After beating T1 in the losers’ bracket finals, we sat down with BLG Elk to talk about the series and his thoughts on an all-LPL MSI final. If you wanted to read the complete Chinese interview, you can click on the link here.

Image Credits | Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games

Interview with BLG Elk – “It’s a historic moment for the LPL”

BLG’s AD was once again a determining factor in the team’s victory, taking up 29.5% of the team’s total damage output and scoring a total KDA of 24/9/24. Aside from the performance, which Elk thought was great, the Chinese player cares more about having a full LPL final at MSI:

I think having two LPL teams in the finals was not easy but we were able to make history. I felt great about my performance today, and we played better than the opponents.

The top four at MSI were locked out by eastern teams, with all LPL and LCK seeds making it to the final part of the bracket. I asked Elk whether he felt he made a major breakthrough or adjustments throughout the tournament, and he said:

I don’t necessary feel like I made big changes to my playstyle. It’s my first time at the international stages, so it’s more about me adjusting in terms of mentality and mindset.

Before jumping into the series, I asked Elk his thoughts on the AD meta since we’ve been mostly seeing Jinx, Aphelios, Xayah, and Zeri throughout the tournament. When asked if he was happy about the current meta and if there were any champions he would like to play, he claimed he doesn’t really mind about the meta, and that he usually plays what’s strong and works.

Despite taking Game 1, BLG found themselves on the back foot, especially after T1’s jungler Oner managed to steal the Ocean Soul and one Baron. According to Elk, however, the team never seemed fazed by it:

We didn’t say anything, to be honest, we just thought we had to play slower because we could still win the fights.

During the second game, the LPL second seed gave jungler Xun his pocket pick Kindred which, surprisingly, wasn’t picked up by him prior to this series. While it may seem like BLG pulled out the trump card, Elk mentioned it’s just a matter of what champions they thought were best for the situation, adding that he feels no one on the team struggles when it comes to champion pools.

It was match point for BLG after taking the first games but T1 managed to get one point back in Game 3. While it was quite a one-sided game, Elk revealed the team joked about it:

When we lost the third game, we just started joking around. Since our top laner (Bin) spoke up and said it would be a 3-1, then we could only go for a 3-1.

It’s all about how teams show up on the day

Now that BLG advance to the finals, they will face JD Gaming once again. I asked Elk whether he would agree with his top laner’s prediction and what are going to be the key points of the match:

First, I think we are going to win. Even though we played a lot of Best-of-5 series and we’re comfortable playing the fifth games, I would probably prefer winning 3-1. I also believe the bot lane matchup will be crucial. After reaching the top four, I think all matches are a lot more about the players’ form and BP (pick and ban phase) and how they show up on the day.

Thanks to his carry performances this season, Elk has finally been regarded as a top-tier ADC in the LPL, so I questioned him about what he thinks are the differences between him and other top-tier ADC like Ruler and JackeyLove:

I feel like every top-tier AD player has a different method or approach to the game, thus creating different playstyles. What I believe, however, is that all the best ADCs can carry in the mid-late game and be the pillar the teammates can rely on.

Before rounding out the interview, I briefly talked to Elk about food like I did with all the other BLG members. Not surprisingly, he prefers eating Chinese food, especially Sichuan and Cantonese cuisines.

Image Credits | Esports.net/Riot Games

By picking up a few online questions, some were wondering why he decided to change his IGN from Jiumeng to Elk. He claimed there wasn’t a particular reason, and that he just thought it was simpler.

With BLG facing JD Gaming in the finals, this might be the perfect opportunity to get revenge on the LPL first seed. Even though BLG might be the underdog in the series, Elk is confident they have what it takes to make the upset happen.

I want to thank the fans for the support shown so far. It was a tough journey, especially considering people doubted us when we got to the top four. Now that we’re in the finals, though, I think we proved we are a strong team and we will deliver in the finals. I felt we didn’t have a good performance during the LPL Spring Finals so we will make sure we can show our true potential. JDG, we’ll take you down!

Read also: MSI 2023 - Schedule, Results, Standings, and more