ROX Kuro talks EDG win, SKT rematch at Worlds

Group A’s number one seed ROX Tigers faced off against Group B’s number two seed Edward Gaming on the third day of the 2016 League of Legends World Championships.

ROX Tigers got off to an impressive start with convincing victories in the first two games. After stumbling briefly and losing game three they rallied and dominated Edward Gaming in game four to win the series. Shortly after securing their place in the Semi-Finals, Rift Herald caught up with mid laner Seohaeng “Kuro” Lee to talk about facing off against rival LCK Team SK Telecom, how he likes to roam on Aurelion Sol and the power of Jhin in teamfights.

Ryan Gilliam: You had a lot of success on the Aurelion Sol pick but so did your opponent Scout. Could you talk to me a little bit about the power Aurelion sol brings to a team comp?

Seohaeng “Kuro” Lee: Our team likes a really strong champ where we can push mid lane. And personally I think my champion mastery with Sol is pretty good so I think it fits me and my team very well.

Ryan: So can you talk a little bit about why in game 3 you picked Ryze even though Aurelion Sol was up, especially after you had done very well in the Aurelion Sol versus Ryze match up?

Kuro: We agree that we did very well with Sol in the first two games, but our team composition fit more with Ryze and had better synergy with Ryze than Sol, so that’s why we picked Ryze.

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Ryan: So with Ryze being able to do this a little bit and Aurelion Sol and a few other picks can you talk to me a little bit about the roaming style you tended to play tonight?

Kuro: If there is an opportunity to dive another lane that’s when I start roaming. Or if I see an opportunity to dive another lane that’s when I make the call and roam.

Ryan: When you were preparing for this game obviously EDG will play pawn or Scout, were you preparing for both of those those match ups and who were you preferring to face?

Kuro: When I practice against EDG I have faced Scout and Pawn both, but for me I think Pawn is actually more complex to face against. So, it’s better match up for me to play against Scout. It’s probably [Pawn’s] back health that prevented him from playing better and coming out of this series. But it was to my benefit that Scout actually came out in mid.

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Ryan: So you had Jhin on your team, and I wanted to talk to you a little about that. How do you feel personally Jhin, and his ability to engage from a very long range, effects the mid game and how you play around that?

Kuro: Jhin is actually still a very strong laner, but I think there is a lot more stronger laning ADCs, that’s why Jhin tends to be viewed as a little weaker ADC in this meta right now. But we really like Jhin because he can initiate, he can roam and he can actually open a team fight. So we like Jhin and we like to use him in our team composition.

Ryan: With Jhin having to hang so far back, does that change your ability to engage after he has already kinda poked things out. Do you try to wait for him to pull back up, what’s your strategy there?

Kuro: Usually Jhin initiates with his W and after he uses all his ults it’s either we win or they win. We already know who’s gonna win after the fourth shot of his ult so either we are running or we are chasing after them.

Ryan: Next week you guys are going up against SKT, which is an organization you have a lot of history with. What does it mean to be able to face them again in Worlds this year?

Kuro: We have always thought we could always beat SK, but this time around our trust in that is a lot stronger than before. We also think that SKT really outstanding in the finals and we are actually kinda glad we met them in the Semi-Finals cause they are actually like a beast in the finals. So, we are confident we can beat them this time around.

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Ryan: I have one last question. If your team makes it all the way and the ROX tigers win in the finals who do you want your championship skin for and can you describe that for me a little bit?

Kuro: It used to be Viktor, but I have used Aurelion Sol a lot and I have had good results with it, so either Aurelion Sol or Viktor it doesn’t matter.