I MAY Coach Kezman: 'EDG have won so much, it's our turn to win'

On Saturday, League of Legends team I MAY played against LGD Gaming in a best of three. They won the set 2-1, leaving Camille open in two games. Following the match, the team took questions from press regarding their current strength and champion picks in the game.

In the third game, you banned a lot of mid champions, what factors did you consider?

Kezman: It’s not specifically directed against the enemy team’s mid laner, but mostly that right now the mid lane role is strong and has many strong champions, so we banned mid lane picks. Particularly, though, because Corki was a pain in the second game, we banned it in the third game.

Jinjiao, right now most of the AD carries played on stage are utility picks. Besides the two picks you played today, Ashe and Jhin, what other picks do you think can be played competitively?

Jinjiao: Right now the most effective ADCs are, first of all, Ashe and Varus. In this patch, the best ADCs have some kind of support function and don’t do a lot of damage.

Coach Kezman, right now Camille is a very strong champion. Why did you let the enemy team pick it in two of the games?

Kezman: Camille is certainly a very useful champion. We practiced a lot of different answers to Camille. In scrims, we also let Camille through to allow our players to play against her. In our second game, we weren’t vigilant and didn’t handle it well.

If on red side, you must ban Camille, you will always be in a disadvantageous position, so we must plan for it. Also from today we plan to not ban Camille on red side.

AmazingJ, today you used Darius for the first time in the LPL this season. Do you think Darius is good against Camille in lane?

AmazingJ: On this patch, Darius can have an advantage against any champion, and I’m also skilled with the champion. I also wanted to prove I can play it. After the 2015 World Championship, everyone thought my Darius was rubbish.

Athena, you played Ryze very well in two games today. After you picked this champion, were you very confident?

Athena: I didn’t have any special confidence.

Jinjiao, in your last two matches you played against two of the LPL’s particularly strong bottom lane duos. Did you feel any pressure? After winning these matches, are you more confident?

Jinjiao: In this group, all of the bottom lanes are pretty strong. I still feel pressure, but played better than before.

Kezman, after losing the second game, how did you adjust? Between games, we saw you and the players pumping your fists.

Kezman: At first, after the loss, there wasn’t a very big impact because after losses we are often very lively anyway. In BO5s we often also go the entire five games. The team has this experience. There’s nothing special I need to do to adjust the atmosphere, the team always works hard to make their own adjustments. Pumping our fists is a kind of ritual. It gives us more confidence, so AmazingJ and the new jungler also do it.

Road, in the first game, Athena checked a ward in the enemy jungle, and then your team was very successful in harassing the enemy jungler. I wanted to ask who came up with this plan and why.

Road: Our team had an advantage, and Athena could push out the lane first. Then we could go check for wards. The purpose wasn’t only to understand the enemy jungler’s position, but also to ensure our mid laner’s safety. At that time, our bottom lane also pushed out the lane together, so we could harass the enemy jungler. This was very successful, so we also took the red buff.

AmazingJ, right now Maokai’s win rate is very high. How would you beat it?

AmazingJ: If the enemy dares to choose Maokai, we will certainly take Garen or Fiora to control him. [Kezman laughs loudly.] Playing against Maokai isn’t that scary because his laning ability is pretty weak compared to his utility. As long as we focus this point, it will go smoothly.

Jinjiao, in the last game LGD’s bottom lane picked Miss Fortune and Kog’Maw. When you saw this, how did you prepare to face it?

Jinjiao: Kog’Maw is a carry ADC. On this patch, carry ADCs aren’t particularly popular, but after 20 minutes, they can also be very effective.

Athena, the new season started, and you faced We1less. Can you evaluate his performance?

Athena: The opposing mid laner picked champions with certain limitations, so playing against him was relatively comfortable.

Can the coach comment on today’s match a bit?

Kezman: We are by no means a strong and celebrated team. Based on individual level, we’re a relatively average team. Our ability to grind, communicate, and move together might be a bit higher than other teams. We will continue to practice to become stronger. If I were to score the games from A to F, the first and third games would receive a B+, and the second, an F.

When we interviewed EDG, they said their goal is to beat IM. How do you feel about this?

Kezman: EDG say their goal is to beat us, but up until now we haven’t beaten them. In LPL, EDG are generally regarded as the strongest team. EDG have won so much, it’s our turn to win.

Ben4, in the first game, how did you make the decision to Baron?

Ben4: At that time, we were talking about it, and we knew we could definitely take it, so we just took it.

Coach Kezman, this week you won two matches. A lot of people think you are in the first tier of teams. How would you rank your team in the LPL?

Kezman: Thinking we’re in the highest tier is a little difficult. We’re probably around eighth place, just out of the relegation zone.

You can follow Kelsey Moser on Twitter @karonmoser.