On the 1st (KST), DRX took on Afreeca Freecs on day 32 of the 2020 LCK Summer split. DRX was able to take down AF with a set score of 2-0. While the games themselves looked pretty even throughout both games, DRX was able to seize each opportunity they had to inch over AF and defeat them.

The support player for DRX, Keria, was named Player of the Game for his superb Alistar gameplay in game 2. However, he was dissatisfied with his gameplay overall, and his sulk expression on camera for his POG interview became the talk of the community.

The following is Inven’s exclusive one on one interview with Keria.

Congratulations on the 2-0 victory. How do you feel?

If we lost, we would’ve been in a pretty rough spot, so it feels good to win. However, there are a lot of things that I’m dissatisfied with, and I need to work on them.

Game 1 looked very even throughout the game. Were there moments when the team felt like they were in danger?

We got the type of team composition that won us many games in the split, so we were full of confidence. While the early game went in our favor, we died meaningless deaths in the late game, so we were flustered.

How does it feel when things go the way you planned during a set?

It doesn’t tilt me in any way. I’m always just thinking about what to do next.

What was your mindset in facing AF?

During the split, I never went into a game thinking we’re going to win. However, after our loss against DAMWON Gaming, our scrims didn’t pan out the way we wanted, and since AF was playing well recently, today was the first time that I thought we might actually lose. We were more careful than before, and glad we beat them.

During your POG interview on broadcast, it looked as if you were more motivated than ever. Did anything change in your resolution?

Our performance has gone down quite a bit recently, and our performance did not properly reflect our top place in the standings, so not only were we shaken up, we also didn’t want to disappoint our fans. We just wanted to work harder to improve. However, we made a lot of mistakes, so the disappointment in myself reflected in my facial expression.

We have to talk about the loss against DWG. What kind of feedback did cvMax give the team?

DWG did well to counter the draft we prepared in game 1, so we decided to go with our Plan B. In the transition of things, there were some picks that we didn’t plan to pick. Game 2 was just us not playing well on a fundamental level. We just didn’t play well, so we lost. In the feedback after the match, we told ourselves to remember our fundamentals and not get complacent.

Can you explain more about what it means to stick to the fundamentals?

It means that we have to remember the very basics of the team game. Recently, we haven’t been sticking to them. While our team atmosphere is quite bright at the moment, there’s a lot more content in our feedback than before, so things have gotten more detailed and strict. The feedback was more gentle and from the players’ perspective before. Now, the shift in the direction of the feedback is to prevent the fact that we can lose from making the same mistakes.

Does the shift in the direction of the feedback helping the players out a lot more?

It’s helping everyone on the team.

It must’ve been quite a shock for the mid laner of the team, Chovy, as well. As his teammate, what do you think?

While I don’t think he was tilted on an individual level, all five of us felt completely out of it, because we got completely demolished. We gathered for feedback after the match, and went straight into solo queue for hard, but fun practice. We got over that feeling pretty quickly.

They say that you learn a lot from your losses, so what did you learn from that loss?

Afterwards, I thought that because we were on the top of the standings, we all might’ve unconsciously got complacent. It served as a good occasion to pick ourselves up and practice harder. Right back from the basics.

Can you tell us what DRX needs to improve as a team?

If you look at the top teams right now, they may not have gotten the perfect draft they wanted, but they won a lot through skill difference. However, for us, when the draft doesn’t go the way we want, we just crumble. Just like the other top teams, we need to overcome the draft losses through individual prowess, and we want to start doing so with the mid-bottom tier teams.

Interestingly, people say that DRX players are very mechanically skilled. It seems that a lot more lies within the draft.

I think the players depended on the draft a lot more. You can win or lose in draft, so I think individual skills on a fundamental level are far more important.

Lastly, a word to your fans.

Despite being a 1st place team, I think our fans must’ve been very disappointed in our crushing defeat against DWG. We’ll make sure to improve and live up to the expectations of a 1st place team. Thank you for all your continued support.

Can you send a message to your teammates and cvMax as well?

To my teammates… It’s really great to see them all working hard, so I’ll make sure to work harder to end this year on a high note.

I want to say the same thing to cvMax as well. In recent days, there have been many instances where he and the players had clashes of opinions, but now that we’ve found our direction, let’s work towards finishing this year strong.