On March 19th (KST), ROX Tigers defeated Afreeca Freecs 2-0 in the second matchup of Day 35 LCK Spring Split 2017, held at Gangnam Nexon Arena. Taking a departure from their past high-risk strategy, ROX based their plays on solid intelligence to take a clever approach to new ways to macro.

Below is the post-match press interview with Sangmyeon “Shy” Park.

How do you feel about the today’s victory?

If we lost this match against Afreeca, team morale would’ve taken a huge hit. Today’s win was meaningful to us in that we could still turn it around even when things are looking grim. Now that there’s still a chance to for us in the post-season, and I’ll push myself even harder.

Your plays were clean for both games. How were today’s games different from the previous ones?

Our strategy to take dominance in all lanes paid off. Since it’s a tournament setting, we also gave our all to concentrate on our plays and were able to play the macro games well without crumbling under pressure.

Players prefer Nautilus over Shen these days, and the general consensus is that Nautilus offers more to the team than Shen does. Despite those claims, you chose to go with Shen in Game 1. Could you give some tips on how to play Shen?

I often play Shen in solo queue and scrims. There are generally two reasons Shen loses without putting up much fight. One reason is when he’s tied up at the top while being pushed constantly. The other one is when there’s no champion that can follow up on Shen. That’s why I consider coordination and covers from the team before I decide on a comp. In today’s series, I used Shen because Nautilus gets to be in an unfavorable position as the time goes on against Shen. Also, it was to suppress Marin’s roaming capacity.

Mightybear successfully stole Dragon in Game 1 when you were split pushing top. What was the voice comm like at the time?

Actually, we didn’t quite make our minds about the situation. We were outnumbered four to five in contesting for Dragon. I thought we were favored to win the teamfight if I joined, but I kept split pushing since there was no shotcalling. Then Mightybear said he could steal Dragon. So, I played according to his judgment, and he indeed stole Dragon. Everything just worked out.

Baron attempt was much cleaner compared to previous matches. Whose shotcalling was it?

ADC and mid was spot on today when it came to Baron shotcalling. Since Mickey was on Taliyah, he could isolate the enemy while we comfortably take Baron. I think that’s why we were able to easily take Baron in Game 2. We decided to start on Baron in Game 1 because the opponent was preoccupied with Dragon, giving us ample time to take Baron down. I think it all worked out in the end.

What are your thoughts on AD Kennen vs Jayce matchup in Game 2?

Whoever gets a cover play from the jungler in this kind of matchups has an upper hand. I was ganked first in my case, so the fire was right at the doorstep. I guess the team put on emphasis on the top because ignoring this fire makes the late game macro difficult.

What’s your mindset for the remaining games in the season?

Our showings are polarizing to say the least, but we all played well today. I think we may increase our chances of going to the post-season if we continue to play like how we did today.

Anything else you’d like to say?

Our head coach was under the weather recently, and the team morale suffered without him. Fortunately, he recovered after getting shots and taking medication, and so did the team’s atmosphere. I’d like to tell him to take care of himself for the sake of the team. [laughs]