During the profile photo shoot of the 2019 LCK Summer Split, we were able to meet Griffin’s Kim “cvMax” Dae-ho head coach. We started the conversation listening to him say that their goal is 1st place. Although they had a hard time getting over the 0-3 loss in the finals, they were able to overcome it and were determined to have a good summer split.

“Our preparation isn’t bad. We’re not at full throttle yet, but we’re doing pretty well. Our goal is 1st place. Even if I was coaching a team whose results weren’t very good, I would have said 1st place.”

Regarding the players’ conditions, cvMax was positive as well. “They’re doing well. I didn’t force them to play a lot of solo queue, but all the players are so competitive and they really love playing the game,” he said, showing satisfaction about the fact that the players’ forms were built up naturally. Among his players, he picked Lee “Tarzan” Seung-yong the best. “Tarzan’s multi-tasking ability has improved; he reads the map well during teamfights and skirmishes as well.”

When asked about the meta, cvMax said, “The game is well-balanced. It seems that more and more champions can appear now. As a matter of fact, it wouldn’t be awkward to see any champion on the Rift now.” Especially, he evaluated the delayed scuttle crab appearance very highly. “It will affect the league for sure. More champions can appear in the jungle now. The delayed scuttle crab is a plus for us.”

On how the league will go, cvMax said, “I thought that KT would become a very strong team if their bot lane is improved. With PraY joining the team, they have high expectations. SKT will stay strong as well.”

Lastly, cvMax said that they’ll be doing as they always have done, attempting innovative strategies within the given data.