Hanwha Life Insurance, the reason for perfect preparation before T1? Director Choi In-gyu “I blocked the ban pick that the opponent wanted”
Hanwha Life Insurance succeeded in hunting the ‘big fish’ T1 with thorough preparation from the ban-pick stage. Hanwha Life coach Choi In-gyu explained that the key point of this match was “I tried to prevent the opponent from forming a ban-pick.” 메이저놀이터
Hanwha Life Insurance won the 2023 LOL Champions Korea (LCK) Spring Season T1 in the first round, 2-1, held at the LCK Arena in Jongno, Jongno, Seoul on the afternoon of the 2nd. With this victory, Hanwha Life Insurance succeeded in escaping from three consecutive losses, laying the foundation for a future rebound with two wins (3 losses, -1 gain and loss). T1 (4 wins, 1 loss, +5 loss), who suffered their first loss after the opening, allowed Gen.J to pursue.
Coach Choi In-kyu, who was interviewed in the press room after the game, said, “During the losing streak, our practice direction was ‘Wasn’t it wrong?’ There was also a doubt, but I am happy that we defeated T1 and proved to some extent that we are right.”
On this day, Hanwha Life Insurance showed off a neat ban-pick against T1 and succeeded in a reverse sweep of ‘lose-win-win’. According to coach Choi In-gyu, the ‘key point’ to catch T1 was not to give the opponent the ban-pick composition they wanted. Manager Choi In-gyu said, “T1 picked up a lot of initiative combinations using two ‘distance dealer’ champions. We blocked that part and came up with a ban-pick that we can take the lead.”
In addition, the key point in the ban-pick stage was the bot line. Coach Choi In-kyu said, “I thought it would be bad if we were locked in the tower against T1. We had to actively attack, but the ‘bot line’ was at the forefront,” he added. “We were able to achieve results by solving the game with this goal.
Accordingly, Hanwha Life caught T1 off guard in the 2nd and 3rd set ban-pick stages. The 2nd set T1 chose Nami first and aimed for the ‘Lucian-Nami’ combination, but Hanwha Life Insurance brought Lucian instead. Director Choi In-kyu said, “I had a similar strategy in practice. The destructive power in the second half was good, and it was a strategic choice to break the ban-pick structure that T1 wanted.”
In the 3rd set, it was determined that T1 did not favor Jerry-Lulu, so they did not invest resources in the ban-pick phase. In response, T1 turned to Jinx-Soraka and conceded defeat. Coach Choi In-gyu explained, “The fact that T1 doesn’t like Jerry-Lulu came out a lot in the previous games,” and “I made a combination with Ellis added to avoid being dragged around.”
Hanwha Life’s victory against T1 is very encouraging. They caught both rabbits, such as ‘reversing the atmosphere’ and ‘establishing the foundation for PO’. Coach Choi In-kyu said, “We are showing our winning plan after breaking the losing streak.” I will repay the fans who were disappointed during the losing streak with good performances.