Unsurprisingly, expectations were met for
Karmine Corp Blue’s young roster, which failed to secure a playoffs qualification in
LEC Versus and finished last in the regular season standings. Despite this, the team showed promising signs, notably by defeating
GIANTX in their final match. Ending the split on a positive note and earning the game’s MVP, academy jungler Johnny "
Yukino" Dang offered a glimpse of his potential at the highest level of European competition.
Coveted by
FlyQuest during the offseason,
the young player made the surprising decision to remain with Karmine Corp, fully aware that he would not be joining the main roster this season. He reflected on this first LEC experience in an interview with
Sheep Esports, sharing his impressions and takeaways.
What's your first feeling after today's game?
Johnny "Yukino" Dang: "I guess it's just a sigh of relief. For me, even though we were out of playoff yesterday, I kind of had the worst game out of the games I played. I actually felt like I was a burden to my team. So today I felt like I had to step up and I think I did.
This was your last game with KCB in LEC. What did you think about this whole experience?
Yukino: That was definitely like a learning experience for me. There were a lot of hardships this split. It was a new team, we're in LEC, and we're only losing, so it was definitely hard. I would say it was just hard.
Do you have any regrets about this experience?
Yukino: I don't really have many regrets. I guess the only regret that I would have is that I should have spent more time bonding with my teammates, because I feel like a lot of times it was like me giving them criticism and pushing them to work hard. After all, we didn't really have much time. We only had one split in LEC and I wanted to make the most out of it. But we didn't really spend that much time together as a team. It definitely hurt sometimes because maybe we were losing trust in each other or it didn't really feel like we were connected as one.
Is there any game that you think you could have won and that could have maybe grant you a qualification?
Yukino: Probably the game against Team Heretics. I'm not sure, a lot of our games we were ahead in early. We could have won all the games we were ahead early. In mid-game, we didn't really know how to extend our lead. It definitely hurt. I guess the one that I thought we would win is the Heretics game. I felt like I was really, really good in the game. I felt like I was gapping Sheo (Théo Borile). But I don't think I did enough to lead my team in the right direction in mid-game even though I tried. I think I could have done a better job or do something different.
Do you think you managed to keep the same confidence in your gameplay during all the split?
Yukino: I don't think so. There were definitely times when I felt like I just completely shut down, and forgot how to play the game. Because the normal I was doing didn't feel like it was enough to win, which makes sense because I'm in a new team. I needed to push a lot harder. So definitely in those moments, I felt like I did lose a bunch of confidence. Even more in games where I feel like I should be winning that I'm losing. I was like "Damn, I need to do stuff different or I'm not doing enough." It gets to my head and I just overthink and then I just feel like I forget how to play the game.
Did you see the difference between playing in ERL and in LEC?
Yukino: The biggest difference was in mid-game because it's winter split, so a lot of teams aren't really playing the best in the early game. The difference definitely shows in mid-game because I feel like teams are more connected and also in ERL, it's kind of tough to fight under perfect conditions, but in LEC, even if you don't really have the good setup, people will contest you anyway. So you really have to be confident in your setup and even be ready to fight no matter what. Even if you think your setup is perfect, you still need to execute properly when the enemy is trying to fight, even if you have an advantage right in the setup. So that was the biggest difference I learned in LEC. I needed to be sharp mechanically.
Overall, are you still satisfied with your own performances in LEC?
Yukino: I definitely don't think that I'm very satisfied with my performance, even though other people think that I played well individually. I think I could have been playing way better. I might be with this game because it's the last one I feel satisfied. After all, I wasn't really scared. I was playing with a lot of confidence and I was proud of how I played because I think if I had played like this for all the games, just with more confidence, I could have been more of a difference maker in the games. I feel like I'm getting the lead. I know how to play with the lead, but I'm not taking as much risk. It feels like I'm accepting to lose. So I feel like I should have been trying a lot harder, even if it's like inting.
Now that you tasted what it feels like to play in tier 1, isn’t it too hard mentally to return to LFL?
Yukino: I don’t really know. This league is supposed to be the hardest. It's like the one where I'm supposed to feel the most mentally in pain. And when I go to ERL, it's supposed to be like a sigh of relief that is like "Oh my God, we're actually not these bad guys." Like maybe we're 12th place in the LEC, but we will be first place in ERL.
Won’t you just miss playing in LEC?
Yukino: There's definitely stuff I will miss, like the level of play, obviously. The only thing I'm scared of is when returning to ERL is to not being challenged enough. Because I feel like in LEC, playing jungler is not really a role where you can express a lot. You kind of play with your team strengths and handle the mid-game stuff. Like there's not much to express in the early game. But even in ERL, people mess early game up, so I'm just scared when I go back to ERL that I will not be challenged enough. And I might be complacent and not work as hard. But I guess I can just remind myself that I came into LEC thinking that I was hot shit, and I'm fucking 12th place, so I'm fucking dogshit [sic].
Is there any team that you’re eager to face in ERL?
Yukino: I think it would be French Flair. They have a lot of ex-LEC players and my ex-teammate 3XA (Thomas Foucou). And I think their jungler NattyNatt (Isak Elgh) is really good when I play him in solo queue. But he will need to adapt because in pro, you have to give some resources to your team. And I think he's just a really good carry jungler. When he's on his champs, he's really good, though, so the team I'm looking forward to play against is French Flair.
Last year, you already won LFL and EMEA Masters, do you have any new goals for this season?
Yukino: I feel like I definitely do lack a lot more stuff as a player, like my leadership is something that I need to be working on. I feel like last year was really easy because I had leaders, so all I had to do was focus on individual rate. This year I have to take much more leadership role like I have to bring points to the team. I have to improve the team as much as I'm improving myself, and I think that I'm missing these skills, and I want to work on them before I move up to LEC again."
