On May 10, the LCS representatives Evil Geniuses faced off against G2 Esports in fourth match of day one at MSI 2022. In this classic battle between NA vs EU, G2 were the ones to emerge victorious from the first match, and pick up against NA. The rematch between giants of the LCS and the LEC will take place  on day two, in the first match of the day.

After their clash, EG's top laner Jeong “Impact” Eon-young sat down with Inven Global to share his thoughts on the match against G2.

What are your thoughts on facing G2 tonight? What went wrong?

I don’t think we played terribly, but we definitely played worse than G2 tonight. From our macro, skirmishing to teamfighting, we definitely played worse than we did in NA.

Before we talk about the game, how did it feel to play on stage in Korea after so long?

A lot of the Korean fans left after T1 played, so I wouldn’t say that I really felt the energy of the Korean crowd again. However, hearing the voices of the Korean casters made me very nostalgic about my days in Korea.

In the first top gank, it felt like Inspired spent too many of his resources to try to catch Gwen. Can you tell me what the call was, and how you guys reacted after the failed gank?

That was actually my fault. Because Gwen didn’t take Ghost, we would’ve got her if I landed my flash-W on Gwen. It wasn’t Inspired’s fault.

At which point of the game did the game go wrong for EG?

I think it was during the first Herald fight. I said to the team that Gwen was split, so we should kill her, but Vulcan said that we can kill Pyke because he was a level up on him. We weren’t on the same page, and we didn’t play like we did during the LCS playoffs.

Tell me about EG’s scrim results. Which team surprised you in your scrims?

T1’s the best team by far, but we have yet to play RNG in scrims. As long as we shed our nerves, I think it’s winnable against the rest of the pack.

I talked to a lot of analysts about the MSI top lane meta, and they all said that Gangplank is a champion that’s top of their tier list after his buffs on patch 12.7. What are your thoughts?

Gangplank is a champion that’s dependent on how good the player is. He does have his counterpicks [ranged & heavy engage champions like Irelia], and also is reliant on the toplane -jungler 2 vs 2 matchup, so I don’t think he can be picked blind. However, I do agree that he’s a really good champion right now. I actually think I should’ve played GangPlank over Aatrox tonight.

I think confidence is very important in the current meta. What I mean by this is that if I played Aatrox into T1 Zeus’  Gwen, for example, I think I would’ve really struggled. Players like Zeus exert a lot of confidence, and he backs it up with his gameplay. I think that’s really important.

After your LCS finals victory, you stated that it doesn’t feel right for you to be called a world class top laner until you play well at MSI. What’s your goal at MSI this year?

At this current moment, my goal is to fix the mistakes that we made against G2 tonight. I think my personal goals have been cast aside to put my team first, I want us to play on the same page, while aiming high in the tournament. I think this is the correct mindset to have as a pro player.

As the veteran on EG, do you feel pressured to lead the younger teammates?

Not really. The whole age thing doesn’t really exist in the West. I think that my teammates feel more pressured than I do, and thus get nervous. My job’s to help them shed those nerves.

If EG makes it to the Rumble stages, you’ll get to face your former teammate, Faker. Is there anything you’d like to say to him?

First and foremost, I want to wish him a happy belated birthday. From the pros that played all the way back in 2012, he and I are the only ones left. Watching him create milestones in his career motivates me to want for more in my career as well.