is probably the most entertaining team in the LCK right now. In a wide-ranging interview after today's 2-0 over DN SOOpers, the coach of the team,
Lee "Mowgli" Jae-ha broke down a mirror-match draft that had both coaching staffs laughing, praised
’s "absurd" Jayce Teleport play, and offered a blunt take on
's influence on the league's jungle meta: With playoffs on the horizon, the coach insists HLE is still in experimental mode.
Thoughts on the ninth consecutive win?
Lee "Mowgli" Jae-ha: "It feels good to hit that milestone. But even though we've been winning, I don't think we've had perfect synergy the whole time. We're still working on filling in the gaps. The regular season still has playoffs and bigger stages ahead of it, so right now I think of this as practice. We're experimenting with different compositions and still in that process.
How do you evaluate today’s performance on both games?
Mowgli: I think the players executed their roles within the comp pretty well. But there were still areas where we could've tightened up the details, so I'm planning to go over the feedback with the players.
Today in Game 1, DNS’s draft was exactly the same as yesterday's EWC match. When the opponent pulled out the exact same comp, what was the conversation like inside the team? Did you have a sense of how Game 1 would play out based on the draft?
Mowgli: Yeah, the picks were exactly, exactly the same. The only ban difference was the Lucian ban, so they got Jarvan IV instead. I was fully confident our team would win that one. It was actually kind of funny, since they ran the exact same thing. All five picks were identical, and even the bans were almost the same through the fourth and fifth ban phases. I was sitting there grinning, and then I looked over at the other side and DNS’ coach oDin (Ju Yeong-dal) was smiling too. It was a fun moment.
Game 2 had a lot more scrappy fights compared to Game 1, which were harder to call. Were there any plays you were disappointed with, or on the flip side, any that really caught you off guard?
Mowgli: There were a lot of moments where I felt like we messed up. Game 2 was a higher-difficulty comp for us. When we hit the ceiling on execution, our comp had a lot of power with really long range, but when you're running something that demanding, communication breaks down. Players get their tempo mixed up, or their positioning in teamfights is off, and the skirmishes get messy.
The part I was most disappointed with was early on: Senna/Nautilus lane, we had priority on the bot side, but in mid, TF couldn’t find a proper recall timing. Around thirty seconds before the bottom scuttle crab spawned, we needed to win that fight no matter what because Senna is so weak early. The comms between mid and bot broke down. We ended up losing Milio in that skirmish for nothing, which was frustrating.
But the play that really stood out was after Baron got taken: Zeus on Jayce basically did what you'd call a face-TP. He teleported right into the enemies and used the TP shield plus Flash to buy time until the rest of our team could get there. The fact that he even saw that angle and committed to it was incredible. That was an absurd play.
As you mentioned, DNS picked Senna in Game 2. There's been a lot of talk that Senna hasn't looked as strong on stage lately as she used to. From your perspective as a coach, what's Senna's strategic value in the current meta, and what was the reasoning behind bringing her out today?
Mowgli: Senna has always popped up here and there against Lucian-Nami or other Lucian lanes. Things like Senna-Nautilus, Senna-Seraphine, Senna-Alistar. She's been showing up occasionally in the current meta, too, so we've been trying her out. She feels usable, but she's so weak in early and mid-game skirmishes that I'm honestly not sure she's that great of a pick right now.
HLE has been running Twisted Fate comps for the first time in a while. These compositions are known to require patience and precision. Was there a deliberate intent behind today's match to test the team's macro execution or build synergy in a real game setting?
Mowgli: Yeah, we're intentionally experimenting with different things right now, designing drafts around specific comp concepts and seeing what we need to improve from there. We're trying to keep upgrading the players in those areas. So we drafted that way on purpose.
There's been a lot of talk recently that Kanavi has been shifting the jungle meta in LCK, and that other junglers are starting to absorb his style. As a former jungler turned coach, do you think Kanavi's presence has genuinely influenced the jungle meta, and if so, how specifically would you say it's showing up?
Mowgli: From what I can see, a lot of other junglers are trying to emulate Kanavi's pathing and that aggressive, go-forward style of play. But I don't think they can really replicate it. That's a strength and a quality that's unique to Kanavi. He's just that good. He's definitely influenced the LCK trend overall. But I don't think anyone can match Kanavi.
In your previous interview after the T1 match, you mentioned taking advantage of fearless drafts. When the set count increases to a best-of-five, does that become a more comfortable strategic environment for your team, or more of a challenge?
Mowgli: Our players have really wide champion pools, so I think the more games we play in a series, the better it gets for us. It should be fun. BO5’s are coming up soon. We've been thinking ahead and preparing for that, from practice all the way through to the actual matches.
You're riding an incredible winning streak and the momentum is really strong right now. What's the team most focused on or cautious about internally to keep this going?
Mowgli: It's about constantly reducing mistakes. Making sure the team keeps developing, and making sure the players don't get complacent, even though we're in first place. That mindset is really important.
,
, those are all strong teams. The moment we let our guard down, we can lose to anyone. So we need to keep that edge and not let go.
As you said, the LCK right now feels like anyone can beat anyone. Why do you think the league has become this competitive?
Mowgli: The level across all the teams has really leveled up. And the meta itself doesn't really lend itself to one-sided games anymore. I think Fearless draft has a lot to do with it. In the past, if you matched up with the same draft in Game 1, the picks didn't change much for the next game. But now with Fearless, the comps shift dramatically every set, so you end up with these more even matchups across the board.
Lastly, do you have anything you'd like to say to the international fans?
Mowgli: Our team finished last at LCK Cup, and the results were really rough. But we've been improving step by step, and now we're in first place. Thank you to everyone who believed in us and kept supporting us. We'll keep getting better, and we'll do everything we can to win it all."
