Joonghyuk ‘Sake’ Lee, the MVP for last year’s Heroes of the Storm Spring Global Championship, left quite an impression at the winner's interview. According to him, they were able to make it this far because they were fighting against TNL for the throne. Their rival stays rooted in the flashbacks of all the efforts they’ve made until now. MVP Black was driven to surpass their respected rival. As the two rivalling teams continued to strive, the Heroes pro scene was able to grow with them.

After roughly a year of rivalry however,TNL has been replaced by L5. L5 and MVP Black have been exchanging victories at BlizzCon and Eastern Clash, forming a new rivalry. Light has been shed on a whole new long-running match as these two teams came against each other. Although L5 swept all victories clean at HGC KR, it is too early to foretell who out of these two will bring the other down to their knees. Both teams are able to stand where they are because each had rivals they approved of fighting against. If that is so, how does L5 feel about MVP Black? We asked L5’s two damage-dealers, Jeongha ‘Jeongha’ Lee and Seungchul ‘sCsC’ Kim about the competition between the two teams.

Q. You weren’t seen for some time after being placed 1st in HGC KR. How were you doing when you didn’t have any official schedule?

Jeongha: We played other games like PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds during our time off. Only Jinsu ‘NacHoJin’ Park went for a trip in China.

Q. You finished the regular season in 1st place. How did you feel watching other teams playing against each other in intense playoffs?

Jeongha: Watching other teams play was so fun and we look forward to watching the next match. I tried to predict who’d win with my teammates as we watched. In the last match, we hoped that MVP Miracle would win, but instead, Black made it, as expected.

sCsC: I talked on Skype with my teammates as we watched the games. MVP Miracle was playing against Black in their last match. I was hoping that things would turn out well for Miracle, but they didn’t, so I’m sorry that we didn’t get to go to Sweden together.

Q.The teams in the 1st league stayed in the league as they overwhelmed it with flawless victories in the HGC promotions. Is there any difference between them and the 2nd league?

Jeongha: There was a gap in the experience gained from the tournaments between the two leagues. In professional games, even losing can be helpful, and teams in the 1st league have gone through that several times. On the other hand, the teams in the 2nd league have barely experienced defeats.

sCsC: Experience is directly related to being able to perform at your full capacity in actual matches, just like when you play well in practice games. UNBALANCE once won against us and MVP Black in practice games, but they weren’t able play to their usual capacity in the actual games. It seemed that they had a player who couldn’t play well due to being nervous in the promotions.

Q. Now the Mid-Season Brawl awaits you. How will you be preparing for it?

Jeongha: We are going over to Sweden to train before the Mid-Season Brawl starts. Once we get there, many teams offer scrims. NacHoJin would go to other teams to get scrim chances for us.

Q. So you’d be able to play against MVP Black once more. The reverse swept match that finished the last stage of HGC KR is still a vivid memory. Could you tell us how you felt back then?

Jeongha: Even though we were behind 0-2, we thought that a reverse sweep was possible enough only if we won one set. Then, we were able to play lighthearted, which naturally made the game go smooth and gave us the feeling that we would win.

sCsC: I wasn’t able to focus back when we were losing in the 1st and 2nd set. I normally listen to Dojun ‘Noblesse’ Chae, but during the picks and bans, I was reckless. Noblesse told me that Valla wasn’t going to do well, but I told him that it didn’t matter. However, I found out that I really had nothing to do as Valla in-game, and I kept dying many times. I was really sorry to my team mates. Things worked out again in the 3rd set.

Q. Noblesse chose ‘Judgment’ for level 20 and his ult in the same match. Could you tell us how the rest of the team responded to that?

Jeongha: I think he did that when we were training. Instead of opposing his decision in the actual match, all we said was “It’s going to be better to pick ‘Sanctification’ for your ult…” To which he told us that he knows what he’s doing. (Laughs)

sCsC: He’d ask for our opinions first, and if we don’t oppose too much, he tells us he knows what to do. Then he picks ‘Judgment’.

Q. You won all the victories in Korea, but unfortunately, you had to hand your victory trophy over to MVP Black in the Eastern Clash. What kind of game do you expect to have if you were to play against them again?

