On the 10th, at the Hanoi Vietnam National Convention Center, the Day 1 of the 2019 MSI took place. The team representing North America, Team Liquid, ended the day with a 2-0 record by defeating Flash Wolves and Phong Vu Buffalo. For both matches, Impact played Gangplank to aid his team globally.

The following is an interview with TL Impact.

TL had a great 2-0 start here at the 2019 MSI Group Stage. How do you feel about today's victories?

The teams that we faced today were the weaker teams of the group stage. I felt that we had to defeat them if we wanted to make it far this tournament. Losing a match against the underrated teams could be disastrous later on. Last year, losing to EVOS put us on a tiebreaker against Fnatic. In that regard, how you start out the tournament is very important. I'm glad of today's results.


How's Vietnam?

The Korean food at our hotel is delicious. But a lot of the people staying at the hotel are ordering Korean food, so some of the menus were sold out. I heard that iG ordered 20 servings of 'LA rib' (Korean-styled cross-cut beef rib). Due to the lack of ribs, we've been eating bibimbap... I should order ribs ahead of time each morning.


Have you been enjoying Vietnamese food as well?

Pho, Bún Chả, and fried rice. Although I want to eat seafood, I'm avoiding it as I had got an upset stomach from it before. I'm also being careful of ice, as the water in Vietnam could be harmful to your body. As an avid drinker of ice coffee, it's giving me a hard time.


You played Gangplank for both matches today. Why?

It was picked to better balance our team composition, especially for our 2nd match, as we had Sona-Taric for bot lane. And actually, I really wanted to play Akali today, but Jensen nagged that he really wanted to play her...


Some analysts have stated that G2 seems like the stronger western team this MSI.

Our picks and bans aren't as 'unique' to theirs, and instead of playing all out aggressive, we control our aggression and play carefully. That might be why some people think that.

Although we seem really laid back and slow, we're actually pretty quick when it comes to executing a strategy. We change our playstyle depending on the situation.


This tournament is filled with talented top laners. Is there a certain player that you're looking forward to playing against?

Everyone plays well. But in truth, I'm more worried and scared of the junglers than the top laners. (Laughs) I feel that recently, I haven't been recognized as a strong top laner as much as I used to. So my mission this MSI is to play at my best and become recognized as one of the best top laners again.

TheShy is a great top laner. He is a player that doesn't have a limiter. He seems like a player that engages first, then plan the next move. The second his enemy gets thrown back by the sudden aggression, TheShy wins lane.


Please say a word for your fans!

We had a good 2-0 start, and I'm satisfied with the results.

Although I had competed in multiple international tournaments, I feel that I didn't show much to the fans during them. So this year, I really want to show the fans an outstanding performance.

Thank you for always cheering for me. I want to bring the 'NA fiesta' to the strong teams here at the MSI and give the fans an unexpected, happy surprise.