took care of business this week, eliminating
on Saturday before sweeping
on Monday to secure a decisive MSI qualification match against
this coming week-end. The situation bears a striking resemblance to last year’s
LEC Spring campaign, when the Spanish side won the matchup before going on to face
in the split final.
This time, however, Quentin “Zeph” Viguié finds himself on the opposite side of the rivalry. Having previously been part of Movistar KOI, the assistant coach will now look to complete Karmine Corp’s lower-bracket run by eliminating his former team. Following the victory over GIANTX, Zeph sat down with Sheep Esports to discuss the series and the challenge that lies ahead.
What was your first feeling after the game?
Quentin “Zeph” Viguié: “A bit relieved. It's always nice not having to reveal more games to KOI and not having to show too many of our priorities.
Did you expect to face GIANTX today? A lot of people were surprised to see them eliminate Team Vitality. What was your assessment of the team?
Zeph: We had scrimmed both teams, and Vitality really seemed to have lost some of their mojo, their aura. They used to be more aggressive, they had a better understanding of tempo, and we were making fewer mistakes against them as well. The overall level of the other teams has risen, and I don't think they managed to adapt to that increase in competition. Based on what I had seen from both teams in practice recently, I didn't expect a 3–0, to be honest. I was expecting more of a 3–1 or something along those lines.
They tried quite a few things today, especially in Game 1 with a draft they had never played on stage before. Were you surprised by some of the approaches they took?
Zeph: Not really. We had already discussed the possibility of them playing Mel or Ziggs in that kind of setup. The Shen and Olaf idea was pretty interesting. That being said, I still think blind-picking Olaf top isn't easy. If that's the route they wanted to go down, I think they should have banned Gnar rather than Jayce. That would have made things harder for us because Olaf isn't actually that bad into Jayce. It wasn't particularly surprising since they had played Olaf yesterday, but seeing it blind-picked in Game 1 wasn't something I expected given all the circumstances. It was definitely interesting.
Without going through every drafting decision, some fans and analysts were surprised by the Vi pick in Game 1 and the Lee Sin in Game 3. What strengths did you see in those situations?
Zeph: For Vi, we needed a champion that could match Jarvan's early-game impact. Vi remains a very strong option in that regard. I think she's good into several of their champions, whether it's Azir or Mel. Obviously, specifically into Shen and Olaf, she's not amazing, but the interactions are still manageable. You can force Shen's ultimate without fully committing, and you can get away from Olaf fairly easily. From a pure interaction standpoint, it's not nearly as bad as it might look.
There were other options like Xin Zhao, but they all seemed less appealing than Vi. Given how the draft developed, there wasn't really a jungler that fit perfectly. Skarner isn't great into Olaf, Xin Zhao isn't ideal either. We needed Vi to match their tempo across the map and play around the side lanes. At the end of the day, you can still create picks and make plays with her. She's simply a much more versatile champion in terms of how you can approach the game.
As for Lee Sin, there were other possibilities. The thing is, Lee Sin is actually in a pretty good spot right now. He has favorable matchups, and I don't think Sejuani is a particularly strong champion in that context. Her clear speed isn't great, she doesn't build the bruiser items that allow her to dominate river fights, so she ends up being more of a utility champion that throws her ultimate and dies a bit like a Sion. Because of that, we had a lot of freedom in the jungle pick.
Just having Lee Sin on the map puts pressure on their backline. Their carries can't really play freely if Lee Sin is positioned well and applying pressure. The threat of an Insec alone has a huge impact on teamfights. For example, in the fight around midlane, when Kled engages and Lee Sin comes in from behind, if they step forward, Lee Sin can kick them back and completely punish them. Simply having the champion present opens up a lot of opportunities, whether it's in the mid-jungle 2v2, lane pressure, or teamfights.
Recently, KC have received a fair amount of criticism regarding some of their performances, particularly in the losses to G2. Do you understand those criticisms when, in terms of results, G2 seem to be the only team you've consistently struggled against?
Zeph: I haven't really followed all the criticism we've been getting. But it's true that whenever we play G2, it feels like we're a different team. That being said, every loss we've had against them has been incredibly valuable. The fact that we looked so clean in today's 3–0 and that yesterday's 3–1 could easily have been a 3–0 as well shows how much those defeats helped us identify areas we needed to work on. Once we addressed those issues, we became much more confident approaching our matches.
Even now, if we end up playing G2 again, I'm very curious to see what they'll bring. They haven't faced us with some of our newer additions, and they've been sitting in the winner's bracket position, probably feeling like they don't need to change much. If they do play us, they'll obviously have a lot of information about our picks and tendencies, but they'll still need to put work into adapting and preparing new things. If they slack off, we'll catch up to them. That's how I see it.
When we spoke with Bok “Reapered” Han-gyu a few months ago, he said that the jungle-mid-support axis was the team's greatest strength. Do you still agree with that assessment, especially when those roles seem to struggle the most against G2?
Zeph: I do agree with him, but I'd go even further. I think that synergy has now expanded beyond those three roles. It's something that extends across the entire team. Every player understands how to play around the jungle much better, and everyone is making a greater effort, whether it's Canna (Kim Chang-dong) or Caliste (Caliste Henry-Hennebert) helping to protect camps and facilitate the map. At the end of the day, it's a collective effort. I think that's been a very positive development for us.
You'll be facing Movistar KOI for a decisive MSI qualification match. You've beaten them three times in a short span recently. How are you approaching the series? In your current form, do you consider yourselves the better team?
Zeph: We're entering the final stretch, and what will determine who's better is simply who wins. The reality is that it's a best-of-five. If they come in with an incredible read on us and a lot of prepared strategies, we could lose. You're never completely safe from defeat. Personally, though, I feel like I have a pretty good understanding of how that team functions because I worked with them. I know some of their strengths and weaknesses. For me, the real question is whether they've used these two weeks to develop something new. Can they surprise us in draft? Will they bring out new champions or specific strategies that make things difficult for us? If they manage to do that, good for them. But we'll be prepared as well, and we'll have our own KOI-specific preparations in place to secure MSI qualification.
Looking at the bigger picture, do you feel the team has progressed this split in the way you expected?
Zeph: I didn't really have specific expectations regarding our progression, but I think we've consistently reached good conclusions whenever we've reviewed our official matches and discussed feedback. You can see that reflected in our recent performances, which is a very positive sign for me. Of course, we'll still need to see how we perform against stronger opponents, whether that's G2 or even KOI. But I do think we've improved, and that's already a very good thing. It's easy to become complacent and tell yourself everything is fine, that you don't need to improve any further. Instead, I think some of the setbacks we've experienced this season have helped us a lot. Overall, I'm quite happy with the progress we've made.”
