Kingzone DragonX became the first team to secure two wins in the 2019 Rift Rivals: LCK/LPL/LMS/VCS. They defeated LPL's Funplus Phoenix in Day 1 and defeated LMS' MAD Team in Day 2. 

KZ's mid laner, Naehyun, held his own against the notoriously aggressive LPL mid laner, DoinB, and against the LMS' mid laner, Uniboy. 

"When I used to compete in the Turkey league last year, I played against Russia at the Rift Rivals. The scale of the tournament wasn't as big over there. I was very surprised at how large RR is over here," Naehyun said. "I was quite nervous, too. I leaned against the chair and looked up at the ceiling to calm my nerves."

In response to a question regarding the absence of PawN, Naehyun stated, "When the team approached me and told me that I'll be the team's starting mid laner in the summer, I felt an immense amount of pressure. My goal at first was to fill in for PawN and simply try my best." Naehyun then further added, "I want to apologize to my teammates. I'm still not a perfect fit for the team. I want to continue to work on accomplishing my goal and blend in." 

In the end, Naehyun overcame his nervousness and largely contributed to his team's victory. In regards to his battle against DoinB, Naehyun commented, "I played in an Azir-Corki matchup before. If you take Lethal Tempo on Azir, you'll be able to hold your own against Corki in the early game. It feels a lot stronger than Comet or Electrocute, which requires you to back off after landing your burst. Azir is a champion that can easily trade in his favor." 

Naehyun then elaborated on his battle against Uniboy's Galio today. "Galio is strong at setting up ganks for his jungler. I took Cleanse to play my lane as safely as possible. I normally prefer taking Teleport to affect the other parts of the map."

Naehyun then shared why he's confident in the current Neeko-Azir-Corki mid lane meta. "I'm an old-school player that's been playing since season 2 - I prefer playing AP mages in the mid lane over the others. I can hold my own against any champion, including assassins."

Naehyun concluded the interview by revealing who he wants to play against next. "Rookie is a very talented player. He's my role model, so I want to play against him with a learning mindset."