On the 24th (KST), Afreeca Freecs took on SeolHaeOne Prince in round 2 of the 2020 LCK Summer split. WIth a set score of 2-0, AF dominated SP in a very quick fashion. While AF found joy in breaking their losing streak, SP continued to suffer from their long losing streak. 

The jungler for AF, Lee “Spirit” Da-yoon, showed why his pocket pick in the jungle, Poppy, is a force to be reckoned with in game 1, while showing dominance in game 2 on Nidalee. With perfectly calculated movements around the map, AF took down SP in just under 18 minutes, which is the shortest game time to be recorded in the LCK. 

Spirit joined Inven for an exclusive one on one interview to talk about the match against SP.

Can you tell us how you feel about the victory?

I’m glad that we broke our losing streak today. We’ll continue to win to punch our ticket to Worlds.

Game 2 ended very quickly. Were you aiming for the record of the shortest game time in the LCK?

We all just did what we needed to do, and just did our thing. Before we knew it, the game ended very quickly. Not only was everyone was on the same page in game 2, the enemy played right as we predicted they would. Everything went the way we calculated, and nothing unexpected happened, so the things went the way it did.

It’s been a very long time since we saw the Rift Herald dance in front of the Nexus. It must’ve been very exhilarating.

We all didn’t look at the timer until we were hitting the Nexus. Right before it exploded, something felt off. We told ourselves, ‘Wait, the game ended right after we got Shelly? Baron didn’t even spawn…’ Next things we knew, the game timer was at like the 16-17 min mark.

You were especially aggressive today, and the old school fans even called you, “Rejuvenated Spirit”. Where did that aggression come from?

There wasn’t anything that particularly triggered it. The game just turned out the way we practiced. Our strategy always changes depending on the enemy’s team composition, and everything just happened to go the way we prepared for this match.

Does that mean that the team prepared to play more aggressively against SP?

SP likes to create unexpected situations. To prevent such from happening, we decided to shut them out right from the draft phase.

By the way, why do your teammates hate Poppy jungle? What’s fun about the champion?

Well, to start, they don’t like how Poppy looks. Still, they do let me play her if I think it’s the right time. She’s fun because… her skill set is unique. She's very good at messing with your opponents... Both in-game and mentally.

I remember you being very good on Kha’zix. How do you like his buffs in this patch?

I haven’t tested him out yet on the live servers. Based on the patch notes and various videos on him, he looks pretty strong. I’m gonna have to test him out.

With DWG’s Canyon becoming the first jungler in the LCK to score a pentakill, it’s safe to say that today was a day where the junglers saw a lot of spotlight. Were you jealous that Canyon took that title away from you?

In scrims, whenever I score a penta, we have a tradition of always losing. I think that I don’t do as much as I need to after getting a penta, so I purposely don’t score pentakills. Therefore, I’m not disappointed that I don’t have that title. However, although I wouldn’t be the very first jungler, if I do end up scoring a pentakill in the future, it would feel very good.

In your broadcast interview, you mentioned that you watch a lot of PawN’s old videos. Did you really mean it?

I really do. I sometimes watch old highlight videos with me and him together. Like, REALLY old videos.

Speaking of old videos, it must remind you of days in your prime. How do you feel when you rewatch yourself back then?

Truth be told, I don’t think I played better back then. It just all seems that way, because of the situation I was in back then and the opponents I faced. I don’t think teams back then are better than the teams we face now, because a lot has changed inside the games since then. Therefore, it’s really hard to pinpoint my prime. I personally think I’m playing better than my ‘prime’ days, but it’s all relative.

It all seems very far away for a veteran pro gamer to talk about their past. Compared to your days in Samsung Blue to now, how do you think the players changed?

Compared to back then, the young players are all so good. Whenever I watch their mechanics, I think to myself, ‘Damn, they’re really good. They can even play like this’. I get these thoughts when I watch DAMWON and DRX, and I’ll even say that I sometimes doubt my own skills (laughter).

However, you said that you’re playing better than your glory days of the past.

It’s only compared to back then. But, I think that the standards of being good has gone way up. If a certain great play can be considered a top 3 play of the week, it wouldn’t even be a top 5 play right now. That’s why the standards of feeling satisfied with myself has gone up a lot.

Is there anything you learned from today’s match?

I learned that even without verbally communicating, it’s possible to be on the same page through teamwork and synergy.

Lastly, a word to your fans?

We finally broke our losing streak. We’ll make sure to win our upcoming matches.