For their first
LEC Versus playoffs match,
faced
GIANTX after finishing the regular season alone at the top of the standings. As the weeks go by, the team appears to be gaining increasing momentum and is establishing itself as one of—if not the—primary contenders for the title.
Having arrived at the beginning of the season for his first year as a head coach in Europe, Bok “Reapered” Han-gyu has so far expressed satisfaction with the consistently convincing performances delivered by his roster. Speaking with Sheep Esports, the South Korean coach reflected on his team’s strong current form and the challenges that lie ahead.
What’s your first feeling now after the game?
Bok “Reapered” Han-gyu: “I don't get a lot of emotions from the game. I think the win was just expected. That's why we chose GIANTX.
What made the difference for your team today, in your opinion?
Reapered: I think we just had better plays in general and better map control. We were able to fight everything with our early game champions like Xin Zhao and Galio. Those champions are generally pretty strong in the early game. Obviously they maybe had a better late game, but we were able to pull out the early skirmishes with our champions and then take the advantages from there. That was the key. from our control.
How did you expect the transitions between best-of-one and best-of-three for your team?
Reapered: It's not that different, I would say. Obviously best-of-one are just playing one game and going home, but in BO3, I can see the players' emotions and what they feel about the games between game 1 and 2 and maybe in game 3. I see more of the perspectives from the players, which is good. But in order to prepare the games or to compare the games, there is not that much difference between BO1 and BO3 compared to best-of-five. The champions we use are all meta champions, like there's nothing crazy.
Were you also confident in your way to adapt to fearless draft?
Reapered: Yeah, obviously. Playing three games in Fearless is not the same feeling as playing five games of it. So yeah, I was pretty confident, at least in BO3, but BO5 might be a different story because there are crazy picks coming here or maybe something not expected, and we might have to play with all those kinds of things. So I would say the full meaning of the fearless format is when you're going to BO5.
Maybe you didn’t know, but among the KC fans there was a kind of curse with Martin “Yike” Sundelin’s Vi last year. What do you think about him as the champion? Do you think he can make the pick work to its best?
Reapered: Yes, I heard it from him actually (laughs). The thing is that if a champion is meta and as long as my players are willing to play, I want to help him to play the game out. I can try to help him to improve on the champion. For example, today, he did a great job in the early game, but there are some question marks in the mid-game. In the end he finished with a strong performance. But still, there are a lot of things we are going to look after today’s game, and there are a lot of points he can improve on. As long as my players are not afraid to pick those champions and are willing to improve, I don't have any problem.
At the beginning of the year, you said that you were using this split to have good bases and identify some problems that you could solve along the year. Did you already identify some problems and some things that need to be improved in your team?
Reapered: Yeah, every day (laughs). In an esports team you deal with some problems every day, and then you solve them, and you improve, and then other problems come. That's an everyday routine. For example, at the very beginning, the language barrier was the biggest problem. Right now, we can sync more when we play together. We can communicate better, for example, or when we make a play with a specific champion like Vi today, we can play a different way. Even though we are in the same position, we can play totally differently while all starting from that position. It’s not like when one thing is improved, everything is improved. So it’s hard to say just one thing, but basically we can improve in every aspect of the game.
On the opposite, what would you say is the biggest strength of your team right now?
Reapered: Probably the synergies between the mid, jungle, and support. Obviously, kyeahoo (Kang Yea-hoo), can carry the game, and Caliste (Caliste Henry-Hennebert) is the biggest carry threat. But in order to carry the game, the controllers are really important. And for example today, we played a carry threat on the top with Gwen. So it’s more important for those people to control the game properly or make the space properly so that our carries actually carry the game. Right now, the biggest strength in our team is the controllers.
You spent a lot of time of your career coaching in America. Now that you are in EMEA, would you say there is a main difference between the two leagues?
Reapered: I don't see that many differences because, right now, the players I have are two Korean players, two European players, and one USA player. And other than kyeahoo, they already experienced the international stage already. Every player we have is already a very experienced player. They know how to work in this environment. So I don't feel that much of the difference, at least in our team. But as an outsider, I'd say the loss of new players. In
LCS, obviously we had a couple of new players that are coming into the scene, but not that many. But right now, in solo queue, there are so many players, so many games are played in EU, and there are so many leagues with ERL. There are so many talents who want to prove themselves. That's the biggest difference. There are so many young and upcoming players who want to prove themselves.
A lot of teams are saying, “KC is doing great in scrims,” and you finished alone in first place in the regular season. With all those elements, would you say that your team is at the moment the number one favorite to win LEC Versus?
Reapered: That's hard to say because I don't have a lot of experience with these guys specifically. Today, this was our first BO3. We didn’t play BO5 yet. So I don't know what will be the reactions between the games, and I haven’t had the experience in a BO3 or BO5 that we are losing yet. We won 2-0 today, but I don't know what kind of reactions I am going to face in BO5. So it's hard to tell, but definitely we are strong challengers for the championship.
You're going to play against G2 next round. How do you feel about this game?
Reapered: It's going to be a fun match. Whether we win or lose, it's going to be a good game to step forward. And we're going to use that game to make sure we get everything. I'm very excited to play against G2, and I want to see a very good game from both of us.”
