On day 23 of the 2021 LCK Spring split, DRX faced off against T1 in the first match of the day. With a set score of 2-1, DRX defeated T1 and finished round 1 of the split in 4th place, with a 6-3 record.

Hong “Pyosik” Chang-hyeon, the jungler for DRX, joined Inven for a post-match interview.

How do you feel about ending round 1 in 4th place?

I’m very happy that we won the last match of round 1, especially because it was against T1.

The viewers were able to see how ecstatic the players were.

We’re all rookies, so every time we win, we all get very hyped. The fact that our hard work paid off filled up all of us with satisfaction.

There was a weird trend where you lost to teams with the former DRX players, but tonight, you won over Ryu “Keria” Min-seok.

When I was facing him, I learned just how good he is as a player. At the same time, I beat such a guy, so I was ecstatic.

In the series, it seemed like DRX wanted to play top-ccentric, while T1 looked to play bot-ccentric. In cases where the teams have a completely different game plan, the jungle influence becomes incredibly important. What was your game plan?

When I played Kindred, I was confident that I could carry, even if the set went to the late game. When I played Udyr, I focused on farming my camps, while actively seeking the enemy making mistakes.

The LCK analyst desk pointed out that T1 lost game 3 because of leaving top lane unattended. Thoughts?

From my perspective, I knew the game was going to be easy when T1 decided to invade late. However, even if they didn’t, I had a backup plan. If Olaf came into our jungle, I’d just go towards top side camps, or full clear, recall, and immediately gank top. Even still, I really wanted him to come into our side of the jungle.

Then, in scenarios like such, where should the jungler be playing around?

It’s easy to just get the advantageous lane ahead, and for us, it’s still easier for us to play around the top lane.

The community loves to talk about Udyr, whenever you pick him. Is it because you’re the original Udyr of S11 [Pyosik was the first player to pick it in the LCK]?

I’m...Not sure (laughter). I’m just good at running around while not managing to die.

Do you agree with the community consensus on rating the ‘Pyo-dyr’ to be the best of all Udyrs?

Everyone says so, so I agree.

How do you rate DRX’s round 1 performance?

Let’s say that we made 50 mistakes last year’s round 1. This year, it feels like we only made five. Not only that, we fully understand what those mistakes are, and the fact that I was able to improve to the fullest holds a lot of meaning. I feel that alongside Hanwha Life Esports and kt Rolster, we improved the most in round 1.

As the only member of the 2020 roster left on the team, you must feel very satisfied with the new players’ growth.

I realized that I can just let myself be carried by them and ride their bus. I thought that everyone else all became capable of doing so, and that I don’t always have to feel pressured to do the heavy lifting.

DRX’s first opponent of round 2 is Afreeca Freecs.

There are a lot of veteran players on that team, so we’ll have to keep working on honing our fundamentals.

Lastly, can you share your resolutions for round 2?

We got lucky in a lot of our round 1 matches, so in round 2, I’ll be happy with safely getting to the playoffs. My personal goal is to beat Kim “Canyon” Geon-bu at least once.