GorillA stated that after returning from the Rift Rivals, he and his teammates have been working extremely hard to bring change.

On the 12th, at the Seoul OGN e-Stadium, the 20th day of the '2018 LCK Summer Split' took place. On the 2nd series of the day, Kingzone DragonX took a perfect 2-0 victory over MVP. During the series, GorillA contributed to his team's victory by playing Tahm Kench and Shen, champions who specialize in protecting its allies.

The following is an interview with KZ GorillA.

How do you feel after having taken that victory?

Before our game today, all the teams that have returned from the Rift Rivals lost their games... As a result, I felt a lot of pressure. I'm glad that we won 2-0. 


The 'Round 1' has come to an end. Are there any regrets?

In the beginning, I expected a very difficult 'Round 1' as we had a rough start this split. All the teams that we had lost to during this split placed relatively high in the standings, so with that said, I think we did a good job. We'll make sure to prepare thoroughly for 'Round 2' and place high in the standings.


Kingzone's stat has gone down significantly in the Summer when compared to the Spring Split. 

Before the start of every match, players' KDA and other stats are displayed on screen. Ours were always low. During Round 1, whenever our team lost, we lost helplessly. Even us, the players, feel devastated when seeing those stats. In the current meta, in order to snowball, you have to win teamfights through superior vision control. 

Since we played slowly with our macro, fights rarely occurred. I think that's why our snowballing has slowed down. 


Some fans have been stating that Griffin has a similar playstyle to that of the 'past Kingzone'.

Griffin prefers playing aggressive team compositions. In addition, they're very efficient in their ward placements. Griffin never wastes them -- they make sure to fully secure vision in the area that they want to fight in, and fight there. We can learn a lot from them. We'll do our best to win against them in the future. 


The LCK had made a disappointing result during the Rift Rivals. 

Our team had always left bad results when we competed in international tournaments. Prior to the start of the tournament, I saw this year's Rift Rivals as an opportunity for us to prove ourselves. However, we returned once again with disappointing results. That's when I realized that our team really needs to make urgent changes. Including the players and coaches, everyone in the Kingzone organization is doing their best to bring forth change. If we qualify for the World Championship, we'll do our absolute best and crush the curse that we have been carrying. After losing the 4th match during the Rift Rivals Finals, I felt the weight that was pressing down on the Afreeca Freecs players' shoulders. I cried. I became more determined through that experience.


Including Kled and Talon, Kingzone started playing new compositions. 

We're currently doing our best to try out many different things. Until you use it for yourself, you'll never know or understand how good a champion truly is. As for Kled, we fell to it during the Rift Rivals, so we knew that he was a great champion. We used Kled and Talon, fully anticipating that the enemy team was unfamiliar with them.


Recently, taking Smite and Hunter's Talisman as a midlaner is trending in the current meta. 

Taking that build will get you to level 2 before your lane opponent, allowing you to take the lead. Currently, that strategy is being analyzed and researched by many players, and in my opinion, if a counter strategy for it is found, it'll quickly become an inferior strategy. During a game, you won't get too much usage out of the Smite as a midlaner. A counter strategy will most likely be found when further analyzed. 


Your next opponent is Jin Air Green Wings.

JAG was a strong opponent for us every split. Even though they are pretty far down in the standings, I always wondered why, because they were such a strong team. In my opinion, JAG is a team with a strong blow -- I might have this opinion on them because JAG's Teddy is an extremely talented player. We'll do our best to not fall to that said strong blow. 


Aatrox is seeing close to no play, despite being strong in the current meta.

That's because he's always banned. I never faced him in lane because I'm a support player, but I think Aatrox should definitely be nerfed, fast. 


Any last words?

I have no excuses for our performance at the Rift Rivals. We'll put forth a ton of effort to once again become a strong team.