On Mar. 1, the 2024 LCK Spring Split was held in a pre-recorded live broadcast. The first match was between Hanwha Life Esports and FearX. FearX had a great start as they won the first game, but Hanwha Life Esports came back to win the following two games and collected their 9th win of the season. After the match, the Players of the Games, Kim “Zeka” Geon-woo and Park “Viper” Do-hyeon, joined Yoon Soo-bin for an interview.

How do you feel about today’s win?

Zeka: It was a tough match today. There was a lot of feedback during the match, and we were able to adjust accordingly to win.

Viper: I’m happy that we were able to win the match, but we should improve what we need to improve.

You showed a different draft and better macro in game 2. What kind of feedback was there after losing game 1?

Zeka: We thought the draft was alright in game 1, and there were several areas we could have done better, but we made many mistakes. So in game 2, we decided it would be better if we changed the draft rather than doing the same thing again.

(To Zeka) Your Akali win rate is over 77%, worthy for the skin owner. When do you pick Akali?

Zeka: The opponent composition is important. If the opponent has few to no champions that can interfere with Akali and we have champions with good initiating skills, we can pick Akali.

The two teams each took Varus and Vi as first picks in all three games. Is Varus a top-tier pick for bot lane?

Viper: I can’t discuss it in detail, but Varus is good and a great first-pick champion. It’s good depending on how you use it.

Vi is also first-picked often. Why do you think Vi is preferred?

Zeka: It’s comfortable to have Vi in scrims or official games. Although tanky champions often appear in the jungle, Vi makes the games easier. It has great synergy with champions like Taliyah and other laners.

(To Viper) Zeri was picked against your Varus. What’s important when facing Zeri in the laning phase?

Viper: It’s important to prevent Zeri from scaling. Zeri is good in teamfights after Lv. 6, so if you keep that in mind, you can stay ahead until the end.

(To Zeka) You faced Taliyah in all three games. What did you intend?

Zeka: Taliyah is really good in the current meta, but I thought it’s good to utilize champions like Akali and Azir to collect objectives well and snowball, so I practiced a lot while letting the opponent pick Taliyah.

Viper had an amazing game today. Are you satisfied with your recent performance?

Viper: I think I’ve been doing alright recently, but today wasn’t satisfying. I need to do better.

Your next opponent is DRX. How will you face them?

Zeka: I saw their match yesterday, and it seems that they’re in good shape. We’ll need to review our match today and fix our mistakes more to face them.

Viper: It seems that DRX gained confidence through their win and trying to start a good flow. We won’t fall to that flow and play our game to win.