Berserker believes he has finally met his match in the FlyQuest ADC.
Cloud9 is picking up right where they left off — dominating the competition. The 2022 LCS Summer Split champions made light work of Golden Guardians, with top laner Ibrahim "Fudge" Allami putting on a clinic and reaching the 500-kill landmark.
Kim "Berserker" Min-cheol is back for his third split in North America. The former T1 rookie made waves in the LCS last year as he styled on the competition. Following C9's win over GGS, Berserker sat down with Esports.gg for an exclusive interview.
Has Berserker met his match?
Although Berserker's 2022 World Championship campaign did not turn out the way the rookie would have wanted it to, it was an indicator of the levels he could one day reach. Domestically, no one would touch Berserker, he and his support duo Jesper "Zven" Svenningsen were untouched in the LCS Summer playoffs as they lifted the trophy.
Berserker spoke briefly about how Zven has helped him during his time on Cloud9 so far. "So firstly I am young and have good mechanics but I don't speak English well, Zven has been helping me feel comfortable by teaching my NA slang [laughs]."
The LCS is stacked with some very strong ADC's, but one stands above them all. Lee "Prince" Chae-hwan is one of the best ADC's in the world. The Korean bottom laner is coming off of a very strong split in the LCK. Many have dubbed him as world-class, a level Berserker is striving to get to.
Now that Prince has landed in North America, fans are eager to watch the two Korean powerhouses square off in the bottom lane. This split will be the first time FLY Prince and C9 Berserker will get to face off competitively. Berserker told Esports.gg he is excited to face off against Prince not only because he is a great ADC, but now he finally has a challenge.
"I have never played against Price competitively, only in ranked. But I'm really excited. I like him as a player and I feel like I have finally met my rival [laughs]."
Related articles
"ADC's are the cheerleaders at the moment, K'Sante is broken" - C9 Berserker
K'Sante is one of the strongest top laners in competitive League of Legends right now. The unkillable tank has been seen heavily across the world right now. K'Sante currently boasts a 3-1 record in the LCS right now with two of those wins coming from Cloud9.
Fudge has dominated the competition thus far, with his most recent game being one of his best. Fudge boasted a monstrous 10/1/9 scoreline against Golden Guardians, carrying the game virtually by himself. With the bottom lane being reduced to ranged ADCs that can poke, Berserker feels like he is a "cheerleader" for his top laner who is running across the map.
"Yeah, so yesterday I picked Ashe because she is like a support now. So I guess I was also the support with my build which was kinda boring [laughs]. But today they opened Zeri, although the bottom lane is weak in this patch. ADC's are the cheerleaders at the moment, K'Sante is broken"
The standards of a champion
Winning your first title is one thing, retaining your title is another ball game. Depending on who you ask, Cloud9 is not favored to retain its LCS crown. Many believe the FlyQuest super team will knock the five-time LCS champions off their perch.
Nevertheless, Cloud9 has very high standards and is prepared to fight to the very end. C9 put on the performance of a champion this week, taking care of business and not giving too much away to their opponents.
Berserker has already proven on the biggest stage he is not afraid to get into the face of his competitors and put them to the sword. Having the future of your organization in a prime position to carry is a great feeling for C9 fans.
When asked about the pressure of retaining his title, Berserker spoke calmly about his emotions coming into the split.
"I don't have like, pressure you know? And even when I do feel pressure, I am excited. When people said 'you guys should win, you guys should stay in first place' I don't think about it. In this split, there are many Koreans coming to NA but I think we can get first place."
Cloud9 returns to LCS action next week when they take on Counter Logic Gaming.
Stay tuned to Esports.gg for the latest League of Legends news and updates.
