On the 16th (KST), Afreeca Freecs (AFs) stacked 3 wins and qualified for the 2018 Worlds quarterfinals. 

The first few games definitely weren't satisfactory for this LCK representative. With the defending Worlds champion, Gen.G failing to get out of Groups, AFs had to put in a lot to bounce back. Fortunately, they brought their Groups round 1 to a successful conclusion by finishing their last round 1 match with a victory.

Using the signature LCK macro game, today, AFs succeeded to make their revenge against Flash Wolves. After defeating Phong Vũ Buffalos, they gained momentum and managed to avoid a possible tiebreaker by winning G2. 

After the game, we met up with AFs' veteran jungler, Spirit.

It must have been pressuring for the Afreeca Freecs players to see the defending champions Gen.G failing to survive from Groups. What was your mindset going into today’s games?

We are one of the teams that are representing the LCK. I thought that KT would feel so pressured if we also fail to get to the quarters. That’s why the entire Afreeca crew worked very hard to make that not happen; I think our hard work paid off.

In the first round of Groups, Afreeca Freecs seemed to underperform. What kind of feedback did Afreeca share?

The reason for our underperformance… We were simply so bad. Probably we would have lost against any team. I would like to say thanks to Mowgli who made a turning point for all of us in our third game of round 1. That’s when we thought that we really do have a chance to bounce back. Every one of us focused on ways to recover our own performance.

Going into the Groups, we felt devastated on our underperformance. We knew that something had to be done and focused to improve on our basics. However, at the same time, I think we didn’t focus enough on analyzing other teams. After getting shut down by G2, we were desperate to make a change. We did ban every champion that gave us a hard time when going against G2 in round 1. However, we got hit hard.

Although the team displayed a perfect macro game against FW today, they rather struggled in the early game against G2.

We used a weak early game composition against G2 today. That’s why we told ourselves that the team needed enough time for Kai’Sa to build her core items. 

Before the LCK Summer finals, you rooted for KT in your live stream. Now that your team made it to the quarters, you do have a chance of going against KT if you advance.  

First of all, when I did my “108 solo queue” live stream for KT, I was so desperate since they needed to win for us to get to the Worlds. (laughs) However, I’ll have to first get through the quarterfinals; I’ll focus more on the possible match against KT if we can get through.

You are now a veteran player that experienced a lot of international tournaments in Europe and China. Can you give a word of advice for the rookie players that are new to the Worlds?

Getting to Worlds is a dream come true for every rookie player. Of course, one of my lifelong dreams was to get to Worlds. However, it took almost 4 years for me to return to this stage… It wasn’t easy to come back. Your each and every solo queues/scrims can be a step for your chance to get to the Worlds. Please, don’t take it for granted. Put in your every effort. Then, someday you’ll make it to your dream stage.