In the quarterfinals of the 2019 LoL World Championship, FunPlus Phoenix reigned over Fnatic 3-1, crushing the hearts of the home fans. After the match, the players and coach of FunPlus Phoenix sat for an interview with the press in the media room.

(To Doinb) You were the ‘enemy’ of today’s match in the venue. Everyone was cheering for Fnatic. How did you feel playing in this kind of environment?

Doinb: I was fine. When we play in the LPL, the fans usually cheered for the opponent team, so we were used to it; it was alright.

Your champion pool is quite different compared to other mid laners. Do you have a different viewpoint on the game from others?

Doinb: I don’t know the viewpoint of other mid laners, but I play the game to win. I can play any champion if it means that we win.

There still are many strong teams left in the tournament. Is there any team that you’re wary of and how do you think you’ll do against IG?

GimGoon: Against TheShy, if I'm not crushed in lane, we should be able to win the game. And now, we're in semifinals. I think every team is about the same.

(To Coach WarHorse) Did you expect Fnatic to pick Garen-Yuumi again and do you think it’s still strong?

WarHorse: In the previous match today between IG and Griffin, everyone was able to see Garen-Yuumi played out on stage. Before the games, we thought a lot about how to counter this composition from Fnatic because it's one of their most confident compositions. We actually prepared a lot of strategies; we still have more counters against this. After a lot of contemplation, people have realized it isn't as strong as it seems.

You know a lot about IG. Do you think IG is better than they were doing in the LPL season?

LWX: Against IG, I just feel it depends on their performance. If they're performing well, it's very hard to beat them, but if they're not performing so well, then we can beat them.

(To Doinb) Your wife is becoming famous to the LoL fans on the scene. Can you talk about how special it is for you for her to be here, how she helps you prepare for games, cheering you on?

Doinb: She comes to the stadium during the regular season and in playoffs in the LPL as well. This time in Europe, she does come over more regularly interact with the fans and with the players. Sometimes she brings us food, cheer us. I think it's really good.

I'm wondering if the western teams are really getting stronger or if eastern teams are just letting some games go sometimes, just being a bit sloppy. The hype in Europe is really big for this Worlds, but now FNC is out, G2 has a pretty hard game as well as Splyce. Do you believe Europe is getting stronger or is it just for the time being?

WarHorse: I think EU is getting noticeably stronger and the three most competitive regions would be LCK, LPL, and LEC. 

How do you think the difference is when you play against teams from the west?

Doinb & WarHorse: LoL has developed for a lot of years and we've been watching EU grow and try to learn from what they have been doing. For European teams, I think their picks & bans are very creative. They're very experimental and very bold at going after different strategies. But compared to eastern teams, eastern teams are much stronger in terms of early game tempo and the connection between the junglers is a lot stronger. For the LCK and the LPL teams, the position of the jungler is always very important.