KT Rolster defeated Hanwha Life Esports 2:1 in the second round of the Summer Split regular season of the LoL Champions Korea (LCK) 2023 at Jonggak Roll Park on Wednesday. Despite losing one set to Kim “Zeca” Gun-woo’s yone, which snapped their set win streak, they bounced back to take the next two sets with Kim “Aiming” Haram’s kaisa to extend their winning streak to nine games.

Here’s the full interview with head coach Kang Dong-hoon and Moon “Curse” Woo-chan.

Q. How did it feel to win nine games in a row?

Coach Kang Dong-hoon: I’m happy to win. I was worried about some things in the banpik today, but it showed in the game, so I felt that my worries weren’t wrong. It’s an opportunity for us to think about how we need to deal with it in the future.

‘Curz’: I was worried about Hanwha because they’ve been playing well lately, and ‘Grizzly’ seems to be playing steady. I’m very relieved and happy that we won today.

Q. When you say you were worried, does that mean you lost the second set?

Coach Kang Dong-hoon: It’s not about losing a set, but the risks and worries we had in-game at the Banpik were reflected in the match. I think it’s encouraging that our predictions were correct.

Q. In a previous interview, you said that you would hit a rough patch when your set streak was broken, but you lost two sets today. What kind of feedback did you give him afterward?

Coach Kang Dong-hoon: I thought we would win. I had a strong belief in the players that they wouldn’t lose. I thought that if we picked a blue side and organized the combination well, we would win unconditionally, so I talked to the players about how to play the next game, focusing on the key points, controlling the pace, controlling the tempo, etc.

Q. What do you think was the reason for the second set loss.

Curz: We lost the mid-jungle fight in the early game, but their combination was stronger than we thought. We didn’t play well enough, and I wish the other champions had prepared for it.

Director Kang Dong-hoon: To add, we were disappointed with the banfic. We had two options, A and B, and we chose A, which was a bit disappointing. I wish I would have done B. I was more disappointed with the banpic than the play.

Q. You’ve won nine straight games, which is a team record.

Coach Kang Dong-hoon: If you keep focusing on the winning streak, it will show. It will be transmitted to the players. I try not to think about it as much as possible. I’m actually happy to have lost one set. I think we can prepare for the next match easily.

Q. You’ll be playing with the 13.12 patch for another week instead of 13.13.

Coach Kang Dong-hoon: We were preparing for the tournament, but when we heard the news, we switched to the patch version from the evening scrimmage. I wanted to change the combinations and ban picks, but it was unfortunate that I couldn’t. I was comfortable with the previous version, but that’s what every team is used to and comfortable with. I think it’s better to change things up with a patch so that the better-prepared and more skilled teams have a better chance of winning, so it’s a shame.

Curz: The patch came out of nowhere, but our usual picks didn’t change as much as we thought they would, so we felt okay about it and kept going. The manager, coaches, and players have spent a lot of time preparing for it, practicing, giving feedback, and talking about the bans, so we were able to prepare with a good mindset and not be too shaken up.

Q. In the third set, your opponent had an early advantage, but you were able to capitalize on it.

Coach Kang Dong-hoon: It was a little tricky in the beginning, but we decided that our compositions were very good, so I think the players felt very little anxiety, and I think they gained additional peace of mind by looking at Akali’s item tree. Also, Kaisa, who was brought in as the first pick, did her job. Overall, the players played their roles well and communicated well, making sacrifices where necessary and capitalizing on points 즉시지급.

Q. What do you need to work on for the next game?

Coach Kang Dong-hoon: I’ve been saying this for a while now, but I think we need to be able to handle more champions, more combinations, and I think we need to control the tempo a little bit better when we play high-value combinations. We’re so strong and confident that we have a lot of depth. If we can improve on that, I think we can continue to play well.

Q. In the 13.12 version, you seem to have a strong champion color preference, is there a reason for that?

Director Kang Dong-hoon: First of all, the win rate is good. There is a sense of security when you play your favorite champion. Also, there are quite a few cases where there is no reason not to do it because it keeps getting easier during the ban pick process. If I were to be banned, I would play the next best combination or champion, but it often doesn’t work out. So I deliberately practice with different champions in the practice process. In a tournament, it’s a choice between A and B, and I’ll choose A. I think I’ll have to work on combinations and picks, or try a few more things in competitions.

Q. What’s the last thing you’d like to say?

Curz: Thank you to the fans for always supporting us.

Coach Kang Dong-hoon: The whole team is working hard. I want to tell them that they are doing a good job and to keep up the good work. Thank you to everyone who is supporting them.