In day 1 of the 2019 LoL World Championship Play-in Stage, Clutch Gaming went 1-1, losing to Unicorns of Love, but defeating MAMMOTH. Despite their loss in the first game, top laner Heo “Huni” Seung-hoon picked Tristana in the second game, carrying the team to victory, and was named as the MVP of the game.

Below is an interview with Huni.

Hello, can you briefly introduce yourself?

Hi, I’m the top laner of Clutch Gaming, Heo “Huni” Seung-hoon. I’m currently active in the NA. While on stage, I was able to feel all the support coming from the fans, and I’m very thankful for that.

You lost your first match against UOL today. Did that affect your second match in any way?

I thought it was rather fortunate that we lost then. It’s better to lose now than to lose in the later rounds like Bo5s. It would have been really dangerous if we lost the second game, but we were able to win. I think losing the first game was good medicine for us, rather than poison.

Was there not enough information on the play-in stage teams?

(Laughs) Honestly, we don’t have much data. We mainly watch the major leagues, so we played against UOL without much information which was quite difficult. It’s kind of scary because there isn’t much data on all these teams. If we were able to watch teams from Japan or Oceania, but there’s not much. That’s why we need to focus and do well. As much as we’re from one of the major regions, we’re here to win. We’re playing with confidence.

How far do you think you’ll be able to go?

Frankly, realistically, my goal is to get to the group stage. If we get to the group stage, there’s a very high chance of us being assigned to group C. There, SKT, RNG, and Fnatic are waiting… It should be fun, but it’s going to be really hard. If we were to get there, we would need to do our best. Still, if we get to meet SKT and all in groups, it’ll feel familiar and I think it would be fun.

Which teams do you know well from the LCK and LPL?

First RNG. Uzi. Actually, all I can think of is group C, because it’s highly likely that we go there. And SKT. Those two teams are the teams I can think of, and I’m really sad that they’re both in group C (Laughs).

Bang will be coming as an on-the-scene reporter for Inven Global. Have you heard?

Yes, I did. (Laughs) I don’t think he’ll do well. (Laughs) Well… He should do alright. I’ll be looking forward to it.

As a player, you’ve been to Worlds several times. What’s the most precious for you?

The most precious thing for me is all the moments that the fans around the world cheer for me when I’m doing my best in the games. I was really thankful during the playoffs and gauntlet for all the support. It was a very stressful situation; we had to play 27 games to get to Worlds this year. It was really difficult, but I was able to endure everything thanks to the fans’ support. Those moments are so valuable to me. Also, when I win on stage as a pro, those moments gather as golden memories for me to re-energize myself later on.

Any last comments?

Thank you to all the fans, everyone who’s watching from afar. I’ll do my best always so that we can get to the group stage to show good performance. I’ll make my name, face known, and raise my country’s reputation as well. Thank you.

*Special thanks to EsportsFocus for the support.