Clutch Gaming’s Cody Sun: We knew we were the better team

Clutch Gaming is feeling pretty good after this past weekend.

With only one more week of the LCS Summer Split, the team needs to win their last two games against 100 Thieves and Golden Guardians to clinch the last spot in the playoffs. And Sun “Cody Sun” Li-Yu told WIN.gg that they’re planning to do just that. 

How do you feel about your recent win against FlyQuest?

It feels pretty good. It was such an important match for our standings, towards getting the last playoffs spot. I think we played pretty reserved and methodical. It feels pretty good to have a clean win like that. 

Is there anything you’re most proud of from that match? 

It was a pretty standard game. I’m proud of the fact that I, with my team, was able to close out the win without making too many mistakes. 

What do you think helped you guys come out victorious? 

We had pretty good preparation going into the match. We were confident in our skills. We knew that we were the better team coming in today, so I think that helped a lot. 

I know you said you wanted to play fiesta a few weeks ago. But since then, your mindset has changed. Can you explain the team’s new mindset? 

In the beginning of the split, our playstyle was very much doing whatever we wanted. We were playing free style almost. But since having the new coaches and being so close to playoffs, with two games left, everyone is trying a lot harder to buckle down and give the best performance that they can. 

How are you feeling about the team’s new coaches? 

I really like the new coaches. I think they’re really calm and work really hard. They put in the hours. They come up with some pretty good prep for the team that helps us a lot. 

Are you enjoying the more serious practices? 

I kind of enjoyed both. I’ve always been a more serious player, though.

In the past, a lot of the teams I was on would play very seriously most of the time. It was fun to play a more aggressive and chaotic style of League of Legends. But I’m much more accustomed to a more slow and methodical approach. 

Do you think that slow approach will hinder North American teams when they face other regions? 

I think it really depends on if your team is good enough to play that slow style, even against a more aggressive team. I don’t think it’s a hindrance. But there are a lot of cases in the past where you play a very slow, methodical macro game, then go to Worlds and more aggressive, balls-to-the-wall teams catch you off guard and the game is snowballed very quickly.

It’s up to the players, mostly. Being macro-focused doesn’t mean you don’t have the ability to fight back and skirmish.

Sometimes it can come down to, “Can this player compete with this opposing player?” Both teams are opting into 50/50 fights, because you can’t find big advantages. I think that’s the biggest reason why teams like G2 and IG do so well. They’re just so confident in their abilities to fight in those 50/50s and come out on top. 

Since you’ve joined Clutch Gaming, what has improved about the team? 

For the team as a whole, I think everyone really likes the work environment right now. I don’t want to work or play on a team that’s really negative, or with people who aren’t open to improving.

That’s what I said in the beginning, and I wanted to keep that up. I think that helped the team a lot. Even when we lose, we are able to be honest with each other and fix our mistakes. And we still have that trust in one another, so we can perform even better next time. 

You have to win next two matches to get into playoffs. How are you feeling going into those games?

Our record so far against those teams has been positive. It’s going to be really fun to play the last matches of the split because it will decide which team will make playoffs. 

Which match are you looking forward to the most? 

We’re just taking it one game at a time. Regardless if we win or lose, we’ll be trying our hardest for both of them. If we are able to clinch that playoff spot, I think it will give us even more momentum. And we’ll be performing pretty well.