[Translation] Interview with MVP Ozone

Original article: http://www.inven.co.kr/board/powerbbs.php?come_idx=2744&query=view&p=1&category=&sort=PID&orderby=&where=&name=&subject=&content=&keyword=&sterm=&iskin=&mskin=&l=1905

The Defending Champions MVP Ozone: “Najin Black Sword is the team to look out for in the upcoming season.”

MVP Ozone are currently on a roll, winning the OGN The Champions Spring Season, then immediately followed up with another victory at AMD-Inven Championship. With impressive performances against HGD, LG-IM #2, SK Telecom T1 #2, and Najin White Shield in that tournament, they proved that last season’s triumph was not a fluke.

What are thoughts of MVP Ozone coming into this season? What are their opinions on the much talked about, renewed roster of Najin Black Sword? And of course, their thoughts looking back on their spring season performances.

Q: It’s been a while since your victory, but congratulations anyhow. How did you feel about the victory?

Homme: Hello, I’m the top-laner of MVP Ozone, Homme. I was so exhilarated to lift the trophy, and above all, it was great to share the victory with my younger teammates. Now that the summer season is before us, we’ll practice hard so that we do well this time round also.

Imp: Hi. I was happy to begin with, but to be honest, now I’m just worried about the upcoming summer season. There are great expectations for us to do well in the summer season, and we have to live up to those expectations. The pressure is much greater than it was when we reached the round of eight, or the round of four, or even the finals. I’m feeling the burden of having to live up to people’s expecations.

MaTa: I’m glad to have achieved this much this soon after my debut. However, as happy as I am, there’s no denying that the next season will be tough. Last season we were the underdogs, but now we have everybody else gunning for us. I hope to face a team we haven’t faced before in the upcoming season, I’m not too fussed about which.

DanDy: Hello. I’m so happy to have won after only having a year as professional gamer. I really want to do well this season also in order to secure a spot for the Season 3 World Championship.

Dade: I’m feeling great. Now that we’ve won The Champions, it would be awesome to win the Season 3 World Championship.

Q: The poll results for the finals were overwhelmingly in favour of CJ Entus Blaze, with only 11% of the fans voting for MVP Ozone. How did you feel?

Imp: Honestly, I felt less burdened. People were thinking that CJ Entus Blaze would win anyways, and I could just focus on my game without worrying about the backlash from the fans if I lost (laughs). It was a relief not having to worry about people’s expectations.

I believe that CJ Entus Blaze must have felt a lot of pressure, especially compared to us. It was easier for us to prepare for our opponents in a cold and calculated manner.

MaTa: They are only numbers. We reached the finals too. People were too focused on our past image as a bottom-feeder team. The fact that our opponents were a famous team like CJ Entus Blaze, or had a 13 game winning streak didn’t play too big a role in deciding the results of the finals.

Nothing can be said for certain. I guess people were too swayed by past results. It’s kind of like Schrodinger’s cat, you just don’t know for sure until the box is opened.

Homme: Quite frankly, we were totally content with our results after reaching the finals, and were able approach the finals match-up in a calm manner. I think we had an advantage in a way.

Of course, now the tables have turned. We could be the team that 89% of the people expect to win. Keep an eye out for us.

DanDy: If I’m to be honest, I was pissed off at the results of the polls. What kind of team goes into the finals expecting to lose? Everybody seemed to expect us to do that, and I was not going to let that happen. I guess it helped in a way.

Dade: It was a miraculous victory considering how almost everyone expected us to lose, but I get the feeling that we’re not getting that much attention after our dramatic victory. It’s a shame in away.

Q: Didn’t you feel intimidated by CJ Entus Blaze?

MaTa: It’s probably the same for everybody on our team, but I personally never felt intimidated by our opponents, whoever they may be. It’s kind of a personal trait. I played as if I were calling orders and practicing with my teammates on solo-que, and it worked out great.

The only thing that I was worried about was the fact that we were on such a grandiose stage. The subtle differences in setting, or surrounding environment could have affected us. Thankfully, the games themselves weren’t that different from our regular practice sessions. I was more nervous when I was being called out to play in front of the class during music lessons in middle school (laughs).

Imp: Not really. I was more concerned about the fans thinking that our team wasn’t any good if we lost the finals. I too had the jitters when I was forced to play the recorder in front of the class (laughs).

DanDy: Well, I happened to get more nervous when I had to read aloud to the rest of the students (laughs). I’m joking. I just hyped myself up by thinking that I could carry the team. So everything was fine.

Homme: To be honest, I was worried about Flame due to his recent form. I guess I was the only one in my team that felt burdened by the finals (laughs). It cannot be denied that I was under the most pressure. I really wanted my teammates to win.

Dade: I went into the finals thinking I had “won” second place, so there was not pressure (laughs). I think I played better because of that.

Q: So exactly how strong were CJ Entus Blaze?

