Chosun First Sword’s LOL World Cup Korea-China match
Son Woo-hyun, who has experienced both Korea’s LoL Champions Korea (LCK) and China’s LoL Professional League (LPL), expressed his opinion on LPL’s strength at this year’s LoL World Championship. He said the winner of Jingdong Gaming (JDG) vs. T1 is likely to win the competition, but he needs to pay attention to Weibo Gaming (WBG)’s “one shot.”
Son Woo-hyun, who played as a member of ThunderTalk Gaming (TT) this year, is taking a break after completing his summer season schedule and adjusting his condition for the 2024 season. After finishing solo rank practice on the afternoon of the 6th, he held a telephone interview with the Kookmin Ilbo to express his appreciation of the LoL World Championship along with his recent situation.
Son Woo-hyun said, “I thought LPL would do well, but I didn’t expect LCK to be this sluggish.” “I thought the momentum was on the LCK side because Korea won the Asian Games. “I thought I would go up to the semifinals (in the semifinals) half and half in both leagues,” he said. “I didn’t know there would be such a 3-1 composition like this.”
Son Woo-hyun picked JDG as the most impressive team. “JDG feels that all members, including players and coaches, are flexible,” he said, noting that they completely changed their ban-pick strategy after losing the first set in the quarterfinals against KT Rolster. “It’s not an easy decision to throw away what you’ve prepared,” he said. JDG’s determination shone,” he explained.
“JDG ‘calvan’ Sejuani after losing in the first set against KT.” I don’t think this is a strategy I’ve been preparing. He quickly grasped the atmosphere of the day and the other party’s preparation. This is insight. Champions such as “Canabi” Seo Jin-hyuk’s Okong and Lee Shin are also picks that did not appear often in the competition. The coach believes in the player, and the player can only come out if he has confidence in himself.”
As a “son of KT” and a player of LPL at the same time, he also hinted that he had complicated feelings as he watched the match between JDG and KT. Son Woo-hyun said, “I’m a fan of KT and a player in LPL. It was hard to support one side. I had a complicated thought, he said. “I thought KT was great to break through a difficult match, but I was disappointed that it was eliminated.”
Son Woo-hyun, who spent two years only in LPL, has now completely melted into the league. He evaluated that the difference in propensity between LCK and LPL divided the joys and sorrows of the two leagues in this tournament. He said, “LCK feels similar every year. This is both an advantage and a disadvantage, he said. “The basic skills are good and the ability to not allow variables is excellent. If you have such an excellent ability, it is advantageous in the league,” he said.
“However, Walz is a competition full of variables. Because of that, (LCK) seems to have a disappointing result this year, he said. “What ability is important depends on the meta every year.” In addition, he added, “In this tournament, there are often champions who are strong in initiating, such as Reel and Zarvan IV, so the ability to create variables seems important.”
He said Gen. G’s early elimination was unexpected. Son Woo-hyun said, “LCK has solid basic skills, and T1 and Gen.G. are the most complete teams in this field,” adding, “In fact, I thought Gen.G. was a really good team, so I expected him to win this tournament. “I’m sorry to see such a result,” he said.
He also predicted that the winner of the match between JDG and T1 is likely to lift the summoner’s cup. “I think Biri Biri Gaming (BLG) showed a great performance against Gen.G, and WBG has also come up with a form. However, the strongest candidates for the championship are JDG and T1.
However, he said, “WBG is the team that receives the least attention, but I’m not sure what the results will be. Since head coach Yang Dae-in took office, play and ban-pick have changed significantly, he said, adding, “That part will serve as a variable.” He also cited “Xiaohu” Li Yuanhao as the player whose play style was the most different from the previous perception among the midliners who actually competed in LPL.