Disclaimer: The author of this interview has worked extensively with the interviewee on Dignitas in 2022, and Tier 2 LoL organization FEAR in 2024.

Though many expected Cloud9 to sweep their LTAN series, Disguised defied the odds and pushed the North American League of Legends giants to the brink in a tense showdown. Despite ultimately falling short, the underdog roster showcased resilience and strong individual performances, surprising fans and analysts alike. In an exclusive interview, DSG’s jungler, Lawrence "Exyu" Xu, sits down with Sheep Esports to reflect on the series, his growth as a player, and what this result means for his team moving forward.

Everybody expected C9 to sweep DSG 3-0, but you guys managed to make it a close 3-2. How were the team vibes backstage after the loss — proud, disappointed, or both?

Lawrence "Exyu" Xu: Everyone was sad, but also proud and hopeful. Especially since we’re not fully done yet, since we still have relegation, so there’s no time to be depressed. Of course, we’re disappointed, but I think everyone on the team is like, “we gave it a good shot today.” If we keep this effort and keep improving, we’ll do well in relegation.

Do you think that given what expectations were, the lack of pressure gave you guys a buff, or perhaps, was it more that C9 felt the pressure of being the overwhelming favorites?

Exyu: I think they felt more pressure than we did. I don’t think any of us went into it thinking, “oh, we’re the underdog, we’re gonna go 0-3, who cares.” Especially since our scrims have been good and we’re keeping up with all top teams, we don’t feel far behind. They probably thought that we’re pretty far behind them, so I think once we took one game off them, they were like, “oh s***,” and then we took two and they were like, “oh f***, it’s a little serious.” We definitely felt a lot of pressure too, but I'm sure they're probably still gonna get flamed for this win, because it wasn't convincing.

You mentioned strong scrims and your improvements as a team have definitely shown in today’s series, and previously vs DIG. What key changes this split helped you guys level up?

Exyu: I think I’ve learned a lot more about tempo and I’m trying to do less freaky s**t during games. We have real carries now, so I don’t have to get freaky with it to try to win. We can play like humans and have some structure, we’ll just play well, teamfight well, and win normally. Having confidence in our carries is helping a lot. Before, it felt like if we were ahead, we lost, if we’re even, we still lose, and if we’re behind, then we lost too. So we’d just lose, unless I did something freak s**t. Now it doesn’t feel like that.

Speaking of “freaky,” you guys pulled out some crazy drafts in this series. Namely, in Game 3, you drafted Poppy and Anivia, and in Game 4, Sylas Jungle. How did those picks come about?

Exyu: I mean, Ido (DSG Coach Ian McCormick) has just been, like, super horny about Anivia. He just really, really wants to force it whenever possible in scrims, because he thinks it's op. And then today, he kind of just slid it in there. Going into the match Rahel (Cho Min-seong) said we couldn’t give Blaber (Robert Huang) Poppy or Vulcan (Phillippe Laflamme) Alistar, so when we considered Anivia on three, I said I could blind Poppy. They ended up first-picking Xin, but I was down to just blind Poppy, and we were just gonna rip the Anivia on 3 anyways.

What about the Sylas in Game 4, how did that decision happen?

Exyu: That was completely free balled. I basically had Jarvan, Nocturne, and one more pick in mind. Then with 15 seconds left I said to Castle (Cho Hyeon-seong), “Bro, can you pick an AD top? Sylas is so OP here,” and Castle said “I can’t blind an AD, I don’t have any ideas,” but I pushed hard for it. The thing with this team is, I’m down to play all the freaky s***, and then huhi (Choi Jae-hyun) is usually the one to say “No guys, let’s play normal,” but then Rahel, Rahel’s my boy, so he was like, “We should give him Sylas, guys. It’s good,” and Castle eventually agreed. So then we picked the Sylas, and it was OP.

I thought you might flex Jax jungle into Xin there, was that ever a real option?

Exyu: Yeah, Jax was the other one I considered, but we hadn’t played it in scrims at all. We had played Sylas, though — actually, yesterday, TL was up 4-0 on us in scrims, then in Game 5, we just picked Sylas and I rawdogged them. So it was just like, “okay, let’s try it again.”

Looking ahead to promotion, what are your thoughts on teams like Estral Esports, which have players like Summit, a literal world champion in Ghost, and your ex-teammate Winsome?

Exyu: They do have a literal world champion, but they also lost to a roster I beat in Tier 2 with FEAR. I haven’t watched them too closely, but I think if they lost that series versus the SDM Tigres, they’re not as lethal as people say. I did watch a bit of that series, and I think Summit (Park Woo-tae) looks a bit washed, Ghost (Jang Yong-jun) is playing fine, he’s just kind of doing his job, but overall they don’t seem very powerful. I actually think LG (Luminosity Gaming) is the biggest contender.

There’s been a slew of criticism regarding DIG’s team environment and management, like for example, Srtty’s interview, where he recalled being told, “Why are you happy?” People in the community are even calling for their relegation over DSG’s. As a former player there, what are your thoughts on the community sentiment?

Exyu: I already said this after we beat DIG, but they need to make upper management changes. It doesn't really matter who they bring in, from coaches to players. It's just a cursed org. I truly believe success starts at the top, and that's one thing that I like about Disguised, our upper management is really solid, and they're very caring and supportive. I think that really makes a big impact on the players. I think for an org like Dignitas, for them to get basically every iteration of possible types of players, like, they got veterans, they got rookies. They've tried all the different types of formulas, and it's always failed. I feel like you have to investigate the upper management for why nothing works. You got Jensen and Santorin, and that didn't work. Those guys are f***ing champions. Then you get a bunch of rookies and that doesn't work. You kick them all instantly. Try again. I don't know, maybe they're just cursed.