DSG KryRa: “I just have to focus and, eventually, I should be better than these uncs.”
Q: It sucks that you’re from Canada. You and Zamudo just seem stuck.
KryRa: I’m not sure if [my situation is] at his level. I don’t think so. I think I should be good.
Q: Do you have any impressions of your team at this point? Like have you gotten to do much?
KryRa: No no because I think top and mid are still in Korea. I think Sajed got to LA like two days ago. I don’t know [about Lyonz].
Q: You know Sajed from before, right?
KryRa: Yeah, Sajed’s my boy. We played together, we went to Korea together.
Q: Did you know that Sajed was going to be on this team? Did that make you more likely to join?
KryRa: I don’t mind [the other players on the roster] honestly, like me personally, I don’t mind. He was one of the options. I think I knew it, but in my situation, I would just take what I can. I just go for it; I think it doesn’t matter.
Q: Historically, junglers have had a tough time adjusting to Tier 1 in NA. Have you felt that pressure, or prepared specifically for it?
KryRa: I think I’m ready for it. I think I’ve been ready for a while now, so I’m not going to be that kind of rookie jungler that [comes] in and [struggles because] the gap [is] too big. Honestly, I think that last year I could have started. I think maybe last year I would go in and get shit on. I think this year I’m going to be able to match, and I think by the end of the year I should be top tier, if I just — like I plan to — stay focused, grind hard and improve every day.
All of these top junglers, like you said, everyone knows their level. They’ve been playing forever and their gameplay is the same, you know, or even regressing, cause they’re getting older. [But] me, no one knows my peak; you don’t know when I’m going to stop. So I think I just have to focus and, eventually, I should be better than these uncs.
Q: Is there anyone specifically that you want to start beef with?
KryRa: No beef, no beef, but I’m excited to play against Inspired because honestly for three years, since EG when he was [first] came to NA, like I was always like watching him.
Q: Do you remember who your first-round opponent is?
KryRa: We’re playing Sentinels.
Q: How do you feel about that?
KryRa: Honestly, it’s one of the best first games we could have gotten, I think, because they are experienced players. You think they’re going to expose the team of rookies, but I think it’s a good moment for us to prove ourselves.
Q: Are you familiar with Hambak at all?
KryRa: I’ve never seen his games, but I [looked at] his solo queue games, his solo queue account, and his achievements in Tier 2 Korea and he seems like a decent player, just from the eye test.
Q: Do you have a player that you model your style after or that you watch a lot?
KryRa: For me, when I was really trying to learn, I made sure to watch every Oner, Canyon, and Inspired game. These were my top three last year. I guess Canyon was my first, but I think he was the first for everyone. And I watched Kanavi a lot as well.
Q: Doesn’t it make it hard to try and learn from other junglers if your laners aren’t at the same level?
KryRa: I think it’s true to an extent what you’re saying; sure, some junglers are in good teams, right? They have three winning lanes on these teams. [Not saying this is true, but] you know, Canyon, he’s insane — but he’s playing with Chovy, Ruler, so is he really insane?
But I think even if you’re on that team, you can’t really remove credit from the jungler [just because] he has winning lanes. He still knows what to do with these winning lanes, he’s not going to just be AFK or not doing anything.
And for others, if a jungler is good and has what it takes, he’s going to be able to carry a worse team. People say, “Oh, they’re getting pushed in,” but a good jungler can find angles and if you’re a clutch player, I think you can do it.
My biggest example is Tarzan, who I was watching three years ago. He was always on bad teams in the LPL and he was somehow always going to Worlds with them; he was bringing them to Worlds. Of course, at Worlds he couldn’t finish because he didn’t have the strongest players, but he was always bringing them to Worlds and doing well.
So I thought from then, like… You can always do something; It’s in your power [to have] impact as a jungler.
Q: Have you met Ido at all? Like, what do you think of Ido?
KryRa: Well, Ido is the one who put me on the map, you know, him, Kelsey Moser, and Razvan at EG. They were doing EG combines like three years ago and I was just a random solo queue player, playing Evelyn, Zac, and I started playing a little bit of Graves and Kindred; I didn’t really play many champs. They invited me to a combine and I got picked and went to LA. That’s when I first met Ido, so we’ve known each other for a while now.
They did another combine the next year and then at the SIDO combine, he was one of the coaches, too. He was supposed to be my coach on Pulsestar — you know, the team that unfortunately boomed. So me and Ido are really familiar and I think we’re going to work well together, I really respect him and I think he respects me as well.
Transcription help from @delfidotwav
Header Image Credit: Andrew White
