LYON Reignover after sweeping G2: "I think we're just playing smarter"
LYON have knocked G2 out of MSI. A 3-0 sweep in the lower bracket sends the LCS first seed through and ends the run of a G2 side that had just eliminated T1. RFT.GG spoke with LYON head coach Kim "Reignover" Yeu-jin after the win to talk about the confidence behind the upset, LYON's leap since First Stand, Dhokla silencing the doubters, and HLE waiting next.
You just stomped G2 3-0 — I'd call it an upset, but I'm curious to hear your take. How are you feeling?
I'm definitely feeling very great. I think people can call it an upset — the majority expected us to lose, because G2 showed a pretty good performance against T1 in the match just before. But I think today we also performed really well. So yeah, very happy.
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On your side, were you expecting that scenario? Were you confident coming into this series?
We were pretty confident coming into the series. In the T1 series, G2 played really, really well, of course — but at the same time, I think T1 kind of collapsed themselves as well. And when we scrim against the Asian teams in general, we were doing decently well, and against G2 we also had pretty fine games. So overall, we expected coming into today that if we play our game well, we have a good chance of winning.
LYON at First Stand didn't look like the same team as today. Do you see the team as much better than it was then?
Even at First Stand, I think we had a pretty good idea as a team of how we want to play the game. But we were getting punished in a lot of areas where we usually didn't get punished, so it was pretty hard to adjust. Also, a few of our players were at their first international, so there was that too.
But coming into this tournament, we were more ready as a team and we expected what was coming.
It was easier to adjust, and we're performing pretty well. I think our current form is pretty good.
You've been through a lot of NA versus EU battles. I could hear you screaming on every play from backstage — and this is your first time as a head coach in an NA versus EU match. Did this one feel special?
Yeah i'd say so — it's an important match for sure. But I usually get very excited watching any game — it's not that I'm shouting or screaming just because it's NA versus EU. It'd probably be the same tomorrow, or even in an LCS game. I always shout when our players make a good play. I'm very happy, I'm very excited — I just can't hold myself.
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Dylan said in an interview that G2 play much better into teams that play a controlled game and that aren't too explosive in early. Was that the key today to make them bleed from the early game? You looked very aggressive.
We had some pick-bans where we should — or can — play an aggressive early game. But I wouldn't say we approached the series as "oh guys, we have to snowball the early game." We're pretty happy to face them in the mid game, in teamfights, anything against G2, because I believe our carries are really good even in mid-game fights.
Even in the LCS you were known for being very good in the mid game, around objectives. But the feeling was that you weren't that aggressive early. At this tournament, even against BLG, you've been very aggressive from the early game. Is that the biggest step this team has taken here?
We have our own tier list, and we just play according to our pick-ban and our spike. It could be before, because we played champions that spike a bit later, we could play a little safer; now, maybe on this patch or recently, we're playing more early-spiking comps. So we're just playing our win condition, trying to play smart. For example, if G2 put a lot of numbers on an objective very early, showing they're heavy there, there's no reason for us not to take the advantage. It always depends on the pick-ban and how the enemy plays.
I think we're just playing smarter.
Photo Credit: Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games
You've played only one AP bot laner this tournament, and it was Ziggs. Is the mage meta not as mandatory as people think, or is that just Berserker's comfort?
I do think mage bots are very strong if the ADC side can't snowball the early game. In the really late game, the ADC still spikes really well — but especially from the dragon to the 20, 25-minute mark, at two or three items, mages are able to do a lot of things: strong in teamfights, self-sufficient, a lot of tools. Especially with a lot of strong top-side picks coming up, you can also send their supports top side. So you have a lot of advantages. But I don't think it's mandatory. There's a decent answer to it — even the Tristana game we ran on stage, I think that was a pretty good answer. And if we fight a little better and are a bit more confident on our spikes, I think we would have won that game.
Dhokla so far at this MSI shat down the doubters, outperforming two of the most creative top laners in Pun and BrokenBlade, who love to counter pick. Did you expect him to perform that well, and what can you tell us about his growth this year?
Dhokla always delivers when it comes to important games.
My trust in Dhokla is very high. I believe he's always going to deliver on the good days, the important days — and today he delivered, so I'm very happy.
Photo Credit: Liu Yicun/Riot Games
It's HLE next, and they've also 3-0'd G2. What do you expect from that match?
It's going to be tough for sure. The lanes might not be easy compared to other games, and even when we get through lane, there might be a struggle in teamfights too. So we just have to do what we did today — our performance was really good, we executed our pick-ban really well. Tomorrow we'll have our own tier list again, we'll draft toward it, we'll have a comp. As long as our players play like today, knowing our win condition and playing toward it, and being more ready in late-game teamfights than we were in the BLG series, I think we have a chance.
Do you think relieving your players from the pressure of facing Asian top teams could be key to actually winning?
Not sure. There'll be some level of pressure, but looking at today — you should also feel a lot of pressure today, because so many people were keeping an eye on the match — I didn't really felt that the players were nervous or playing differently because of the pressure. Even against BLG, I don't think it was pressure either; it was more us not knowing exactly how much stronger we were. So I'm not expecting pressure to affect us that much. If it affects us, it's just going to be the skill level.
Photo Credit: Riot Games
Any words for the fans before we close out?
Thank you for cheering for us today. We did it — we won the NA versus EU battle, so I'm very satisfied. Tomorrow we play against one of the best teams in the world. Make sure you cheer for us. We'll try our best to put on a good showing.
