T1 Director Kim Jeong-gyun, I learned a lot from BLG

T1 Director Kim Jeong-gyun “I learned a lot from BLG… “I will do my best for the remaining schedule”

Interview with ‘Little’ Kim Jeong-gyun, head coach of T1 League of Legends team

The wall of the king of the LPL, the Chinese League of Legends (hereinafter referred to as LoL) professional league, was high.

T1, the second seed in the domestic league LCK, lost to Bilibili Gaming (BLG), the LPL 2024 spring champion, with a set score of 3 to 1 in the second round of the 2024 MSI (Mid-Season Invitational) bracket stage winner's group held in Chengdu, China on the 12th. With this loss, T1 was moved down to the lower bracket.

Now, if we lose one more time, we are pushed to the 'edge' where our MSI journey will end. 파워볼게임

‘Little’ T1 coach Kim Jeong-gyun, whom we met through a video interview after the game ended on the 12th, also seemed to be disappointed.

Coach Kim cited an inflexible attitude as a factor in the loss, saying, “As it was a multi-game format, we had to quickly revise (strategies such as ban picks) after the first game, but we were late in responding.”

When asked about his thoughts on BLG's unconventional ban picks in the 4th set, such as banning only 5 midfield champions he said, "I went into it thinking about that, but I didn't react as I expected" and added, "I learned a lot from the opposing team while playing."

He showed respect for the opposing coaches.

Regarding the reason for choosing the same side again in the second set after losing in the red side in the first set, Coach Kim Jeong-gyun said “As in the game, even if we gave up the first pick to the opponent, there were champions to bring more, so I chose that with that in mind.”

He explained. In LoL competitions, during the first pick phase, instead of the Blue side picking one champion first, the Red side takes the next two champions first.

This is interpreted to mean that from T1's perspective, it would have been better to bring in two champions first, even if they were given one good champion.

T1 was the only team to win the second set on this day.

Regarding the reason why T1 continues to experiment with new picks, such as Mid Veiga, which appeared for the first time in this tournament in the 3rd set, coach Kim Jeong-gyun said, “It is a multi-game game and there is still a tournament schedule left, so we took into consideration the opponent and our combination (new picks).

I’m trying,” he said.

Also, regarding the fact that T1 showed a preference for the Senna-Tahm Kench combination in the bottom line on this day, Coach Kim said “It is difficult to talk in detail because the competition is still in progress” and added, “It is not clear whether the bottom pick or the top pick is priority.”

He gave a cautious answer, saying, “The choices vary depending on the combination (at each time).”

Finally, Coach Kim expressed his will to bounce back saying, “I prepared hard in various directions, but I am very disappointed that we lost.”

He added “I will prepare in a good direction for the remaining period and work hard to show a good game”

He also said, “I will do my best to prepare as there is still some schedule left” and “I hope you will support the players until the end as they are practicing hard.”