In a surprising turn of events,
crushed the hopes of
and the LEC with a dominant 3–0 sweep. Silencing the doubters, the North American representatives now advance to the finals of the
2026 Mid-Season Invitational (MSI) Play-In, where they will face
once again for a spot in the main event. While the odds may not be in their favor on paper, the team carries clear momentum following a statement victory, looking to continue their international run with confidence.
In an exclusive interview, AD Carry
spoke with
Sheep Esports about the series, his personal growth, and what to expect from the upcoming rematch against T1 in the Play-In finals.
Congratulations on the 3-0 over KC. You're still undefeated against European teams—how does that feel, and how important was it to bounce back after losing to T1?
Sean "Yeon" Sung: “Things couldn’t be any better. I’m feeling great. I haven't lost a single series to Europe yet. Unfortunately, I haven’t gotten to meet G2 yet though—the kings of Europe.
Does it feel nice to prove the doubters wrong? Especially after having initially started the tournament on a loss.
Yeon: To be honest, T1 is a very good team. They're very clean, both mechanically and structurally. They understand how they want to play the game and how they want to win. It's not a shame to lose to T1, but the way we lost was a little bit shameful—we didn't play our own game or our own style. We also stopped playing aggressively, even though we're a very aggressive team. Hopefully this time, we’ll stick to our style and be aggressive.
Do you think that first match loss was also due to stage jitters, and potentially still having to find confidence? Nameplates can sometimes change how one plays. Maybe you can be more unleashed this time around?
Yeon: Yeah, I agree. The second and third games were actually quite close. Especially in game three, I think we could have come back a lot more. In game two, I think we failed ourselves. If we get a lead next time, I really hope we can close it out instead of letting them run us around.
I’m not sure what was the exact reason for our poor showing, even despite our leads. I would say maybe there was a bit of anxiety, more so than nervousness or the pressure of nameplates. It happens, you know?
What helped Team Liquid recover so well through the lower bracket? Against Karmine Corp, it felt like you were a much better functioning group.
Yeon: I’ve seen many teams in the past get their mental completely shattered after losing their first series, which then leads them to throwing the entire tournament away. In our case, that T1 series did not break our mental at all.
I'm really glad we were able to bounce back. Our mentality helped us a lot with confidence when we were having talks about the game, as contrasted by other teams that can end up dejected.
You’ve been in the scene for quite some time now, even if people don’t always think of you as a veteran. How does it feel to be attending your second MSI, and how have you grown since your first appearance in 2024?
Yeon: I think people still call me "young" because I act very immature and kind of kid-like outside the game. In-game, I'm very responsible. Well... to be honest, I troll a lot in-game too. I just troll a lot, so people probably think of me as a little kid.
I also started my pro career pretty late compared to a lot of other AD carries and pros. I spent two TL Academy and now nearly four years in the LCS. Over the years, I’ve built up a lot of experience by going to internationals and playing regionally.
Regarding my growth as a person, I feel that it’s been pretty good since I first got in the LCS. Obviously there are always going to be ups and downs, especially as a pro player. There are a lot of times where you're mentally out of it or just not mentally sound. I've gone through a couple of those periods, and I think a lot of players do because everything is performance-based.
As I've gotten older, I think I've understood a lot more. These days, for example, I usually try to meditate or listen to music before games—just try to get into the zone.
What was it like facing Caliste "Caliste" Henry-Hennebert today? How would you compare it to facing Kim "Peyz" Su-hwan on day one?
Yeon: To be honest, I played very different champions, so it's kind of awkward to compare. Today, I played Tristana, which is pretty good, but I got kind of screwed in the early game. Then I played Mel, which maybe wasn’t the best pick. And in the third game I played Senna, which is more supportive. Nothing really stood out. Against T1 I had a few flashier champions, so it was a really different series for me.
All in all, I'd say I have a lot more experience than Caliste, and I think I have more overall knowledge than him, even if he might be mechanically better than me.
How do you view North America's current level compared to Europe and the other major regions?
Yeon: North America has a much smaller player base than Europe. Maybe it's because Europe has had deeper international runs—G2 has taken games off some of the top teams before. It's a bit of a shame that NA has such a small player base.
But these days, whenever NA and EU play each other, I think we've generally performed better. Even though I haven't had the chance to play G2 yet, they're a very competent team. They're definitely up there, and they're really talented.
Do you set personal goals? Perhaps one thing still missing from your portfolio today is a deep run at an international. Are those reflections you take into account heading into tournaments like MSI?
Yeon: Yeah. CoreJJ (Jo Yong-in) and I, across all the iterations of Team Liquid, have been quite close from making it deep into internationals a few times, but we've always fallen just short. Especially against T1 on previous rosters—we were so close. That's a shame. Maybe this time it's finally our turn.
You'll face T1 again with very little preparation time. How confident are you going into the rematch?
Yeon: We have a very good coaching staff to help us prepare. Personally, I haven't prepared yet because we're just taking it one match at a time.
I'm very confident. We can definitely take at least a couple of games off them—maybe even the entire series. I'm really excited to play them.”
