On October 27 at the Gwangju Women's University Universiade Gymnasium in South Korea, Invictus Gaming soared to Worlds 2018 finals with the hopes of the LPL fans on their shoulders by defeating G2 3-0.
Here's what the team had to say in a post game press conference with the Chinese, Korean and English media.
Congratulations on the victory. How does it feel to win and progress to the finals?
Gao "Ning" Zhen-Ning: We've won today's victory too easily, so I wasn't nervous. I was no more nervous than the quarterfinals.
Wang "Baolan" Liu-Yi: It was an easy victory. I don't have particular thoughts since we won 3-0.
Yu "JackeyLove" Wen-Bo: I'm happy, but I think I didn't play well so I have mixed feelings.
Song "Rookie" Eui-jin: I'll have more things to say when we win. So today, I'll pass.
Kang "TheShy" Seung-lok: Not much to say as that was an easy victory. It just feels good.
Lee "Duke" Ho-Seong: I was on the side watching, but I guess I'm the happiest person today.
Kim "Heart" Jeong-soo: The players were very happy, but they seem to be acting stern in this interview.
Coach Heart, in Game 1 and 2, the team picked Jayce and you seemed prepared for the pick. Was this from the coaching staff?
Heart: Jayce wasn't our first choice for top, but we had prepared Jayce as our third or fourth choice. TheShy has such a large champion pool, that even if the other team was to use all five bans on the top lane we would still have picks prepared that we had practiced on. Jayce was one of them.
Rookie, this is your second worlds after three years. This time, you've made it to worlds finals. How does it feel to be here?
Rookie: This is my second worlds, and this time, I've come to the finals stage that I did not dream I would be on. So I have a lot of mixed feelings. In a way, I wonder if we even deserve to be here with our level of skill. But we've worked hard towards this, and the results speak of our efforts. We must show a good performance in the finals. I'm a little worried, too.
Rookie, in Game 3 you picked LeBlanc as the third pick for your team. It's not easy to pick LB so early on in the drafting phase. Confidence?
Rookie: [Luka "Perkz" Perković] and I are both good at LeBlanc. In this meta, there is no champion that can stomp LeBlanc in the lane. Also, Perkz is very good at LeBlanc so I thought the game will get hairy if Perkz was allowed to pick LeBlanc again. So we also picked LeBlanc in order to deny that pick from Perkz.
Coach Heart, out of Cloud9 and Fnatic who would you like to win?
Heart: Personally, I would like Cloud9 to come to the finals. Fnatic has beaten us twice at worlds. However, I'm personally predicting Fnatic to win. I'll have to watch the match tomorrow and begin analysis.
Rookie, what was your impression laning against Perks?
Rookie: I know that Perkz was good, but when I came in today, I thought to myself I was a better player overall.
Rookie, mid laners very important in the current meta. How do you feel about this? Also, there are two other mid-laners remaining; [Rasmus "Caps" Winther] and [Nicolaj "Jensen" Jensen]. Out of these two, who would you like to lane against the most?
Rookie: Suddenly, the meta has shifted towards mid, jungle and top. As of laning against Perkz I was confident. I have a good time against mid-laners with Perkz's style. I always had a harder time against mid laners that play safe then roam other lanes, but laning against Perkz was comfortable.
As for Caps and Jensen, they have shown great performances during the quarterfinals and they are good. I would like to meet Caps over Jensen, as I should have beaten him harder during the semifinals and I didn't get to, so I think some revenge is due. I want the world to know that I'm the number one [mid-laner].
TheShy, in Game 3, your turned the game around by your great performance on Aatrox. Can you tell us more about the teamfight?
TheShy: All my teammates were calling to back away, but I wanted to go in. I was in a position to go in without too much risk. I think that came to a good result.
Other than you, there are three other top laners remaining at Worlds: [Gabriël "Bwipo" Rau], [Paul "sOAZ" Boyer], [Eric "Licorice" Ritchie]. Out of these, who do you want to go against the most?
TheShy: There isn't any particular player that I would like to go against. However, I still have the memory of being defeated by Fnatic at the group stages. Therefore, I'd like to meet Fnatic again.
Rookie, how does it feel to play again in Korea?
Rookie: The last time I was in Korea, I was with KT Rolster in 2014 where we won the LCK. I think the team is getting that good energy out of these times.
Everytime iG play at the finals we would always fall just short of victory. I want to get rid of this jinx, too.
JackeyLove, there is an international interest on the LPL and its bot lanes this year. A lot of credit has went to [Jian "Uzi" Zi-Hao], but he is not here; you are. How do you feel about this? Do you believe that you carry a lot of weight on your shoulders?
JackeyLove: This is my best shot. This is the one chance in my life to have good results at worlds. Uzi deserves all the appreciation and credit. He lost in quarterfinal but still the remains the best AD carry.
I am happy that I am here while Uzi is not. However, I just hope that I don't get flamed by Uzi fans when I return to LPL.