On the 25th of July (KST), SKT T1 (SKT) defeated bbq Olivers (BBQ) 2:1.

With Faker on the bench for 2 consecutive games, SKT used Pirean for their starting mid laner. On game 1, SKT earned first blood when BBQ attempted a top dive. This advantage they  earned on top lane led to their victory. BBQ managed tie the series on game 2. With Tempt’s solo-kill against Pirean, the team dominated the game and secured a win.

The last game for the series, game 3 was competitive. With only sharing 1 kills each, the game was pretty much even until the 13-minute mark where SKT won a teamfight near mid. They soon destroyed the bottom tier 1 turret and started to snowball throughout the game. Although it did take quite long, they slowly gained points and closed down the game near the 30-minute mark.

After the match, SKT’s Blank and Pirean were interviewed by OGN.

Q. What are your thoughts on today’s win?

Blank: We did lose game 2, but we won the match and I feel happy.

Q. You just seem so excited about performing today. How do you feel?

Pirean: It was a tough match. I feel so happy that we’ve won.

Q. Although you did play LeBlanc a lot, you might have felt pressure on using her in an official match. How did the team pick her for this series?

Pirean: I was confident about using LeBlanc since I used her a lot in recent scrims. (Q. You lost a solo queue yesterday where you gained 20 kills with LeBlanc.) I lost the game since I was the only one to perform well. (laughs)

Q. Fans say that SKT shouldn’t use traditional ADCs since the team lost a lot using them. How do you feel about this?

Blank: I’m not really sure, but we did win more using ‘non-ADCs’, so I think I’ll need to think about that a bit more.

Q. Who’s the best player in solo queue? Or, which player do you want to meet as a teammate in solo queue?

Blank: (thinks for a long time) Um… I think Effort since he talks a lot while playing solo queue.

Q. Did you predict the opponent’s top dive in game 1?

Blank: I remember that I saw an opponent champion near mid. That’s when I thought that they were planning a top dive.

Q. You seem to know exactly when to join up with the team. When you play, do you focus a lot on teamwork?

Pirean: I try to know where my teammates are and if they need back up, I join right away.

Q. About your LeBlanc perfromance near the Baron pit on game 3, how did you manage to play that aggressive? Did you have trust on Effort’s Tahm Kench?

Pirean: I engaged because I didn’t see myself getting killed. It was almost impossible to die.

Q. SKT used a lot of aggressive picks today. Did the team decide that aggressive picks are better?

Blank: We used a lot of tank champions in our previous matches. But, you know, we needed change. My teammates and I used aggressive champions in order to give change to the team.

Q. Bang and Pirean have the same name, Jun-sik. You and Bang might be confused. Can you share a fun episode on this?

Pirean: When our coaches say, “Hey, Jun-sik!” Bang and I both get confused. That’s why they call us by our full names.

Q. Are you confident on your remaining matchups?

Blank: My ultimate goal is to qualify for Worlds. I’ll do my best fulfill that. Thank you.

Q. It was your first on-stage interview. How do you feel?

Pirean: It is good to win. But, our future schedules will be tough. We’ll try our best to win our remaining matchups.