In the last match of the first day of 2019 Rift Rivals, Griffin defeated JD Gaming with an assassin comp. Talon and Akali weaved through JDG’s positions and brought back the Nexus core. Choi “Sword” Seong-won, who hadn’t played Akali in many games, delivered great performance, opening a decisive fight for the victory. After the match, he sat with Inven Global for an interview.

You had said previously that you’re really looking forward to this international competition. It could have been difficult to attempt such a new strategy.

We weren’t too aware. It was a comp that we prepared and things pointed to Talon during the picks and bans so we picked him.

It’s your first time in an international tournament. How was it?

It wasn’t that easy, to be honest. I was a bit frustrated because I didn’t have enough time to set up. But the games were like always. It wasn’t much different from those of the LCK. It was great to do my best as usual.

Akali and Talon were picked. What went through the comms during the picks and bans?

We had many thoughts about the Akali pick, whether to flex her or play her mid. When the opponent picked Azir, Chovy thought it was a chance to play Talon, so we followed his opinion.

How do you usually decide the picks and bans?

We all discuss our picks together. Players appeal what we want to play and our head coach mediates. He sometimes tells us what to do as well. Usually, we have similar opinions so it’s not that hard to make our minds.

You haven’t played Akali that much, right?

No. It’s not a pick that I prefer, but I thought I’d be able to play alright with Fleet Footwork. Little did I know; it was a lot harder than I thought. When we got to teamfights, however, it was a different story. I was confident in teamfights and I think I did well.

The opponent top laner was Zoom. He’s a player that you previously said that you want to play against. How was it?

As much as some people are calling him the best top laner in the LPL, he was really good, but still, I think the Korean top laners are better in lane.

LCK had a good start. How did it feel watching SKT, DWG, and KZ matches?

I thought ‘Korea is good!’ It was 3-0 already yet we hadn’t moved a finger. (Laughs) It felt good watching them - it made me feel that Korea is great again.

You were able to see other teams’ matches. Which team are you looking forward to playing against?

Before our match, Dashing Buffalo played against JD Gaming. We were able to have a glance at how they played. As for teams that I’d like to face… It seems all the teams are similar, although they all each have some distinctive features. Since they’re similar, whichever team we face doesn’t matter - we need to prepare whatever we have confidently.

As Griffin’s captain, what do you want to say to the other LCK teams?

You were so trustworthy in the games you played ahead of us. Let’s have faith in ourselves, in LCK and do well with confidence.