On the 8th of March (KST), Griffin took on SK Telecom T1 for the second time in the 2019 LCK Spring Split. As the match with the highest expectations, the match was very fierce. SKT took Game 1, but Griffin struck back in Game 2. The last game was even closer, but with Tarzan’s successful backdoor ward placement, Griffin succeeded to win the game. After the match, Tarzan was voted as MVP for Games 2 and 3 and was interviewed.

The following is an interview with Tarzan.

It’s been two weeks since you performed on stage. How have you been during the break?

We had some rest, and we also practiced a lot.

What did you focus on during the practice?

Since we had a long time to prepare, I practiced many different champions.

So you focused on practicing ‘new’ champions like Elise, Evelynn, and Chovy on Irelia?

Yes, we practiced those and we also practiced Sylas but he was a global ban today so that’s a bit regretful. But still, I think we prepared well.

How did you change the strategy after losing Game 1?

It seemed like there were difficulties in the comp, so we had feedback and changed directions right away.

Compared to Nocturne, Elise and Evelynn were reflections of that feedback?

In Game 1, the opponent dealt well with Nocturne so we decided it would be hard with him so we changed our strategy.

Urgot was nerfed yet you still picked him at top lane.

Sword was confident for one thing. His damage wasn’t nerfed; the mana management and HP were nerfed so Sword was confident in playing Urgot so we picked him.

I heard that your head coach cvMax really likes the Urgot pick.

I don’t know if he really likes it; I think he just likes him the average amount.

The bot dive in early in Game 2 was really good. The opponents were both nearly full HP and it is said that dives are safe when there are two more people than the opponent.

Elise is a very good champion when it comes to diving so even if they had their jungler, we thought it wouldn’t be that risky. We did as we practiced and the dive went well.

In Game 3, you let through Jayce and banned Aatrox.

Aatrox was good at swaying the aggro in Game 1. We thought it would be hard if they brought a Lissandra - Aatrox comp so we banned him.

Did you think to bring Evelynn as soon as you banned Lee Sin?

Lee Sin is pretty good and Clid is good at him. Since Lee Sin is an aggressive champ, I thought it could be possible that I could fall behind regardless of the champion I had. With Lee Sin banned, I thought that it could be half and half, and everything would depend on prowess.

The last backdoor, it was like the 'Trojan horse'. Who made the shotcalls?

Before that situation, I went in too deep and was picked off, we lost the teamfight so we thought the game was over. After that, we knew it was really dangerous, but we thought that was the only way to win. Since we had three Cloud Drakes, I was able to get to the enemy base really fast.

You would have been quite frustrated because the game was nearly over right before that.

If I was caught by a pink ward in that situation, it would have been really hard. My whole body was trembling like crazy and I went in so carefully. Even after the match, my hands were trembling so much. it was so thrilling.

It’s Chovy’s debut anniversary. Would you like to send him a message to congratulate him?

Congratulations on your 1-year anniversary. Let’s play well together and improve to get good results.

Your next match is against SANDBOX. That match would go as difficult as SKT; how are you planning to prepare?

All five members of our team did well, so I think we can do well in our next match as well. We have tomorrow to prepare; we’ll practice and prepare well to return with a condition that we can win.