China’s JD Gaming spoke to the media following their 3-1 triumph over Bilibili Gaming in the 2023 MSI final.
Mid laner Zhuo “knight” Ding was the star of the show, piloting Jayce in all of JDG’s wins despite there being little priority on the champion throughout the tournament beforehand. Knight pointed to being “very familiar with the champion” as a reason for the sudden priority, as he has been “playing Jayce since I became a pro player… throughout my whole career.”
WIN.gg asked knight whether he was surprised to see the pick allowed through the draft in every single game, rather than BLG adapting during the series to take it off of the table.
“Actually, I expected that they would leave the Jayce open for me since Ahri and Syndra are much more strong. They can’t handle my Ahri or Syndra,” he said.
AD carry Park “Ruler” Jae-hyuk can now add an MSI title to a trophy cabinet that already included LCK, LPL and Worlds medals. He wins as part of a team famed for their teamfighting prowess – something that became the key factor in success at the tournament that saw Chinese teams claim the top two spots.
“I think the LPL teams, in general, are really good at opening teamfights, and also really good at performing consistently in teamfights. So I think that small edge defined the results,” said Ruler.
Top laner Bai “369” Jia-Hao was full of praise for Ruler’s growing legacy, insisting that “Ruler is the best AD carry” in history.
“I love Ruler… he did a perfect job in every aspect.”
Bin was asked about their opponents’ momentum coming into the series having knocked out Gen.G and T1 in the previous two days. JDG were able to end that momentum by winning game one.
“Because we have beaten BLG so many times, we didn’t have too much pressure. BLG is maybe the team that felt the stress before the final.”
Finally, head coach Yoon “Homme” Sung-young commented on the likelihood of his JDG side now going on to claim the first League of Legends “Grand Slam” season by winning LPL Summer and Worlds.
“I believe my players are the best players in the world. So as long as they keep up their good work then it’s possible.”
