TLAW Yeon: “You can only pray. God has not abandoned us yet. Let’s see how it goes.”

Q: Thoughts on C9’s roster changes? You’ll have to face them once you’re back in NA.

Yeon: Wow … They got some money, eh? That’s crazy. Four coaches, seven players — that’s a lot of money. In this economy? God damn!

Usually I do think having an extra sub or [6th man] players is quite good, but I’m not too sure about this one. I did think that APA played quite well overall, besides like the Finals [weekend], so it does feel quite weird — and quite bad, I think. But it happens, I guess. 

And then I did think that, if they’re going to make a change, I thought they definitely [wouldn’t] just stick to a 7 man roster; [I thought] they would do a 6-man. So, that’s even stranger for me. But overall, I do think that the idea is not, like, the worst thing in the world.

Q: A couple of years ago, when TL was drawn into T1, Pyosik famously said, “God has abandoned us, but we will enjoy it.” Is this how you’re feeling once again?

Yeon: I wouldn’t say that’s how I’m feeling — at the moment, anyway. I think there are a lot of chances to come back and play [for a] win in this kind of meta. Like, I think the dominance between the LCK and LPL from, like, 2022 to 2023 was massive compared to now.

I think the gap is closing in, slower and slower. Especially with Brazil and other regions, I think the gap in League of Legends skills is eventually coming to a close — somewhat.

Q: That said, most people still see you as heavy underdogs going into—

Yeon: Oh, absolutely. If they don’t, that’d be crazy, you know?

Q: That means it’s pretty easy to defy expectations, right? Like, if you win a game, that’s pretty hype for NA fans.

Yeon: Yeah, I mean, it’s T1 at the start of the tournament, so maybe it’ll be easier — usually they need a couple series to ramp up, and then they’re pretty much unstoppable at that point. But, quite excited to play them. I think their bot lane is quite good. Very excited to play against them.

Q: Do you think Peyz and Keria are the best bot lane in the world?

Yeon: I don’t know if they’re the best bot lane, but this Peyz guy is one of the AD carries I actually regarded as one of the top AD carries in the role. I think he’s like top 2, top 3 for sure, from [my] eye test.

Q: And next to him, I assume you think Keria’s the best support in the world? Besides CoreJJ, of course.

Yeon: He’s quite good, yes.

Q: It feels like Keria and ON have gotten increasingly creative with champions like Anivia and Camille — Keria’s even been practicing Jax support. Historically, that’s not seen as Core’s strength. Have you guys branched into more unique supports or mage ADCs?

Yeon: To be honest, I think that Core always likes the unique style — like the champions that aren’t meta. You know how we played Poppy and Pantheon and invaded level 1? Stuff like that. I do think he enjoys those types of champions especially, so it wouldn’t be weird for us to play it, in my opinion.

And I do think that those champions are quite strong in the meta, so you might see it in the Play-In stage for sure. I think that in LCK especially, it was even played in Game 1, 2, 3 — the mage bot with the crazy supports.

Q: Do you have a read on Caliste? You’re likely to face him at some point in the Play-Ins.

Yeon: To be honest, I don’t watch LEC that much. I watched, like, a couple of their games. I thought they were not bad. Caliste, [since] last year, I think that he was quite good mechanically, so I’m excited to see how it is playing versus him if I do end up meeting him.

Q: Have you considered or prepped for the eventual KC matchup? Or is the team, for now, locked in on T1?

Yeon: Mainly locked in on T1, but I did watch a couple other games, but just standard, I think. Not much to look at.

Q: Have you had the opportunity to scrim any top teams?

Yeon: I don’t think we scrimmed any top teams yet. And to be honest, this is one of the shortest internationals I’ve ever been to, in terms of practice time. Maybe it’s because I’m in Play-Ins, but there’s actually not much time.

We only had the LCS finals, what, a week and a half ago, maybe two weeks? Right? So I think this is, like, the shortest break I’ve ever gotten before an international stage.

Q: Does that feel like a concern?

Yeon: [Not quite] a concern. It feels a little bit odd. It doesn’t feel normal.

Q: If you’re not scrimming LCS teams and couldn’t book the powerhouse teams at MSI, who are you scrimming? Without being too specific.

Yeon: I mean, we’re just scrimming teams that aren’t at MSI because we qualified a little bit later than other teams, so a lot of teams are booked. [But] we are scrimming Tier 1 teams, mainly.

Q: Which player would you like to do a jersey swap with, if you could?

Yeon: I don’t know. I already have one scheduled but I’m not sure if I’m allowed to say it, to be honest.

Q: Well then, setting that aside, who would you want to jersey swap with? Or just bump into at the hotel? You speak Korean, but I feel like you’re not the type to start up a conversation randomly.

Yeon: Probably not. And I think we’re on different floors this time as well, so… If I had to pick one, maybe it would be like… maybe Peyz, yeah. I’d maybe do Peyz.

Q: Have you, as a team, discussed resetting and finding your footing after the brutal result in Finals? It can be tough to bounce back from a 3-0 in an arena.

Yeon: Yeah, I mean, to be honest, we haven’t had a conversation like that deep, but we do think that we’ve played quite weird.

But I do think that a lot of the early games started quite poorly, in my opinion. I think a lot of the games were at a significant disadvantage starting from like the 1st and 2nd dragon teamfights — around that timing. Even [around] scuttle crab.

So I think we just played with a lot of disadvantages compared to how we usually play. Usually when we play, we get a lot of advantages through individual performances — like in the C9 series, our solo laners just solokilled them, and then we started with just an insane lead.

It just sucks that we started with a disadvantage. I think that’s mainly how I see it.

Q: Last question. Any message of hope for NA fans?

Yeon: Well, you can only pray. God has not abandoned us yet. Let’s see how it goes.

Header Image Credit: Riot Games