The final game of Stage 2 had the Seoul Dynasty and Hangzhou Spark fighting for the last spot in the Stage 2 playoffs. The Seoul Dynasty is accustomed to playing under high-pressure situations like their Stage 1 playoff match against New York. The Dynasty were the favorites heading into the match against the Spark.

For the Spark, however, they had other plans. The Spark has gone under the radar for the majority of Stage 2. In one final test, the Spark defeated the Dynasty to claim the last spot in the Stage 2 playoffs.

Cai "Krystal" Shilong spoke with Inven Global about being one of the first Chinese players to play in the stage playoffs and his thoughts about playing against the Spitfire in the first round.

Stage 2 marks the first playoff appearance for the Spark franchise. What are your thoughts about that?

I feel very excited. We're going to play against the London Spitfire. I think we have a decent chance against them.


You and Guxue will be the first Chinese players to play in a stage playoffs. How does it feel to be the first players to represent China in the Overwatch League stage playoffs?

No Chinese teams or players have made the stage playoffs before. Being the first Chinese player with a Chinese team like the Hangzhou Spark makes me feel proud to achieve that success.


I want to talk about the match today against the Seoul Dynasty since whoever won this match qualifies for the last spot in the playoffs. How much pressure did you face to win?

I definitely felt some pressure. The Seoul Dynasty's strategy in a 3-3 composition was to focus Brig. In general, the Dynasty are a great team when playing under pressure. We had to play carefully because we knew that.

Our plan in this game was to try to spread out. iDK had a great performance as Lucio, as you might have seen from his boops on Rialto. He definitely made a difference in today's match.

How are you going to carry the momentum from today's match into playoffs?

We will definitely carry the momentum and energy from today's match against the Spitfire. I forgot to mention, but Guxue had a good performance as well. If we go into the playoffs with the same intensity, we have a good chance of winning the game.


Do you think there is any sense of nervousness going against the Spitfire since they are the defending Season 1 champions?

I don't think we will be nervous. I think the Spitfire has a similar playstyle to the Dynasty. Our plan should be similar going into the game, but obviously, the Spitfire has players that can ruin our plans.


What Spitfire players do you think the team needs to stop?

We don't want to focus on specific players. As long as we play our best like we did today, we will win.


Is there anything that you want to say to the Spitfire?

I had a great relationship with the old GC Busan players when they went to Shanghai to play the offline LAN. I went to dinner with some of them, actually. No hard feelings but we will beat them.

The score is going to be 3-1, maybe 3-2.

Do you have anything to say to the fans?

Thanks for the support, everyone. There was a good amount of people cheering for us and I'm truly grateful for that. Keep cheering for us in playoffs. Hope to make you all proud.