Homme: They definitely are a team that team-fights really well. We kept losing the odd team-fights even in situations where we shouldn’t be losing them. They know how to play from behind.

MaTa: Maybe it’s because we’ve won, I definitely felt that we prepared for the finals much more thoroughly. Of course, they must have prepared hard also, but we had to advantage of being the challengers. It is easier to close the gap on a strong team, than it is for a strong team to increase the gap with the others.

Imp: I just wanted show some good games. I guess the fans were shocked by the sweep.

DanDy: I’ve always felt a wall playing against CJ Entus Blaze in the past. However, I now realize that there’s no mountains we can’t climb if we prepare hard enough.

Dade: If I’m to be honest, I’ve always felt intimidated by Ambition whenever I played against CJ Entus Blaze, and ended up overextending in lane in order to compensate. This time round, I talked myself into believing that I was as good as him, and focused on my own game. I didn’t have to force myself into doing anything, and was able to come out victorious.

Q: What did you prepare in particular for CJ Entus Blaze?

Dade: I prepared a lot, but wasn’t able to show all of it. For example, I wanted to pick a champion that I was comfortable laning with, and showing how it could remain viable in the late game with various styles of management, but wasn’t able to showcase my preparations this time round.

DanDy: I prepared specifically to stop CJ Entus Blaze’s style.

Homme: I didn’t prepare anything in particular, I just felt as if we were taking an examination on the subject of overall game management against a world-class team like CJ Entus Blaze.

MaTa: I focused more on the early game strategies and game management rather than practicing for the laning-phase mechanics.

Imp: Ways to stop Flame (laughs)?

Q: Which player were you most wary of?

Imp: Ambition of course.

MaTa: Me too.

Dade: Cpt Jack for me. It’s hard to gauge his potential.

Homme: Like it is to be expected, Flame. If I slipped up, Flame would have gotten fed, which I attempted to prevent happening.

DanDy: Flame for me as well. He is unstoppable when he is on a roll. I had to prevent that from happening at all costs.

Q: Everybody on the team played well of course, but who apart from Dade, the MVP of the entire tournament, contributed most to your victory?

Homme: From my point of view, the backbone of our team is DanDy, but he hardly gets any recognition. As far as I’m concerned, he was our MVP.

Imp: Agreed. He was the reason why the games went our way. To be fair, that is what junglers are supposed to do, but DanDy did it really well. He swung the game in our favour with his ganks. Everybody played well, so nobody really stood out. Game one in particular had everyone playing at their peak level.

MaTa: Homme for me. It’s really easy to plan a game out in your head if your top-laner is up to par. It was really easy for the rest of the team due to the top-laner and jungler outdoing themselves. The ideal game management is for the jungler to dominate the early game by helping the top and mid-lane, while the bottom-lane holds their ground, but even our bottom lane ended up on top, so there wasn’t a single lane that didn’t go in our favour.

Dade: DanDy. The other members of our team gets praise when its due, but strangely enough DanDy never gets any praise (laughs). He’s the kind of player who gets noticed only when he’s doing bad. Please keep an eye out for our jungler in the future!

DanDy: It has to be me (laughs). People just don’t know that well. The jungler dictates the pace of the game early on. It’s kind of like parenting all the laners so they grow up to be successful.

It’s hard to get noticed as a jungler without playing Zed or Lee Sin. I was especially happy with the accuracy of my Elise cocoons. That’s enough self-praising for now (laughs).

MaTa: Mommy, why do your meals suck (laughs)?

Q: When did you realize that you’ve won the entire thing?

DanDy: When we won the second game. We’re immensely confident of our success when we start on the blue side. I felt like we were going to win after I won the coin toss for the starting positions. Oh, by the way, it was me that won the coin toss (laughs)! I’m the man!

Imp: Luck was on our side with the coin toss, and I just knew we were going to win after we’ve won the first match with the way everyone was playing.

MaTa: It was during the final game. Dade caught Kha’Zix off-guard, and we won the team-fight that ensued in the mid-lane, and everybody on our team stayed out alive while everybody on CJ Entus Blaze except Vladimir was killed. I knew then that we had won.

Homme: I knew for certain when their nexus was down to half-HP. I wasn’t sure of our victory until the very last moment (laughs).

Dade: I knew when I picked Zed for the third time in a row.

[b]Q: Since DanDy helped the the momentum shift in MVP Ozone favour, was it an injustice that Dade received MVP instead?

DanDy: It’s okay. I was proud of Dade for winning the MVP of the season. And I’m sure that he’ll buy me lots of delicious food.

Dade: I won’t. I’m going to save it all (laughs).

Q: It would be different for every single match, but what would you say was the turning point in the games?

MaTa: Probably when DanDy’s Elise cocoons were on-target? Oh, and when Homme’s Zac survived after having his passive popped.

Dade: DanDy’s was on fire that day with his ganks.

Homme: All our early game advantage was possible due to DanDy.

