On the 21st of February (KST), Afreeca Freecs reigned over SANDBOX Gaming in their last match of Round 1 of the 2019 LCK Spring Split. The highlight of the day was Kim “Kiin” Gi-in’s super performance on Jayce in Game 2. After the match, Kiin calmly spoke of how the season has been going for them and that they’ll be doing their best to make Round 2 different.

Below is our interview with Kiin.

I know you answered this multiple times today, but you won after a long losing streak. How do you feel?

I feel really relieved that we finally ended the losing streak. With this victory, I hope we can keep the hopes high for our team and have better results in Round 2.

How was playing against SANDBOX? They’re in second place; did they feel different from other teams?

I didn’t think much of them since I tried to concentrate on my own play and our performance as a team.

What did you focus on the most while preparing for today’s match?

Rather than individual performance, we focused on moving as a team and building more team synergy. I think that was shown well on stage in Game 3.

What do you think the biggest problem was during the losing streak?

Our team has a lot of rookies so I think there was a bit of stage fright. Becoming nervous in competitions on stage may have been the biggest problem.

How was the feedback after all the losses?

Our head coach usually told us that we’re good players and that if we concentrate more on team synergy, we can get higher and win more.

Afreeca Freecs has been known for its extreme amount of practice. Do you still practice that way?

I think we practice as much as the other teams do. Nowadays, the other teams practice a lot too so I think how much we practice is just average.

Ucal hasn’t been reaching expectations lately. Have you given him any advice or console him?

Rather than giving him advice, since I haven’t been a player for long myself, I just listen to him when he’s stressed. I try not to say anything because sometimes just listening is the best thing to do.

You’re probably also stressed because of the results. Who do you turn to when you’re stressed?

I usually don’t look for people to console me and I just relieve my stress alone. Since eating is the closest, I relieve my stress by eating tasty foods a lot.

You carried the team through Game 2 with Jayce.

Since the team made me comfortable, I only did what was expected of me. I simply repaid the resources given to me from my teammates.

In Game 3, the team seemed they’ve finally remembered the way how to win. What did head coach iloveoov say after the match?

He just said we did well. We’ll probably have more feedback after we get back to the team house.

Lastly, a word to your teammates and fans?

There should be a lot of fans that are worried because our performance was bad lately. I’m very sorry about that. In Round 2, we’ll be doing our best with a renewed mindset so please continue supporting us. Thank you.

To my teammates, I want to say that I know everyone is having a hard time and that it’s tiring. But let’s keep doing our best so that we can start a winning streak and have better results in Round 2.