Today was the first day of the Swiss Stage at the 2023 LoL World Championship. Before the eager fans, there were blockbuster games that unfolded. Among them, the match between JD Gaming and Team BDS brought up a lot of hype. With Adam “Adam” Maanane picking his infamous Garen pick, Team BDS took JD Gaming for a ride. However, JD Gaming managed to collect themselves and came back to win the game. After the match, JD Gaming jungler Seo “Kanavi” Jin-hyeok joined Inven Global to talk about the match. 

How do you feel after playing the first game?

It’s been a while since we played in an official match together, so there were a few communication errors in the early game, but I’m relieved that we won.

Many people pick JDG as the heavy favorite. How do you think this Worlds would go?

I know fans have high expectations for us, but our performance isn’t as good as their expectations, so we need much more hard work. Since we have been apart for a while, our teamwork isn’t as good as before, and we make mistakes more frequently because of that.

Do you think being separated due to the Asian Games affected your team in preparation?

That’s true, but it’s the same for the other teams as well, so I don’t think that was a big issue.

JDG is a team with arguably the best players in each role. There could have been ego issues. Have you blended well as a team?

Since each player is the best in their respective roles, they want to carry and they want to win. We talked a lot over the seasons and blended well together as a team.

You’re also known as a carry-style jungler as well.

Since this year’s meta highlighted Sejuani or Maokai, even if playing carry jungle champions are fun, I enjoyed playing more of a supportive role.

What you said sounds like it’s still fun to play carry champions.

Yeah. Having to carry means more pressure, but it’s more fun since the damage is much stronger.

It’s the first time you’re playing in Korea since Rift Rivals. How is it playing back at home?

It’s almost my first time playing in front of Korean fans, so I feel that I have to work harder. I’m not getting that nervous, but I really do want to play well.

We also have a new format with the Swiss Stage. The first round could be more easygoing for you and the team, but at the same time, it could be more pressure. How was it?

Actually, it’s simple. If we keep winning, we can advance. So it’s not that different from the original format.

Are there any teams that you’d like to face before the knockout stage?

As far as I know, we can lose up to twice during the Swiss Stage. I want to face the top seeds of each region - Gen.G, NRG, and G2. Among the teams that won earlier today, I’d like to face T1.

Let’s talk about today’s match. You had a harder time than most people expected. Was Adam’s Garen that difficult to face?

369 was prepared to play against Garen, but we had communication issues during 2v2s, so we had a hard time. As we went counter-jungling in the early game, we knew that Vi would go top, but we allowed a kill there. When I wanted to go for the Rift Herald, he wanted to push top, so we struggled a bit.

Adam’s GODS is collecting a lot of attention, and you banned Olaf and Darius. Was it because of his performance playing those champions during the play-in stage?

As everyone knows, Adam has a unique champion pool. Among those champions, it seemed that Olaf and Darius could be blind-picked, so we banned them. On the other hand, it didn’t seem likely that they would blind-pick Garen, so we let that through. We were also confident about facing Garen as well.

You have won all the competitions you played in this year, including the Asian Games. Are you looking forward to achieving the grand slam?

Obviously, I do want to achieve the grand slam, but our form isn’t at that level yet. We need to work much harder. We’ll be playing the games one by one, thinking that we’re clearing quest after quest.

You should have scrimmed a lot. Any teams that were impressive?

The LCK teams and LPL teams are really good.

Any western teams?

G2 is really good. They have their own unique style. Their macro is unique while their teamwork is spot-on. They have great teamwork among the five players and move very flexibly.

How was it facing Yike?

Yike’s mechanics are great, and his synergy with Caps is awesome. They’re really good at 2v2 fights in the mid-jungle.

Would you like to share any last comments?

Although we weren’t able to have a clean win today, I’m happy that we won. Since we have more games coming up, I’ll keep doing my best.