T1's Oner says he learned much from Daeny and Zefa

Esports

Published: 17 Jul. 2021, 12:57

T1's Oner says he learned much from Daeny and Zefa

T1's Moon ″Oner″ Hyeon-joon played at LoL Park for the first time on Thursday, albeit without a live audience. [KORIZON ESPORTS]

After T1's 2-0 victory over KT Rolster on Thursday, rookie jungler Moon "Oner" Hyeon-joon sat down for a post-match chat to discuss playing at LoL Park for the first time, how he reacted to Yang "Daeny" Dae-in and Lee "Zefa" Jae-min's abrupt departure, and his goals for the rest of the season.

Following are edited excerpts from the interview conducted by Ashley Kang of Korizon Esports, which shares a content partnership with the Korea JoongAng Daily. The full video can be found on the Korizon Esports YouTube channel.

Q. You just played your match at LoL Park and won against KT in a 2-0. It must be a great day for you. How are you, Oner?

A. I felt like I performed poorly back when I played in spring. So I thought to myself that I should prepare really hard and put on a better performance this time. And I feel like I achieved that. I'm happy.

Q. The T1 players looked like they were in a good mood. But how were you feeling as you entered the stage today, as you were setting up for the match?

A. I hadn't been nervous even when we arrived at LoL Park. But then when we were setting up, getting ready for the match, my heart started beating faster. I started grabbing people around me and told them, "Hey, my heart is beating too fast." Then we started joking around, and I felt better.

Q. This may be a sensitive topic, but are you confident about keeping your starting spot?

A. Well, every single jungler on this T1 roster is just so good. To be honest, that makes me a little nervous, even though I do have confidence. But there will always be a player that's better for a certain meta, right? So, for now, I am confident about starting.

Q. T1 made a very sudden change to its coaching staff before today's match. May I carefully ask if it affected you? How did you feel about it?

A. I didn't have a lot of time to prepare for today's match. And in the middle of that, Daeny and Zefa ended up leaving. I felt very worried, to be honest. But there were so many things I had learned from them, and I think I did a good job of applying their feedback to my play. So I thought that I should keep working hard based on that.

Q. What kind of expectations should we have for T1 for the remainder of the summer split?

A. We worked really hard to follow the direction [Daeny and Zefa] had set for seven, eight months. If we only continue to follow that direction well, I think it will be easy for us to make it to Worlds. [...] For me, right now, my goal is to make it to Worlds.

* 애슐리 강과 T1 '오너' 문현준 선수와의 경기 후 인터뷰 풀영상은 코라이즌 이스포츠 유튜브 채널에서 시청하실 수 있습니다. 위 문답은 인터뷰 전체 내용이 아닌 일부 발췌본입니다.

BY ASHLEY KANG, JEON YOUNG-JAE [jeon.youngjae@joongang.co.kr]