Kingzone DragonX took away the chance to gain a ticket to Worlds from Afreeca Freecs. 

3rd September (KST) in LoL Park, Kingzone DragonX faced the young generation team, Afreeca Freecs and defeated them by 3-1. Although Kingzone was defeated in Game 1, they displayed their prowess in teamfights and proved that their mentality is stronger than Afreeca. Kingzone will have a match against SANDBOX Gaming on the 5th, Thursday this week.   

The following is an interview with Kingzone top laner Kim “Rascal” Kwang-Hee. 

Q. The gauntlet is always important. Didn’t you feel pressured for this match?

Actually, there was no pressure. Although our performance during the late summer split was not good, we all, coaches and players, did our best effort to not leave regrets. We practiced more than before and I think it worked.

Q. What does Worlds mean to players? And what does it mean to you to play in the Regional Qualifiers for Worlds?

All eyes and ears are at Worlds. Every League of Legends player wants to be there. It is kind of a “Thanksgiving Day” to show and prove what we achieved during a year.

I was at worlds in 2017 and 2018. At that time, I was a substitute player. This time would be the first time to play as a starting member. That is very special to me. It’s really huge. I hope to see SKT at the finals. After Khan qualified for Worlds, he told me that he wants to see me there. If it’s possible, it would be best to meet him at the biggest stage of this year.

Q. Your Aatrox was dominated by Kiin’s Kennen in the laning phase. How did you deal with the pressure?

I don’t feel any pressure for being dominated during the laning phase. Particularly for this game, Cuzz made his jungle routes to care more for bot lane. I felt really comfortable because of the message sent from the bot lane; that our team absolutely smashed the opponent’s bottom. I just fastened my seat belt and waited. Cuzz also assured me that I don’t need to feel any pressure because of the bot lane circumstances.

Q. Your next match is against SANDBOX Gaming. You’ll face Summit, who was a former teammate of Kiin. What are your thoughts on that match and Summit?

Every top laner in this gauntlet series are good players. Summit, Nuguri, and Kiin. So, what I think when I face them is ‘all I need to do is just what I can do’. If I can do the best I’m capable of, I’ll definitely win like today.

Q. What will be the key point of the match against Sandbox?

I think Bo5 is a mental game. Even today, it felt really tiring both physically and mentally. I’ll do my best not to have this happen again. All of my teammates played extremely well. I hope we put in more effort to reach our current goal.

Any last comments?

I appreciate my fans. They will see the victory at the match against SANDBOX.