On day 26 of the 2021 LCK Summer split, T1 defeated kt Rolster 2-0 in the first match of the day. Despite the news of T1’s coaching staff being fired from the team just few hours prior to the match, T1 took a dominating victory against KT.

After the match, Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok joined the press room for a post-match interview.

Thoughts on the victory?

We had to beat KT to be closer to securing our playoffs spot, so I’m very glad that we beat them 2-0 tonight. I made a couple of mistakes, but overall, our teamplay was clean, so I’m pretty satisfied with our performance tonight.

How did you react when you found out when Daeny and Zefa were leaving the team?

After we heard the news, I presumed that everyone would upset, and they definitely still are. However, they kept their head in the game tonight, like pro players should do so, so I’m very grateful.

In today’s series, Oner subbed in for Cuzz. How was the mid-jungle synergy different with Oner? from when you were working with Cuzz?

I don’t think there’s anything I can say about it, since there are a lot of reasons why he started tonight.

T1 looked very clean against Gen.G, but faltered hard against NS RedForce. What are your thoughts on the team’s inconsistency?

Not only did we had a great early game against Gen.G, but our win conditions also lined up very well. However, against NS, those win conditions did not line up, and made a lot of mistakes in teamfights and with our macro. I think the inconsistencies come from those mistakes. 

From the perspective of team atmosphere, in-game directions, and just overall, how have things changed since Stardust and Moment took over the team as the primary coaching staff of the team?

Daeny/Zefa were very knowledgeable about the game, so the team’s direction was mostly based on their in-game knowledge. Now, the coaching staff and the players are acting more as a unit in finding our direction.

Right now, everyone’s very confused and upset, but from the day before our match to tonight, we all tried to focus on nothing else but the match. Internally, we’re trying to set the right atmosphere to focus on what’s in front of us.

In 2016, you drew a picture that depicted how your future will pan out in the coming years. If you look at the 2021 picture, you drew yourself holding the trophy up. Given the current state of the team, do you think that you’ll be able to achieve that goal, especially with such drastic changes in the middle of the split? Or do you take a step back to recalibrate for the long run?

Our team’s direction has changed quite drastically, and everything’s pretty hectic overall, so my level of confidence has definitely went down. However, if we can overcome our obstacles and move forward one step at a time, I think winning Worlds is definitely doable. 

Lastly, would you like to say anything to the fans, especially to those that are left confused by the decision that was made this morning?

It’s not my place to speak on the team’s internal situation, but one thing that’s certain is that Daeny & Zefa definitely provided us with a lot of in-game knowledge. There are a lot of reasons behind Daeny & Zefa’s departure, and I believe everyone has their perspective of the story, so I urge everyone to not make any wrong assumptions. Lastly, I want to thank Daeny & Zefa for all their hard work, and wish them the best.