On day 17 of the 2022 LCK Summer split, Liiv SANDBOX defeated Hanwha Life Esports with a 2-1 score. With their victory over HLE, not only did they go on a four-match win streak, they’ve also climbed to fourth place in the regular split standings.

The following is a post-match interview with LSB’s jungler, Kim “Croco” Dong-beom.

Thoughts on the victory tonight?

Tonight’s match was very important. The momentum from tonight’s victory would allow us to gain various advantages when facing other teams in the league. While we did struggle a bit, we still won in the end, so I’m very happy.

Game 1 was a very back and forth, which unfortunately led to LSB’s loss. What was the feedback that the team received afterwards?

Rather than the in-game feedback, there were problems with our mentality, so we talked about keeping our cool and focus.

On the other hand, game 2 and 3 was rather an easy victory. Are you satisfied with your performance tonight?

I’m not sure why I wasn’t named POG [Player of the Game] tonight. I think people aren’t just interested in junglers anymore.

Can you tell us why you decided to play Volibear, a champion that isn’t performing as well in the LCK this split?

I practiced Volibear around twice during scrims. He was played more frequently in the LPL, and I think the champion fit our team’s colors.

LSB’s now in fourth place. Have you expected the team to do so well in the Summer split?

Not at all. We struggled quite a bit against T1 and DWG KIA, and in that process, our mindset was to learn from our enemies’ plays. I think that mindset helped us a lot. The coaching staff also emphasized what we can learn from them over caring for our mental states. Applying our own playstyle to that learning process has been very helpful.

LSB’s recent performance reminds me of last year’s LSB. Thoughts?

We had a very strong top laner last year; this year, our top laner plays safe while our bot side’s the dominant one. Although the roles have swapped, I think we’re playing pretty decently so far. Personally, I think I’ve also improved as well.

Due to the proactive playmaking and aggressive macro, one of the keywords associated with LSB is that the team’s plays are ‘romantic’. 

The coaching staff gives us feedback based on a lot of how the LPL plays. We like the direction of the feedback, and I think implementing a lot of it to our gameplay is why people associate ‘romanticism’ to our plays. We still make mistakes pretty often, but if we can fix them, I think we’ll be a team that can make the LCK better.

You once stated earlier that with Prince joining the team, the pressure’s been somewhat lifted off your shoulders. Can you go into detail on what you meant?

With Prince joining, our bot side became more than strong; it became dominant. Last year’s Prince added stability, and this year’s Prince added dominance. From my perspective, he’s very responsive to the plays I try to make, and he’s also very proactive, so a lot of pressure did get lifted off me.

LSB’s support, Kael got his first POG of his career. Is there anything you’d like to say to him?

I would’ve liked to have gotten it over him…But since it’s his very first, I guess I’ll congratulate him. I’ll give him a pat on the head later.

What are your goals for this split?

It’s to maintain our standings to make it safely into playoffs. We’ll need to maintain how things are currently to have a chance to make it to Worlds.

LSB’s next match is against Nongshim RedForce.

Our match was a tough one tonight. NS are no pushovers, so we’ll need to work hard. I really want to beat them and go on a five-match win streak.

Lastly, is there anything you’d like to say?

There were a lot of fans at the venue today, and they cheered so loud for us tonight that I was able to hear them with our headphones on. Since more fans are coming to see us, we’ll need to play better. I also want to congratulate Kael for his first POG of his career.