Following their defeat to Saigon Buffalo, DetonatioN FocusMe’s Steal spoke to Esports.gg for an exclusive interview.

DetonatioN FocusMe currently sits at a 1-1 record in Group A at the 2022 Mid-Season Invitational. DFM has been a household name at international events, constantly pushing their limits and exceeding expectations. Mun "Steal" Geon-yeong, a player that has been with DFM throughout their incredible journey, sat down with Esports.gg for an exclusive interview.

Marn: Steal it is an absolute pleasure to be interviewing you, I am sorry about the loss today, what went wrong for you guys down the stretch?

DFM Steal: On what went wrong, it's not about one specific part of the game going wrong. It's more about we were making mistakes in the mid-game and then we were not able to snowball as much as we could have.

Marn: Absolutely, I won't go further on the match as it is still fresh in the mind. I wanted to talk about competing in front of crowds again. In LJL you haven't been able to play in front of an audience, how has this experience been for you?

DFM Steal: Yeah, it feels great to play in front of a live audience. When we were playing online, we were not able to hear whenever we make a play or get a kill so it is great to have that feeling again.

Marn: It's great that you get to experience that again. Some teams in the past have said they receive a buff [laughs] from playing in front of an audience, could this be the case for DFM also?

DFM Steal: "It's been forever since we played in front of an audience, I do believe being in front of a crowd does make us slightly better"

DFM Steal: It's been forever since we played in front of an audience, but yeah, I do believe being in front of a crowd does make us slightly better [laughs].

Marn: And now you will get to create new memories! This is your second time getting to compete in your home country for an international event, can you walk me through the emotions of playing here in Korea?

DFM Steal: Yeah, I mean, I've been playing in the LJL for quite a while and it's my second international event in Korea. When it was my first event in Korea, I could see there were a lot of fans supporting me but this time it feels like I have gotten even more support which feels great.

<em>Live audience for MSI 2022. Photo credit: Colin Young-Wolff</em>
Live audience for MSI 2022. Photo credit: Colin Young-Wolff

Marn: I wanted to shift towards the LJL, you are a veteran of the league, having played their five years. You have been there throughout DFM's incredible memories. With each accomplishment, does it drive you as a leader to reach new heights?

DFM Steal: Yeah so for me personally, I just want to take it one step further than last time. We achieved group stages at Worlds but for MSI I want to get to the Rumble Stage.

Marn: I hope you can achieve that goal! I wanted to speak about an issue that has been lingering since the tournament began. There have apparently been some issues with the ping players are playing on, can you personally chime in on how it has been?

DFM Steal: Yeah I mean it [ping] definitely is a bit uncomfortable, but at the same time we get to face Korean teams and other teams from other countries on forty to fifty ping so we are used to it. I will say the lag definitely is slightly different than normal.

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