Q: As long as you participate in the World Championship, your competitive state will improve. Have you thought about the reasons for this?
faker : There are various reasons. I place a high importance on the World Championship and prepare thoroughly for it. Since the World Championship is a big stage, the players from opposing teams also feel nervous. In fact, although the result of this World Championship was good, I believe my performance was not outstanding, and there was an element of luck.
Q: What do you mean by various preparations?
faker : Taking this year as an example, we can look at settings. From the team's perspective, I believe that preparing specifically for a major tournament in the short term is different from long-term preparation. In the short term, we can prepare and choose the heroes and strategies with the highest win rates. However, this is not good in the long term, and there will be differences. The World Championship requires quickly determining the direction, deciding on strategies and hero selections.
Q: This year, did you adjust your state to peak during the World Championship?
faker : For example, if we compare it to preparing for exams... When there is one month left until the exam, don’t we do past papers? As the exam approaches, we might focus on organizing previous study materials, reviewing, and memorizing. I think the direction of preparation is different. I haven't studied much myself, so I'm not sure if this analogy is appropriate.
Q: The World Championship is a long-term event. When did you sense that T1 would win the championship?
faker : Throughout the World Championship, I never felt confident about winning the championship. Our preparation process and competitive state for this World Championship were not good. I thought it would be difficult to win, but various elements of luck also helped us. The opponents in the semifinals and finals were very strong.
Q: In the semifinals, you faced GEN, who had a poor record, and in the finals, you faced the strong Chinese team BLG?
faker : We did not make special preparations against our opponents. In this World Championship, the instantaneous operational changes and focus during team fights were very important, and we tried to concentrate on our fundamentals. Although BLG did not perform well initially, they gradually showed signs of growth. We believed that the momentum of such a team would be good, so we worked hard not to lose in terms of momentum. We expected the match against BLG to be similar to the semifinals, and the match was quite challenging.
Q: You suffered a devastating defeat in the first game of the important finals. How did you adjust your mindset?
faker : I think there is no need to dwell on the matches that have already been played. Since there have been situations of both great victories and defeats in practice, I do not mind.
Q: In the final game, you used Galio to buy the Rabadon's Deathcap, which became a hot topic?
faker : In my view, purchasing that item (Rabadon's Deathcap) was the choice with the highest win rate and the least variance.
Q: Can you elaborate a bit more on that?
faker : To briefly explain part of it... From our team's composition, Xayah's damage output was already sufficient, and the remaining heroes also had some output. The opponent's composition was centered around Ahri... The opponent's burst damage was not that high. I believe that when I purchased damage items (items that increase damage), even if someone on our team gets caught, the probability of a devastating defeat is quite low.
