Cody Sun on LCS vs. LEC: “Every [LCS] team is…just really scared”

100 Thieves wasn’t expected to win against Team Liquid today, but they ended up completely dominating last season’s champions. Bot laner Li-Yu “Cody Sun” Sun told Win.gg that it’s all thanks to their aggressive style, inspired by teams in the LEC. They’re not expecting things to go any differently in their Sunday showdown with Immortals, either.

How are you feeling after your win today?

Pretty happy. I’m really glad that my team could carry me. The laning phase went pretty well this time. I’m pretty happy about that. 

What do you think was going right for you guys? 

I just think we were pretty calm and we had a really good early game. I don’t think anyone had any jitters that game. The first 25 minutes were played really well. After that, we had kind of a tough time closing out the game but we managed to get the win in the end. 

What were you guys working on during the week? There was a clear improvement in the team’s early game. 

We were working on how to coordinate more with our teammates and play more aggressively with the openings that we have. Being in the NA LCS, every team basically plays really slow and methodical. Mostly just really scared.

When we were looking to improve, we watched other regions. They’re really aggressive with their windows and play the game a lot faster than us. We look to push the tempo of the game a lot faster. That’s the biggest strength that Cloud9 currently has. They’re the fastest team when they play the game. They use any timing they have to just try and get the biggest lead that they can. They’re really good at that.

It’s a lot riskier than a slower approach, but I do think when you push for that playstyle that you can improve over a period of time faster than a team that looks to play slower. 

Your coach was sick and out for the week. How did that affect the team’s preparation this week? 

It definitely gave a different vibe to the team overall. Our coach was a pretty big leader for the team. He has a lot of experience. It definitely was a bit different and we all wish he could not be sick and be there. But everyone still tried really hard this week and it was a really good week. 

A lot of people predicted TL would win today. Do you think you guys are a better team than people are giving you credit for? 

I don’t really care about the predictions. Nobody on our team really does. But I think it was fair. We were pretty shaky in our last four games. But I think TL was pretty shaky as well, especially because of their jungler issue, which is pretty unfortuntate for them.

Today’s game could have gone either way. Most teams in the LCS are still trying to gel and figure out what their playstyle and team identity is and see what the strongest picks are for the patch.

This current season, there’s a lot of big changes. Everyone’s still trying to figure stuff out. But winning a match in the LCS is always going to be good for a team in the long run. It gives everyone a confidence boost and lets them trust their teammates and coaching staff more. It’s good for the team atmosphere overall. 

Do you think you’re a better team than TL?

I think based on today’s performance, right now I think we are.

The more games we get to play with each other and in scrims, and the more willing we are to make sacrifices for each other and help each other, our team will be pushed forward. The more you contribute to the team, the more the team gives back to you.

Right now, we have this thing called the “vibe check.” If we start losing scrims, we have to make sure that when we are frustrated with what went wrong we can express that openly. We just pat each other on the back and try to fix it for the future. That’s a really healthy attitude. If we can keep moving forward with that attitude in practice, it will be really benefit for us in the long run. 

You’ll be facing Immortals tomorrow. How do you think that match up will go? 

I think Immortals have the same record as us right now. Personally, I’m really confident going into the Immortals match. I think our teamwork is pretty good right now. Obviously it’s still early in the season. Every game’s a coin flip anyway. But I’m confident because Stunt and I are playing pretty well for lane 2v2’s.