On the 21st of February (KST), Kingzone DragonX played against Jin Air Green Wings. In the last match of the first round, Kingzone dominated the Rift in both games. Jin Air prepared Vladimir in bot lane, but he wasn’t able to do much against Kim “Deft” Hyuk-kyu. Deft’s damage meter was off the chart for both matches, leading the team to victory. He was the sole MVP of today’s matches and was interviewed after the match.

The following is an interview with Deft.

You won the last match of Round 1. How do you feel?

I feel good because we didn’t make any mistakes and played as we prepared.

You picked Xayah against Vladimir in Game 1. Xayah hasn't been appearing often recently, but why did you pick her?

We knew that Vladimir was coming to bot lane. I was always confident of playing against Vladimir, so I just picked a champion that can deal damage easily in the late game. (Is Xayah a pick that you prefer over other champions?) Yes. I like all the DPS champions.

Jin Air picked Vladimir two straight games. Do you have any tips for playing against Vladimir?

Vladimir is good against marksmen when he’s scaled without going through much trouble, but if any marksman can control lane well, they can win before Vladimir is actually scaled. That went well today. Vladimir loses trades no matter what against marksmen. If you utilize that well, you can end the game early.

Your teammates seem to be complaining because you’re getting all the MVPs.

It’s not that I have the privilege to decide who gets MVP and I can’t play bad on purpose so that I won’t get it. (Laughs) I think I got more because the carry champions are more noticeable.

Looking back at Round 1, what are your thoughts?

There were many matches we lost that we should have won. I think we still have a long way to go. Our goal is to deliver stable performance in Round 2.

What match was the most regretful and which team do you really want to beat in Round 2?

First, the match against Hanwha Life Esports was really regretful. And… the match against SKT, Griffin, Sandbox… I wanted to win them all. (Laughs) If I have to pick one team I want to beat no matter what in Round 2, I would say SKT because Mata is there.

Now that Round 1 is over, what percent do you think your team synergy level is at?

We’re a lot better than the beginning, obviously, but we still have a long way to go. I don’t know what our limit is so I can’t really say how much. If our goal level is 100%, I think we’re only at 20-30%.

Griffin is dominating the league at the top. Why do you think they’re so good?

Griffin is very good at drafts and extremely strong in lane. Their teamfights and skirmishes also seem flawless. I think that’s why.

On the other hand, Jin Air has no wins. After playing against them today, what do you think their problem is?

It seems that they lose priority from the draft and I can see that they hesitate when attempting plays; from that, it is visible that they’re nervous.

Your former team KT is also struggling this season. What do you think about Smeb and Score?

Smeb and Score both haven’t been doing as well as what they’ve shown up to now. They’re really good; when I was in KT, I always thought they were the best players in their respective positions in the world. They will be doing better for sure if the team synergy is built well.

Do you know Deftly of Golden Guardians? He said that he named himself after you.

Back when Deftly was playing with DanDy in eUnited, DanDy told me that there’s a ‘Deftly’ in his team so I knew then. It is an honor that somebody was inspired by me and it feels really good. It makes me feel that I need to be more responsible to play better.

After Sangyoon hit the 1000th kill milestone, you’re the closest. Do you think you’ll be able to hit 1,000 kills within this season?

As a matter of fact, my teammates all say that their goal for this season is to prevent me from getting 1,000 kills. (Laughs) Yes, they’re joking; I think I can make it within this season.

Lastly, a word to your teammates and a word to the fans?

There were many difficult matches and regretful matches in Round 1. Let’s think that we’ve learned a lot and do what we need to do so that we wouldn’t repeat the mistakes we made in Round 1.

As for the fans, I’m very thankful for all of you cheering even when our performance wasn’t that good. I think we were able to come back up all because of your support. We’ll do our best to pay back for your support in Round 2, thank you.