Hanwha Life Esports open the MSI bracket stage as the LCK first seed, facing Secret Whales — the LCP first seed — on July 3. After winning Road to MSI and arriving as one of the clear favourites, Lee "Gumayusi" Min-hyeong sat down with RFT.GG to talk about the team's rise, his synergy with Zeus, the symbolic torch Uzi handed him at Worlds, and his advice for Western bot laners.
I believe our team just needed some time, and I had really strong confidence that we could do well and play really well. I was always pretty confident about it.
Being considered a strong favourite is not something I'm not used to. So I'm pretty confident, and we came here to win. I hope we can play up to the expectations.
Yeah, I believe I'm pretty good at pulling off that role I'm given.
Hanwha Life also has a very strong top side, so if I'm playing that low-resource, losing-matchup, weak-side role, the return coming from that strategy or playstyle is even bigger.
I think that's also part of the image of how we're perceived by people around us. But honestly, Hanwha Life doesn't really play every game in that one specific style.
What I can say for sure is that me and Zeus have really good synergy and teamwork, and pretty decent synergy with Delight and Kanavi too.
Considering the amount of time we had to build that teamwork, I think we built it pretty fast, and that led to a really good performance.
Uzi was always one of my role models in the past.
So when I heard he'd be awarding the finals MVP, I was like — 'I wish I'd be the one getting the trophy from him.'
So I was really happy. I'm just grateful and happy to find out that the fans also saw that moment in such an iconic and symbolic way.
First off, it feels great to participate in an international event as part of Hanwha Life for the first time. And I'm looking forward to seeing how T1 performs on the international stage as well.
But I'm very confident in international-event Gumayusi.
So I'm pretty sure I'll be able to put up a great performance. I think we're going to have a great match together.
I believe botlane is mostly all about understanding and knowledge of champion matchups and drafting. Once you have lane priority, you'll be able to pull off a lot of different plays. So I think doing a lot of research and studying really matters.
[In english]: Thank you for supporting me. I'm winning the MSI. Thank you.
A rapid-fire round to close out — yes/no answers, with optional context.
You're the best ADC in the world right now. → Yes.
And the best in history. → Yes, I will be.
Your Miss Fortune skin is the best skin ever made for a pro player. → Yes.
Hanwha Life will end BLG's golden road. → Yes.
Peyz is the second best ADC in the world right now (this year). → Yes.
EU win Worlds one day. → Maybe.
You're the best singer in HLE. → Yes.
W interview du ADC goat