Q: Anything fun happen in Korea? Any fun antics you guys got up to?
eXyu: I think the team got a lot closer. We had to share bedrooms. So I roomed with Castle, and Abbe had a room with ScaryJerry. I think just as a team, we spent literally twenty four hours a day together, like a family almost. We all just got a lot closer. […]
We went to the castle one day, and we all dressed up in the male hanboks and just walked around, and got a little bit of a history lesson from a tour guide. Nothing too crazy. Honestly, bro, we were just we were in that Gen.G basement the entire time, like we were locked in.
Q: You guys getting the LCK scrims or mostly CL?
eXyu: No, I don’t think any of the LCK teams were scrimming at the time. Or they just weren’t scrimming us.
Q: Jerry mentioned that you guys got along well but didn’t know eachother too well — that’s changed now?
eXyu: Yeah. I think it got a lot better. I agree that everyone was kinda pretty agreeable and just friendly at first. We just weren’t close, and I think as a team, you can’t just be friendly and peaceful all the time. You have to have that relationship to be able to be honest and push each other. And I think that’s one of the biggest parts of the Korea trip: We kinda built that relationship.
In review, instead of saying “Oh, I think you should do this.” It’s more demanding, and it’s more understanding that it’s not personal. We’re all close now. We’re all able to be honest, and I think that’s helping our team a lot. […]
You don’t wanna have the resentment build up because, truthfully, it’s normal to get frustrated. But if it just bottles up and builds up inside of you, it becomes something that’s harder to manage. You start losing trust in your teammates, or just getting more angry at their little mistakes, because of their previous ones. And I think if you’re able to let it go, and be honest/understand that the other person is working on it, then I think the environment is just better.
Q: Has your assessment of where the team should be strength wise changed now after this boot camp?
eXyu: We’re closer to where our form should be. I think the first split was just so fast that no one really got fully into form. […] I would say the expectation is to fight for the top four. Just try to get in. I think LTA has pretty big skill gaps: The top two teams are are significantly ahead of the third team, and then there’s a gap between the top four and the the bottom four.
But I think our goal this way is just to make sure that we can compete, get into the top four, and then maybe push for more if we’re depending on how our practice goes
Q: Don’t you think DIG and LYON look stronger than expected?
eXyu: The DIG one is a crazy read, bro. Like, they’re so bad. It’s like actually insane. […] That team is gonna explode. And, honestly, I think Keine is the bright spot on that roster for sure.
Q: You think they’ll mental boom?
eXyu: I mean, look at their players, bro. Like, they have Srtty, Sheiden, Tomo, and Isles. That roster, if they can survive as five till the end of the year, I’ll be impressed. Also I just don’t think they’re good.
Like, everyone was saying that, “Oh, this is the bottom 4 team that’s gonna make it out.” And truthfully, our series against them should have been a quick 2-0 with no problems at all. We completely shut them in the first game.
Q: What about LYON? Saint and Hena seemed quite strong.
eXyu: Yeah, I agree with that. Saint and Hena are both really, really solid players. I can agree with that. […] But when we scrim against them, I feel like we’re we’re able to compete. Truthfully, when we scrim, the only team that we really, really struggle with is FlyQuest. Even [against] TL when there was lane swaps, I think we were doing pretty well against them. I’ve I said on the PROS, […] but we would go even with TL in scrims most days.
I think that’s the goal. Try to get out of the bottom four. And, obviously, words are just words, so it’s up to us to to beat DIG, beat LYON, and show that we belong in the top four.
Q: Do you have a message for Toast?
eXyu: I mean, shout out to Toast. He’s a great boss. You know, he met us in Korea, and we just talked again. And, honestly, his faith in the team is awesome. […] He’s very involved in the team, and it’s cool to see a boss that’s so passionate about the game. He watches a lot of our scrims, and he just, like he’s very supportive.
I think a lot of bosses in LTA are like “You have to win now. You’re not winning, what are you doing?”. But I think he understands that it’s gonna be a process, and he just believes in the vision. So it’s cool to have that support from your boss.
Q: Have you guys talked about streaming scrims?
eXyu: Not yet. I think we mentioned I think they mentioned that we might scrim one block a week. But I don’t know. […] Personally, [it’s] fine. Like, truthfully, I think if I was a top team, I would not wanna stream scrims. But there’s more benefit in me pushing for streamed scrims, because I’ll get to watch C9, TL, and FLY scrim. And truthfully, I don’t think they’re gonna really watch us scrim. I think there’s more to be gained from our side.
So, I’m all for streaming scrims. [As a jungler], it’s just good to see. Because I think for jungle, especially, it’s hard sometimes to understand the value that a different jungler brings to a team, because […] there’s so much little stuff that they’re doing that maybe I’m not or all the micro details that they’re thinking about. It’s just cool to kinda get an inside look at their whole thoughts.
Q: Last question. It’s pretty crazy for your team to keep you on the team for more than one split: How does it feel to stick together with DSG?
eXyu: I mean, obviously, I’ve had some unfortunate situations: Coming into LCS, then leaving, and coming back, and leaving again.
I do think, for me, it means a lot to have a team that genuinely believes in me. All the players believe in each other and the management also believes in us. I think that feels like a really comforting feeling, but also a very motivating feeling; I don’t wanna let them down because they’re putting this faith in me. So, yeah, just a huge shout out to Toast and shout out to management.
Like, the fact that they kept the roster together for two splits, you know, as you said, I haven’t seen that before. So it’s really cool, and I’m just excited to play with them again.