Jeongha: I think we’d have to go through playing a hard game if we play against them once more. I don’t want to play against them. I was hoping that they’d lose against EU teams just like with last year’s BlizzCon. I can’t help feeling dejected when we lose against MVP Black. If we do win, it’s a hard-earned victory and almost everyone is drained afterwards.

sCsC: Thinking about it, we’ve been on a winning streak until we lost against MVP Black. So I couldn’t really see a way to defeat them. And in the Battlefield of Eternity, I made a mistake and lost the chance to destroy the enemy core, and that regret remained inside my head, which it distracted me in other games.

Q. KyoCHa and Reset, who have the same position as you do in MVP Black, showed great performance in this season. If you were to compare their play styles to yours’, what would you say?

Jeongha: KyoCha was already a great player to begin with, and it felt like he did improve a lot in the later part of the year. Even for a damage-dealer, he’s great at playing based on teamwork.

sCsC: My style is dealing damage while getting support from my team mates. I think Reset is best at playing the damage-dealer role. He knows how to deal damage through great positioning. Being able to poke without getting hit by the enemy is a great talent.

Q.Melee assassins like Zeratul and Alarak have been getting picked first recently; since when do you think this meta started?

Jeongha: Zeratul has been getting picked first quite a lot these days. With his new talent, ‘Seeker in the Dark’, he is always a great choice. As for Alarak, he is a hero to choose for making plays, since the difficulty of playing him and macromanagement is difficult. I think the teams who can use him are limited. There has been a team playing him after he went through a remake, but honestly, I couldn’t see any difference.

Q. Genji joined the heroes during the pro league stage. What are your opinions on Genji, a ranged assassin with melee attacks?

Jeongha: So far, he’s a hero used by ranged damage-dealers. Well, that could change depending on the meta. He is a hero you can play like other ranged damage-dealers without having to worry about your team composition.

sCsC: Based on what I have played so far, I believe that he is a 1 star hero. He isn’t so good for pushing the lane, but there’s no problem as long as your teammate helps with the lane pushing. Many people believe that Genji needs support and care, but he has two mobility skills that he can use to escape, so he can do fine by himself.

Q. [To sCsC] One time after Blizzcon, you said that there aren’t enough damage-dealers that center around auto attacks. Genji and Cassia joined the heroes recently- if you were to evaluate the new heroes joining HotS later, what would you say?

sCsC: Personally, I didn’t like Probius, but I liked Cassia. I think Genji is a well-made hero. He has both popularity and efficiency. I think we have enough damage-dealers at the moment. Now we need more tanks. D.Va, who has been recently added to the heroes list, is something between a sub tank and sub damage-dealer, so she’s not a real tank.

Q. There have been many changes among gamers due to the HotS 2.0 Patch. What are the opinions of pro gamers regarding it?

Jeongha: It’s great for us if HotS becomes better, because people would be more interested in pro gaming. There aren’t any direct influences on the pro gamers. Since we have all heroes and skins, we just leave the Loot Chests unopened. (Laughs)

Q. We’ve been hearing news of rebuilds on several teams before the new season starts. As both of you have experienced playing in several teams, what are your thoughts on the team rebuilding?

Jeongha: There are moments when rebuilding a team is necessary. There are cases where team members really hate each other. Well, I completely understand that. But anyhow, I think it’s better to not rebuild since players have grown used to playing along with each other, if I were to only consider my team’s abilities.

Q. Now we’ll be able to see L5 in the Mid-Season Brawl. Which team would you like to play against?

Jeongha: I’d like to play against the EU teams that have been doing great in the playoffs, instead of playing against MVP Black. I’ve been keeping an eye on EU teams since they are really good. As for NA teams, they always had a lot of variables going on, but it wasn’t too hard when we actually played against them. China was good, but I feel that they are lacking in caliber lately. And they also take on the role of telling us which hero is the best for the latest metas. (Laughs)

sCsC: I don’t want to play against MVP Black, but I have this feeling that we will. If we do play against them, I hope we don’t stress each other out in the semifinals, but instead play our best in the finals.