics are quite different. Still, we’re adjusting to each other by practicing a lot. Our current teamwork is better than when we first met and I think it’ll improve more next year. Truthfully, the teamwork with the rest of the team is more important. In order to win, we’re straightforward on talking about how each of us should play and I think this is the main reason behind our good teamwork.

At the beginning of the split, the ‘non-ADC’ meta was a trend. People said that Griffin benefitted the most from that meta. What are your thoughts on this?

Viper: I was actually happy each time I heard about that. Well, it means that I can use diverse champions and perform much better on ‘non-ADC’ champions compared to the other players. I tried to make good use of the meta since I believe that following the meta is the best way to increase your win rate; it turned out well.

Lehends: I also think we did benefit. ‘Non-ADC’ champions can win certain situations even alone. That’s why our bottom duo had various ways to impact the game in the previous meta. I personally liked it.

Viper: The team’s playstyle goes well with the ‘non-ADC’ meta. One of the strengths of using a ‘non-ADC’ champion is that it can initiate fights quite easily. All of the picks I used were effective in teamfights and skirmishes. Although these champions can become weaker in the late game, they can still dominate the early/mid game and that’s why I used them. It was effective when we had to counter as well as when we had to initiate fights. I do think that we benefitted from the meta, but I’m still satisfied since we pulled it off whereas other teams couldn’t.

(To Viper) After watching your in-game performance as well as your interviews, you definitely do not seem like a first-year rookie. What are your thoughts on this?

Viper: I’m not quite sure about what it means to ‘seem’ like a rookie or a veteran. I just believe this is my own style. I’ve played LoL for a long time and probably that’s why people think like that. In fact, I started LoL when I was in 6th grade. It was fun so, so I was interested in it and I watched a lot of games as well.

(To Viper) You played a big part in the OGN’s LCK opening clip; it was like a rookie trying to challenge the better teams of the LCK.

Viper: At first, we thought that any one of us on our team could be in the video. However, after watching it, I thought that it was a relief that I was the one to appear. (laughs) It was my first time shooting a video like that, so I was nervous and it was tough. Still, I felt good after seeing how awesome the video was. I think this will remain as a good memory in the future. Personally, I was satisfied.

(To Lehends) People say that you're good at creating surprise situations and initiating fights. Some say that your style is similar to TusiN’s. What do you think is the ‘Lehends style’?

Lehends: I prefer to play safe. As a support, I have to focus on playing safe. I have to think about the worst situation that can happen to my teammates and I also have to be reading the overall flow of the game. That’s why I need to be precise and play safe. If I suddenly make an unexpected play, I usually do it after making sure it’ll work.

(To Lehends) On the other hand, some say that your weakness is that you can only use certain champions well. What do you think about this?

Lehends: I’m not that worried about that criticism. I believe that there’s no reason to use any other champions when there’s already a champion that’s proved to be a good pick in a certain situation. What’s important is to use a champion based on what you’ve practiced. That’s why I think it’s not a weakness for me.  

(To Lehends) When you played for SBENU, you were not noticed that much. However, after moving to Griffin, your performance improved remarkably. What do you think was the reason for this?

Lehends: At that time, our practice wasn’t very efficient. I didn’t even notice that I was playing games the wrong way. Now, the environment has changed dramatically, and I improved a lot compared to the past. That’s why I’m doing well.

Your finals opponent is kt Rolster, who defeated Griffin twice in the LCK Summer regular split. Do you feel any pressure?

Lehends: I won’t know much before the match. We don’t know what the opponent prepared and we don’t even know what we’ll do in the match as well. But, I can assure you that it’ll be a very fun and interesting finale. I think the focus will be the upper lanes since the two teams love to fight.

Viper: It’s not going to be easy. I think that kt Rolster is a strong team because their plays became so solid going into round 2; we shouldn’t be caught off guard. However, I’m not worried about the matchup. I’m actually more excited about it. I don’t really care about the fact that we were defeated twice in the regular split. If we win the finals, that’s it.

Can you say one last thing for the fans who are waiting for the finals match?

Viper: I know that there are a lot of fans that are concerned since we previously lost against kt Rolster. However, I’d like to say that there’s nothing to worry about. Even if your win rate is good against a certain team, if it’s the finals stage, things can go differently.  The past is the past. Since we learned from our previous defeats, we’ll carefully prepare for the finals and win with honor, so keep on rooting for us.

Lehends: Similar to Viper, I’d like to say there’s nothing to worry about. I’m always searching for ways to win. I hope you’ll have fun watching this finals match as well.