On Jul. 19, in the 2023 LCK Summer Split, Hanwha Life Esports faced Liiv SANDBOX. Up to now, Hanwha Life Esports didn’t lose a single game to the “eastern teams” ranked 6th-10th, and this streak didn’t end today. They had a swift 2-0 win to collect their 8th win of the season. In this match, rookie jungler Jo “Grizzly” Seung-hoon had a great performance and was voted the Player of the Game for both games. Grizzly joined Yoon Su-bin after the match for an interview.
It’s your first POG. How do you feel?
In the first game playing Maokai, I thought I would get voted as POG when I got a triple kill, but I didn’t know I would get POG for game 2.
Hanwha Life Esports is undefeated against the “eastern teams”. How do you think you’re doing?
Our performance still isn’t the best, so we’ll work hard to have a better performance.
Game 1 was against a double-marksman composition with Tristana and Aphelios plus Ivern. How did you plan to face it?
We were confident about teamfights since our bot duo was Samira and Rell. As for me, I played against Ivern often, so I was confident in playing Maokai into Ivern.
You had some great steals in game 2, one steal was during a teamfight. How was the situation?
It was late into the game, and I thought if Azir and Xayah dealt damage well, we’ll win. I was guarding Xayah at first, but when I saw the dragon’s HP, I saw that there was 1,300 HP left, and Ezreal was the only one hitting it, so I thought I should get the dragon first.
You’ve picked Maokai most often with a 5-2 record. Why do you play Maokai so often?
Our mid and bot players are great at carrying the team. I like playing Maokai and Sejuani because they’re champions that can help them carry.
Are you confident in playing them well?
Yes. I’m confident that I can scale faster than the opponent jungler.
You’re adapting to the LCK really fast. What was different than expected? Anything that you learned?
There were a lot of things that were different than I expected, but more than that, I learned a lot. Every day is so fun since I’m playing and living with the players I only saw on screen.
Who helped you the most in adapting to the LCK?
All four of them made me feel so comfortable.
What did you learn?
The head coach and coach are both junglers. Every game I play, they teach me a lot. I learned so much.
We heard that you lifted a total of 350 kg on the big three back in high school. How much do you lift now?
We’re in the middle of the season, so I don’t think I can check. I’ll see how much I lift after the season.
How much do you want to lift?
I don’t have any specific goals, but I want to lift more than 350 kg.
Who do you think will win if you arm-wrestle with Kingen and Zeka?
We haven’t tried, but I think they’re stronger than me. I saw them exercise, and it seemed that they were stronger.
It was a satisfying win for you. Your next opponent will be T1. How do you think it’ll go?
I always think that we’ll win if I play well. If I don’t get intimidated and do my role, I believe we can win.
It was your first POG, and you’ve gained a lot of fans now. A word to them?
It’s rainy and hot recently. Don’t catch a cold. Thank you for cheering for me.
HLE Grizzly on facing T1: “If I don’t get intimidated and do my role, I believe we can win.”
