SKT Peanut Interview: Worlds 2017 Day 3

Hey there everyone, welcome to our Worlds 2017 Interview Series. As you may know, we have partnered with Travis Gafford and supported his trip to China to cover the games and get insights from the players. We will be sharing the interviews here along with their transcriptions. Enjoy!

Travis: Hey all! It’s Travis in Wuhan for the third day of World groups presented by Mobalytics. I’m joined right now by Peanut who I’ve not seen since Chicago of last year, as well as David who’s going to help translate. Peanut, I’d love to ask you a little bit about that game against AHQ, how do you feel about it? Because maybe I did not see as much of the SKT confidence that I am used to.

Peanut: In the early game we were at a disadvantage. Obviously we lost that confidence that we used to have, and when we started to get advantages I think we regained that confidence.

Travis: Now I’m very curious. Did you have a chance to watch the Samsung game earlier, and if so what did you think of Samsung losing to RNG?

Peanut: RNG did really well in using their advantages in the early game by putting so much pressure on Samsung. I think the biggest mistake that Samsung made was when they lane swapped, giving over a kill and then the outer turret of the top lane.

Travis: Now I remember last year in North America, you were very excited about the fans cheering for you. I’ve met a lot of SKT fans here in China and it does sound like the fans here are cheering for you a lot too. What is it like for you to be playing here in front of Chinese fans?

Peanut: I’m sorry but the only thing I can say to the fans who are cheering for me is, I just appreciate your love and all the passion that you show for me.

Travis: Very good. You do seem a little less…you seem a little more quiet this year than I remember from last year. Is it because SKT is maybe more of a struggle? Why do you seem more serious and quiet this year?

Peanut: It’s more about the team atmosphere. When I was in ROX Tigers, the whole team was actually very humorous and inside the booth when we were playing games, we joked a lot and the whole atmosphere was very friendly and humorous. In SKT, it is very serious inside the booth and when the game starts we only focus on the game. I think that is what makes the difference.

Travis: Did Kkoma tell you not to laugh or be happy and just focus on winning?

Peanut: There’s no way that he would ever say that. Actually, I still laugh a lot but I think it’s just not on the camera.

Travis: Very professional. Is there anything that you want to say to any of the fans Peanut?

Peanut: Thank you everyone.

Thanks for reading/watching! For more Worlds coverage, you can see more interviews here, or at Travis’s Youtube channel.