EPT
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/tlpd/images/teams/icons/1.png){kind=icon}
SK Telecom T1![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/ogThsZK.jpg)
Source: inven eSports
How do you feel about defeating Jin Air by a score of 4-2 and winning the championship?
iloveoov: Back when I was first entering my days as a pro gamer, I figured a championship means defeating maybe 3 or 4 players. I saw getting to the finals as an easy task. But once I experienced the taste of being on the bottom I realized just how difficult it actually it is to win a championship. And of course, for this finals, I was reminded of the 2014 finals that had taken place.Looking back on it now, our preparation for the finals last year was incomplete. In fact, KT Rolster's preparation really surprised me. So for this finals, every single member came together as one and completely digested the scheduled that was set forth. I think we were able to learn just what it takes to win a championship.
Coach Park Dae Kyung: After we won the championship, for about five minutes, no thoughts came to my mind. And then once those five minutes were up, I suddenly started feeling everything and I was really glad. There was a huge roster shift this year as compared to last year at the start of this season and I was actually worried about that. But Classic and soO were constantly performing well and our new recruit, INnoVation, did well also so I am really grateful to them.
Coach Kwon Oh Hyuk: I joined SKT starting from Round 3 after my discharge. But since SKT was such a well established team even before I came along, it honestly felt like to me that all I was doing was setting up the utensils for an already completed meal. But then again, that in itself is also not such a bad feeling either (laughs).
Your finals opponent was Jin Air. How did you prepare?
iloveoov: Jin Air is an opponent that we normally feel confident against. Yes, Jin Air is a strong team, but we just figured that we would help them get to the finals as they exposed their weaknesses to us. It was a win/win strategy for both sides. Honestly though, I wanted CJ Entus to advance through. CJ has 3 aces and 3 subs vs our 5 aces and 1 sub. But if Jin Air made it to the finals, then that means they would be riding a crazy momentum and that would have been concerning.
In regards to your victory today, how far did you think you would go?
iloveoov: For all our mirror matches, I foresaw a 50/50 chance. But soO and INnoVation winning their non-mirror matches was really big.Who did you think performed the best today?
iloveoov: When I first started off in this leadership position, the topic that received the most attention was the fact that players who regularly receive starting positions can’t seem to understand how players who are stuck as being only practice partners feel. I was very sympathetic to that statement. But in my case, I worked very hard to overcome that kind of problem and I also worked hard so that I could give opportunities to be sent out in the lineup for players that felt that way.There is a big difference between players who have no opportunity whatsoever to be sent out and players who are able to break through the barriers. I feel that this kind of understanding is what allowed players like Zoun, Billowy, Sorry, and Impact to progress forward.
Starting next year, it will be all about LotV.
iloveoov: In terms of HotS individual leagues, I’m sure that SKT players were the ones who advanced to finals the most. Our goal is to achieve a good result for all leagues. It doesn’t matter if we have a Proleague match scheduled two days later, if an individual league match is scheduled the very next day, then we’ll prepare for that match first.How did you feel about being sent out as the starter?
Sorry: I asked to be sent out on Coda even before the maps came out because I felt the most confident on that map. I am disappointed that I lost but I am so glad that we won the championship. I’ve been a part of SKT for four years now, but stepping foot on the finals stage for Proleague was a first for me so the feeling was very different from anything I had ever felt before.You took down Jin Air’s ace, Maru.
Dream: In all of my entire pro gaming career, I prepared for this match the hardest. I actually woke up this morning with a nosebleed (laughs).How did you feel about today’s match?
soO: There was a bit of pressure there that I had to win no matter what when I saw who I was up against. None the less, I’m glad that I was able to fulfill my role completely.How do you feel about being the finals MVP?
INnoVation: I felt pressured because sOs’ momentum was so good, but I told myself that the only way for me to play better is to face the strongest players on the big stage. Granted, because of how the game played out we both probably couldn’t think straight but I felt like sOs was feeling nervous. So I kept getting this feeling that I was going to win as the set was being played.You grabbed the rookie of the year award.
Dark: For two years now, I have continuously lost in the important matches. I am sorry to my teammates for that and am grateful to them as well. For next Proleague season, instead of achieving the rookie of the year award, I will achieve the most wins award.You completed the team’s championship victory.
Classic: I can never forget how I gave my team the second place finish last Proleague season with my own hands. I didn’t want to repeat that same occurrence this year so I worked really hard. I did feel pressure by the fact that I was once again the sixth player to be sent out, but I wanted to redeem myself for last year’s mistake so I decided to accept my entry. It feels so good because I won.There were a lot of roster changes with the start of the 2015 SPL season.
iloveoov: I realized that the pyramid method was the best kind of format. So I figured it was time for our team to also adapt that kind of format.At the very top of the pyramid is soO, Classic, Dark, and INnoVation. But that position was never fixed in place. I planted in all the practice partner players’ minds that they could find a place in the top spot if they kept improving. This kind of thinking did not come through well for 2014, so that’s why we changed things up completely for 2015.
Currently, the SKT LoL team is in the Ro8 for World’s. Any words of encouragement?
iloveoov: There was a time in the past where both the SC2 team and the LoL team were undefeated. We joked back then that we should make sure we don’t lose before the LoL team does (laughs). And then, when the LoL team lost their first match, right afterwards, we lost too. I know that the popular opinion is that SKT is favored to win the LoL championship. Therefore, I wish for them to succeed so that we can make a statement together that SK Telecom T1 eSports is the greatest.Methods to locating SC2 interviews:
- Go to the TL.net search bar and type in [Interview] and then search. You will find the most recent interviews at the top
- Go to the SC2 Interviews/Translation Archive
- Go to the liquipedia page for that player and look at the section titled "Interviews" http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft2/PartinG#Interviews
- Go to the liquipedia page for that specific tournament and find this icon:
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/wfoGKzI.png)
If you click on that icon, it will take you to the interview for that group's match winners
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