On the 12th, SKT took down Fnatic in day 1 of the group stages in the 2019 LoL World Championship. This gladiator match between Europe’s hometown favorites and the titans of LCK had many tune in from around the world. With SKT's clever answer to the Garen-Yuumi bot lane and an outscaling team composition, they have once again proved why they’re the favorites of the tournament.

Bang, Inven Global’s special correspondent, had a chance to chat with the ADC for SKT, Park ‘Teddy’ Jin-seong backstage, and talked about the match.

This is your first victory at Worlds. How do you feel?

Since this was our first match at Worlds, we knew we had to focus. Although I’m happy about the victory, it wasn’t as clean as it should’ve been. I feel great that I got to play Kayle into the enemy’s Garen-Yuumi bot lane.

You said it wasn’t a clean victory, so what part are you not satisfied with?

Our mid and I didn’t buy enough control wards, so we couldn’t get enough vision and move into the enemy jungle. We also couldn’t clear out wards around Baron, and we didn’t bait them as well as we could’ve, so in terms of vision, I’m not too satisfied.

You’re in groups now, and if you can get past groups, you’ll be playing for a long period of time. How are you preparing for it?

This is my first time at Worlds. MSI was my first international tournament, and since it was my first time overseas, I was nervous and a little cocky as well. Ever since our loss vs. G2, we’re getting more creative with our draft. In terms of my time here, I’ll be okay.

Since this is your first time at Worlds, what are some of the biggest differences that you’re facing at Worlds? Are you nervous at all?

I don’t think I’m nervous yet. I think nerves will catch up to me as we move up in the tournament, but for now, I’m not nervous.

I thought that you’d be more nervous in the group stages, because in Best of 5’s, since your teammates have a lot of experience, so…

I’m not too nervous. I believe in my teammates. They’re very reliable.

You’ve played against Fnatic, and since they have the home team advantage, the energy from the audience was incredible. Were you able to feel it?

I did. When I was standing, they were all chanting, “Fnatic!” But, there were people chanting “SKT” as well, so it made me try even harder. 

You’ve played against Rekkles today. He’s a player that’s been good for a long time, and have been a top European ADC for a while. Even though you played against Garen-Yuumi, how did you feel playing against him?

The lane matchup was heavily in my favor, so I can’t say much about him. It was Garen vs Kayle, so I think I need to play against him more to know. Despite him playing Garen into Kayle, I could see that he was calculating angles to turn the game around. 

Kayle counters Garen?

When I played Garen-Yuumi, I’ve really struggled against Kayle. I feel that there’s no way that Garen-Yuumi beats Kayle. As Garen-Yuumi, you’re supposed to chase down your opponent and all in to kill them, but you can’t do that against Kayle. If you take Kleptomancy on Kayle, the money that you get from the rune is pretty nice as well.

Now I’ll be asking some questions sent by the fans. After today’s match, the camera captured Faker saying something to you. What did he say to you?

During the game, I was really concentrating on the game, so my in-game comms came out a bit strong. Although he did tell me that he felt I was a bit sensitive, I played really well.

Can you pick one fan question for me?

Sure.

In today’s match, when was the moment where you felt you’ve won?

I can’t remember it too well, but as soon as I got to play Kayle against Garen-Yuumi, I knew that as long as we safely scale into late game, we’ll win. Honestly, when we were invading lvl 1, we saw Yuumi through our sweeper lens, we knew they were taking red, so we knew we won.

But Rek’sai suddenly smited Red Buff!

She smited it, but Rek’sai burned her flash, so there was no threat of a gank, and every lane felt safe. We knew we outscaled them hard, so that was the moment when we were sure that this game was going to be pretty easy.

Finally, is there something you’d like to say to the fans that have continued to support you?

This is my first Worlds appearance, and my second international tournament. After losing at MSI, I was pretty angry, but I also learned a lot. I’ll use what I’ve learned since then to produce great results. Thank you.