On the 10th of December, the Finals for the '2017 LoL ALL-Star 1:1 tournament' took place. The fight featured the 2015 ALL-Star champion, Bjergsen, and the 2016 champion, Uzi. Although the match ended with Uzi maintaining his title, Bjergsen climbed down from the stage gracefully with a bright smile. 

After the event, our team had the opportunity to speak with TSM's midlaner, Bjergsen.

Can you tell us how the All-Star could've gone better for you guys?

Obviously, I'd like to go further in the 5 vs 5. I think... our team, not even just with team practice, but everyone, in general, didn't practice leading up to this tournament. The tournament is right in the middle of the offseason, and most players compete in it for pride alone. For me, I prioritized spending time with my family, as this is the only time that I have to see them. I pretty much focus on being the best player I can be for the LCS season, and not as much for being the best player in the All-Star. 

Honestly, I feel like we should've gotten out of the group stage - because SEA played well, but in my opinion, we should've played even better.  

For the 1 on 1, I think Uzi is just really good. I practiced 1:1 with my teammates and players from other teams. And during my practice, no one played Kalista. The champion was changed so that she has less 'attack speed' without a support, so I thought, "she's not going to be too strong in a 1 vs 1." But Uzi's Kalista was too good. She was stronger than I had expected. 


You'll be starting with MikeYeung for the upcoming LCS Split. You've had a taste of playing with him during this event. How is he?

I think Mike had some good early game throughout this tournament, but he made some crucial mistakes, either from being nervous or... he even told me that he doesn't know how to play the game after 15 minutes into the game, when it comes to the mid-to-late game. That is because he hasn't been with a good team with a good coach and veterans that can help him improve his plays. He's a very strong player in regards to untapped raw talent, but he needs help from players who have been playing for a long time. 

Especially Ssong, after all these All-Star games, he talks with Mike for 30 minutes and watches his replays. Mike is already starting to learn a lot.

It'll be up to us to make him into an international-level player. Right now, he's just a player with raw talent, and he isn't refined enough to play at a Worlds stage.


Did you get closer to your All-Star teammates through this event? Also, out of your teammates, who was especially remarkable in terms of talent?

I already knew Hauntzer and Mike obviously because they live in the house with me. It was my first time meeting Ssong, so that was a lot of fun. Also, it was my first time playing with Sneaky at the All-Stars. I think Sneaky and Aphromoo were very close to what I expected. They both have great communication because they have been playing the game for so long. Everyone talks about how Aphromoo is a great shotcaller, and he does talk a lot in-game. 

I wasn't really surprised with anyone, they all had played how I expected. And about Mike, he's a guy that talks a lot in-game, and that's a good start because it's a lot easier to teach a player to talk about the right things than to teach a passive player to talk at all. 

My most "unexpected" experience was working with Ssong, especially with how confident and decisive he is. In reviews after scrims, he would talk to us and touch all the right points in the game. Obviously, we haven't had enough time to take all the information he's given and implement it into our game, but I'm really hopeful of working with Ssong for the next Season. 


Faker mentioned in an interview that Zoe needs to be nerfed because she's too strong at the moment. What're your opinions?

I think it's pretty obvious from the ALL-Star games that Zoe is really OP. She has been nerfed a little bit, but I don't think that was enough. You have to always be aware that Zoe is in your game because she can throw her 'E' across a wall - she doesn't even have to be in your screen for you to be hit by it. It's the same for her 'Q'. You can't react to it and side-step it. You basically have to guess if the enemy is a good Zoe player. It's a 50-50 chance whether it'll hit you or not, and when it does, it does too much damage. I don't think Zoe is "too OP" that you can't win against her, but the midlaners at All-Stars played her for only about 2-3 weeks. Imagine what they could do with Zoe if they play her for a couple of months.