On March 17th (KST), in the 2018 LCK Spring Split, kt Rolster defeated bbq Olivers 2-1 and continued to fight for a higher rank on the leaderboard. Kim “Deft” Hyuk-kyu delivered steady performance through the match and contributed to the team victory.

The following is the interview with Deft.

Related: KT Score: "During the draft, I usually have the coaches pick what I should play."

Q. You’ve ended the losing streak. How do you feel?

Recently, the team atmosphere wasn’t that good. Although our performance wasn’t quite perfect, but It’s a relief that we won. Now we’ll have a brighter atmosphere.

Q. Why did you have a bad atmosphere?

We weren’t performing well in the competitions and we also had bad results in scrims. We were trapped in a vicious circle.

Q. You lost game 1 rather easily. How did you pull the team up together after the loss?

The early game didn’t go as intended. Still, we did endure well and even opened up a chance to turn it around even though we weren’t able to, we just tried to see the positive things we’ve done.

Q. Was that why you played more aggressively at top lane in game 2?

Since we didn’t do much in the early-mid game in game 1, we decided to play more aggressively from the draft to the play in game 2.

Q. You selected Stattik Shiv instead of Rapid Firecannon with Xayah. Was there any reason to that?

I thought that Stattik Shiv was more helpful than Rapid Firecannon during teamfights. The game wasn’t going that well so I selected it to put more stress on teamfights.

Q. In the other interview, your teammates said that game performance is more important than the rank.

I completely agree to that. If we are able to perform well, it doesn’t matter which rank we’re at to get to the postseason.

Q. You’ve changed your solo queue IGN to KTUnitedRolster. The team is emphasizing the keyword “united” recently. What’s the reason?

Compared to last year, the biggest change that occurred in our team was that we have good teamwork now, but recently, it felt like we’ve gone back to last year. So starting from the match against Kingzone, we say that ‘we are one’. We even had a field day a few days ago. I think it’s because we think that if we become united as one, good performance will follow.

Q. You must be regretful of the last match against Kingzone.

I’m really regretful of game 2. The draft comp was very good for me to carry but I made many mistakes on my own. I lost a lot of confidence. Even so, the coaches and teammates said it’s alright because it’s not like we lost in the postseason.

Q. You said that you made mistakes, but the performance was lacking compared to Kingzone. What do you think needs to be changed?

There are many little mistakes and minor miss-calls, and I think the role performing ability on given picks are a bit weaker than Kingzone.

Q. You played Kai’Sa often in solo queue. How is she?

Kai’Sa will be buffed and have longer attack range soon, but currently, her range is so short that she’s very passive in the laning phase. With the range patch, I think she’ll become a very good champion. She’s a champion that can do a lot if her laning becomes stronger.

Q. How’s the synergy with Ucal?

Ucal hasn’t played that much scrims yet. He has a wide pool of champions but there wasn’t enough time to build good teamwork.

Q. Do you have any last comments?

We didn’t have a good atmosphere recently, but we won today, so we’ll be changed and win all the remaining matches, and we’ll continue that momentum into the postseason.