On the 15th (KST), DRX took a swift win against Hanwha Life Esports in the 2020 League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK) Summer Split. Picking Lillia for the first time in the LCK, DRX had a clean sweep. As Caitlyn quickly rose in the current meta, Kim “Deft” Hyuk-kyu played her in both games, contributing to the team’s victory. After the match, he joined Inven Global for an interview.

How do you feel about today’s win?

We hadn’t played for a while, but fortunately, we won. The picks and bans went as we thought, but there were several mistakes in game 1, so we could have lost. We should play better. It was a 2-0 victory despite that. We should prepare for the next match better.

Just last week, you were a bit indifferent about Caitlyn. Was there a specific reason that you played her today?

In my opinion, the biggest strength of Caitlyn is that you can pair her with many different types of supports. It’s a decent champion to pick first and that could give our other lanes a pick advantage, so I picked Caitlyn.

The “hiking mission” for DRX is the talk of the town. Can you explain a bit?

After we lost to DAMWON Gaming, the atmosphere wasn’t that good. We thought that our individual performances were lacking so cvMax told us to raise our solo queue LP. It’s kind of obligatory to climb the solo queue ladder as a pro player, but cvMax must have wanted to give us more motivation. He said that he’ll give us a prize or punishment. The deadline is the day after tomorrow and each one of us had to raise nearly 400 points. Except for Chovy, we all have a bit more to go. I need to work hard until the deadline. [Laughs]

Are there no exceptions? You have a back ailment.

It’s hiking, but he said that he’ll give me something equal to that difficulty. The doctor said walking is okay, so I might have to go on a walking trip across the country or something. [Laughs]

What’s the prize?

We don’t know yet. I guess it would be something related to taking a break.

All the remaining matches for DRX are precious. If DAMWON Gaming slips, you could rise to 1st place. To make it easier to get to Worlds, you need to get as high as you can. How do you think it’ll go?

I’ve gone to Worlds directly and been there through regional qualifiers as well. I’m not sure which is better. There are pros and cons to both. Whether or not we go straight to Worlds, we need to have good performances to have good results there. If we were to lose and fail reaching Worlds, it’s because we didn’t play well enough, so I wouldn’t be too depressed about it. I’d like to do well to be evaluated as I am.

You’re at least surely heading to the playoffs. Is there a team that you’d like to face or a team you’d like to avoid?

Since we recently lost to DAMWON Gaming helplessly, I want to face them again in the playoffs and have revenge. There isn’t any specific team that I’d like to avoid though.

In a previous interview, as an answer to pick the top 3 bot laners of the LCK, Ruler said that he’s at the top, and that Deft, Ghost, and Teddy follows. What would your answer be?

I would say the placement explains everything. So Ghost would be at the top, then it’s me, and then it’s Ruler and Teddy. If you don’t agree, win. [Laughs] I’ll do my best so that my name is at the top at the end of the season.

How’s the difference between your goal that you set before the season compared to now?

In terms of results, I think it’s better than my expectations. But in terms of our in-game performance, we lack consistency, so we need to do better. As an individual, I have several roles… I think I should do better in-game.

Any last comments?

Playoffs is coming soon. As much as you’ve been cheering for us up to now, please keep your faith in us and cheer for us. Thank you.