Samsung Galaxy mid laner Lee “Crown” Min-ho seems to be looking forward to playing Royal Never Give Up but also isn’t underestimating G2 Esports.
After Samsung defeated G2 in its first match of the League of Legends World Championship group stage, Crown said in a video interview with Fomos’ Park Sang-jin he expects a stiff challenge from RNG and talented players Jian “Uzi” Zi-Hao and Li “XiaoHu” Yuan-Hao.
“Like other people, I think Uzi is a very talented player, and I think he’s quite cute,” he said, smiling. “Uzi is the main force behind RNG, but I’m also focusing on XiaoHu. I’m making sure to be cautious of not only Uzi, but the other players on RNG as well.”
XiaoHu showcased a stable and reliable set of performances during the 2017 League of Legends Pro League summer split compared to his previous seasons, and he was one of the players who helped RNG secure a berth in the summer finals. As the LPL’s regular season MVP, XiaoHu’s improvement was clearly on display, and he has the potential be a key player for RNG.
On the other side of that coin, Crown admitted he faltered in the League Champions Korea summer split and lagged from his form last year, when Samsung was the worlds runner-up. The team had a rather disappointing fourth place finish in the summer split before Samsung rallied in the regional gauntlet to beat KT Rolster in the finals, clinching the third seed to worlds.
But Crown still remains critical of his form, even in Samsung’s Day 1 win.
“I don’t think much has changed, and I’m not satisfied with my performance so far,” he said. “I will improve, though.”
Although his team just beat G2, Crown expressed that he expects G2 to improve as the tournament continues, and that it would be inadvisable for his team to be overlook the top European seed the next time they meet.
“I think G2 is a team that will show more of its potential as the group stages continue and they play more matches,” he said, “so we shouldn’t be too complacent against them.”