On the 16th of June (KST), Griffin defeated bbq Olivers (BBQ) with a score of 2-1.

Griffin, again showed some concrete performance in teamfights on game 1. Although they gave away the first blood to BBQ, Griffin recovered by slaying the Drake. Soon they managed to win a few skirmishes/teamfights and gradually gained advantage. BBQ did put up a fight, but it clearly seemed that they were having a hard time stopping Ornn and Alistar. Eventually, Griffin secured the Baron buff. They started pushing through BBQ’s Mid lane and quickly closed down the game.

Game 2 rather seemed one-sided for BBQ. They had an advantage on every lane, pressuring Griffin throughout the game. Griffin clearly had a hard time advancing forward. Although BBQ was dominating the game by destroying the inhibitor, Griffin still was exceptional in teamfights; BBQ had to fall back for their third Infernal Drake. With the 24% AP/AD boost, they finally succeeded advancing near Griffin’s Nexus and secured their win.

Both teams did put up quite a competition on game 3. The game went favorable to Griffin near BBQ’s Top tier 2 turret. With Aatrox gaining a kill, Griffin quickly snowballed. They were able to win a 4 vs 5 fight near Bot lane; Griffin’s Aatrox managed to freely push through Top. Eventually, the team managed to win series of fights and destroyed BBQ’s Nexus.

After the match, Viper and Sword were interviewed by OGN.

Q. It’s your birthday! Was there a ‘birthday buff’?

Sword: Not really. It would have been frustrating if I lost… Well, I can’t imagine having a ‘defeat’ for my birthday present.

Q. You managed to survive numerous fights with your Ryze. Was it about your reflexes?

Viper: I have to stay focused at all times even if I do have the reflexes since Ryze is a champion that can be killed quite easily. I have to play like a ‘machine’.

Q. How can you survive in fights that easily?

Viper: As an ADC/Marksman, I know the consequences of dying. My priority is to not die.

Q. Griffin is now on a 3 game winning streak. Well, there’s an interesting data about the team: Griffin did not lose a single match in 2018. Are you guys aware of this?

Viper: We didn’t lose yet, so I’m kind of afraid of losing since it might have a negative impact on our mentality.

Q. Do you even remember your past defeats?

Sword: It’s hard to remember my past defeats.. Well, I don’t even remember what I’ve done on tonight’s match.

Q. Before initiating a teamfight, do you believe that the team can win?

Sword: We always plan on what we’ll do before initiating a fight. Our coach focuses on those details as well.

Viper: After game 2, our coach said that we did put up a fight, but lost because of our champion composition. He was quite serious on this after game 2. I always learn a lot for him. Well, I thought that things might have been different if I didn’t pick a ADC champion.

Q. The team lost using a ‘traditional’ ADC champ, Lucian and won by using a mage champ. Does this reflect the current League meta?

Viper: When I picked Lucian, it was so hard to put up a fight against the opponent champions. I think ADC champions became difficult to use these days.

Q. You dived and killed the opponent with your Aatrox. Was it planned all by yourself?

Sword: It’s not just all by myself, but it’s from the team. If my teammates confirm I engage right away. The team made clear calls, so it was easy for me.

Q. Weren’t you surprised by the Evelynn pick? Was there a counter for it?

Viper: We weren’t really surprised. Actually, it doesn’t make sense for us to get caught off guard when going against those surprise picks. There are those basics in LoL; we thought that as long as we go through the basics, we’d win.

Q. Why did you let the opponent pick Taliyah Jungle? Did you trust ‘Tarzan’?

Viper: We knew that Taliyah Jungle is OP. However, the team was confident on the matchup. We didn’t think that Tarzan lacked performance compared to the opponent Jungler.

Q. Can you elaborate on the team’s two Mid laners?

Sword: ‘Rather’ and ‘Chovy’ has different styles. Rather is clear on calls and he uses the Jungler fairly well. On the other hand, Chovy is more reliant on his good reflexes.

Q. Who has better reflexes? Is it Chovy are you?

Viper: He is younger than me… Still, I’m confident. I have good reflexes as well.

Q. The team is on a winning streak. You guys are on 1st place. Any words?

Viper: I want to thank the fans for their support. I also want to thank my head  coach and Rather. They stood up for the team when we were going through a hard time.

Sword: I want to thank my head coach since he let me pick Aatrox, which I wasn’t able to prepare a lot. I want to thank my fans for having faith in me and I’d like to thank my parents for their support as well.