Imp: When DanDy pulled off his first gank successfully with his Elise?

DanDy: Why is everyone bigging me up? They’re not like this usually (laughs). As for me, it was when Dade killed Ambition with his Zed.

Q: Which play are you most proud of?

Homme: It was probably when my Zac passive got popped (laughs). Everybody kept saying I played Zac because it was okay for me to die the first time round.

DanDy: When I struck my cocoon on Cpt Jack.

MaTa: When I flash-death sentenced Ambition in the third game. And I must confess it was awesome that I predicted Lee Sin’s sonic wave when I had next to zero hit points and survived by shoving him away with my flay (laughs).

Dade: There’s just too many to mention. Don’t you think so? Every single time I killed Kha’Zix was highlight worthy. I’m kidding (laughs). It was when I killed Ambition’s Kha’Zix when Helios tried to help him out in the enemy jungle.

Imp: I think there was a pretty good play in game one. It was when everyone tried to kill my Vayne in the enemy jungle, but I survived long enough for the team to ace CJ Entus Blaze.

Q: Okay, what about the most precarious moments during the finals?

Dade: The fact that I chose Zed (laughs). Every moment was precarious.

DanDy: I believe it was the first dragon team-fight in game one. Of course, the enemy Caitlyn didn’t secure the kill on Vayne because of the Karthus ultimate, and that swayed things in our direction.

Homme: When my Zac passive got popped (laughs).

Imp: Nothing really stands out. Maybe the first dragon team-fight like DanDy mentioned.

MaTa: It was when two of our ultimates got wasted due to miscommunication during game two. Dade and Homme died, and things could have been dicy.

Q: What were the key picks and bans?

DanDy: Ryze and Kennen?

MaTa: Ryze, Kennen, and Zed.

DanDy: My Elise? Homme messed up the ban picks, he shouldn’t do that next time.

Homme: It’s okay because things turned out well. Thresh and Vayne were important too. Why are there so many important champions (laughs)?

Q: Were there any tough moments during the entire tournament?

Dade: Group stages. I thought we might get knocked out early.

DanDy: Right before MVP Blue got knocked out by KT Rolster A. Come on guys, own up if you laughed when MVP Blue lost their games to KT Rolster A (laughs).

MaTa: The games against Najin Sword was the hardest for me. It was really fortunate that we won the second game after losing the first match against them.

Imp: The round of eight for me. The match-up versus KT Rolster B was the most dangerous.

Homme: Me too. I was worried because they have such good management skills. After I died trying to ward in game one, I thought to myself, “it’s all over”.

Q: What was your most memorable moment then?

Homme: The finals of course.

MaTa: The fourth game against KT Rolster B for me. My Zyra pained the enemy team.

Imp: When we lost 2:0 to CJ Entus Blaze during the group stages.

DanDy: When KT Rolster A knocked out MVP Blue. Seriously, people need to own up if they laughed.

Dade: Laning against Faker of SK Telecom T1 #2.

Q: Which teams do you expect to be strong in the upcoming season?

Homme: Najin Black Sword. Expession joined the team, and they are preparing hard as the team with the most amount of circuit points in the Korean scene. They have a lot to show.

Imp: Najin Black Sword, because their name sounds funny (laughs). In all seriousness, they have a strong bottom-lane, and a top-laner with the best mechanics in my opinion. Furthermore, Watch now has a free reign to do what he wants. They will become a scary team.
Dade: SK Telecom T1 #2 for me. They impressed as soon as they made their debut, and now that they have some experience under their belt, they will become even stronger.

DanDy: Najin Black Sword. They are a team that changes things up, I’m wary of that.

MaTa: Najin Black Sword for me as well. Their roster is basically an All Stars of the Korean scene, and they are very strong individually, and now that they’re all together, it’s pretty scary. I’m expecting Watch to do well again like he did during the winter season last year.

Q: Now there’s a lot of weight on your shoulders, aren’t you burdened by the fact that you’re the defending champions? A lot of defending champions have failed to live up to the expectations.

Homme: It’s important not to get overwhelmed by these things. Of course, it would be a lie to say we are not influenced by these things. However, we’ll go through these hurdles. Watch us overcome these difficulties.

Q: Looking forward to it already. Any last words?

DanDy: Najin players helped us a lot during our preparations for the finals. Thank you so much. I’d like to thank MVP Blue too.

Homme: I’ll try hard this season also. Who else is getting up there in age? Shout outs to CloudTemplar, Cain, and Hoon. They are a little younger than me of course, but they’re still pretty old (laughs). It would be awesome to see all us old folks rocking it in the summer season!

Dade: Please cheer for us as we prepare to win twice in a row. I’ll try getting the MVP of the season this time round also!

MaTa: I want to carry more games in the future. Plus, I’d like to receive the MVP title also. I was so close last time round (laughs).

Imp: Thank you for your support. I’ll try my absolute hardest.

[Translation] Interview with MVP Ozone

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