T1 Zeus: “I was inspired and learned a lot today”

After T1 and G2 had an incredible series in the first round of the MSI Bracket stage, I had the chance to talk to Zeus about the game.

T1 Zeus – G2 were sharper and stronger than we thought

Hello everyone, this is Davide from Esports.net, and I’m joined today by T1 Zeus. Hi Zeus, congrats on your victory today, it was a hard-fought series. Can you describe how you feel and what three words would you use to describe the match?

We thought G2 would be a strong opponent in the first place but they were even sharper and stronger than we thought they would be so we kind of lost our pace at some time point but we managed to push through so I’m happy about that. If I would give three words about the experience one would be good experience, two is hungry, and three would be happy.

Why good experience and hungry?

I said good experience first because I have a lot of Bo5s coming through  and there’s a lot of strong teams as well so we never know what’s gonna happen but to be able to experience a Bo5 and come out strong, it’s a great experience for the matches to come and number two I wake up to eat the meal, I did eat some biscuits during the match, but you know,  since the match is over I’m still hungry. 

Breakdown of the series

Let’s talk a little bit about the match since drafts played a major role in the outcomes of each game. In games 1 and 3, G2 picked Yasuo – were you expecting that answer into your twisted fate?

Well, for the matchup Twisted Fate-Yasuo I chose it first then they picked Yasuo as a counter. We saw that in the LEC they countered Twisted Fate with Yasuo several times but when I observed it and tried playing it, it looked like Twisted Fate had the advantage. So we went into the match but it turned out that wasn’t really the case and it was actually harder for Twisted Fate, so it was a tough time and BrokenBlade picking such a hard champion is a very courageous move but I think he pulled it off well and even Zac I feel like it was a tough pick but he put on a very good performance with it so I think I was very inspired and learned a lot today. 

You guys went down 2-1 and we saw a lot of K’Sante blind picks, especially with team comps like Jarvan and Aurelion Sol. Can you please tell us why T1 decided to wait Game 4 to go for the pick?

So I don’t think it was anything new necessarily for the first three games because we were practicing jarvan and Aurelion Sol so I don’t think it was even utilized but as to why we shifted our draft in the fourth set, as we go through the match, there were things we felt and learned so just adjusted to what we were feeling. 

Let’s talk about Game 5. Obviously, it was a very heated match – can you elaborate on what you think went well or wrong, considering there were a lot of lane swaps and ambushes, especially during the early game?

So I don’t think there are too many teams that use level 1 tactics but we knew that G2 use it from time to time in the LEC so we kind of discussed on what we were gonna do if it happens but I’m not exactly sure what happened but I think from what I remember Bel’Veth had a hard time in the early game and the bottom lane also had a pretty hard time so I just remembered that. 

A look on the MSI meta and future match

Aside from Twisted Fate and some other counter picks like Vayne, it looks like tanks are indeed stronger in the meta in the top lane. As someone who is known for his lane dominance and carry champion pool, is there any pick you would like to play in this meta that is currently part of it?

So it might sound obvious but I’m much more confident when I’m having a good game and I haven’t played Vayne in this meta yet, so I think I want to play in the match. 

To round off, you will now face BLG, the team that knocked you out of MSI last year. What’s your impression of the team and what would you like to say to your lane opponent Bin?

BLG this year when I’m playing against a team I usually look at my lane opponent so from that perspective, there isn’t much of a difference in the impression [from last year]. About Bin, I kind of meet him a lot nowadays I meet him a lot in practice and events but as always I wish I can just have a good game and learn a lot and a game that I will not regret.

We’re coming to the end of our interview – send a message to your fans, if possible in English! 

Hello everyone, it’s Zeus. Cheering for T1 thank you and [speaking in Korean] since the game has been going on for such a long time, I hope you eat a lot of delicious food and have a good night. Thank you.