rindA: Excited about the event

The Korean team return to Europe more than six months after attending the SL i-League StarSeries Season 2 finals, where they bowed out of the tournament after just two games following defeats to G2 and FlipSid3 Tactics.

Since then, MVP Project have undergone a few changes, twice announcing a new fifth player and installing former Team 3D member Ronald "⁠Rambo⁠" Kim as their head coach.

rindA believes MVP Project are stronger than they were at the StarSeries S2 event 

With 16-year-old talent Soo-Yong "⁠kAyle⁠" Jung in their ranks, the team have been in great form, winning VSL 2017 Spring and securing a spot at the StarSeries event through the tricky Chinese qualifier after besting the likes of Born of Fire and Vici Gaming.

With preparations for the Ukrainian event in full swing, we caught up with Jung-Hyeon "⁠rindA⁠" Jeon and picked his brain on matters concerning Rambo's impact, the addition of kAyle and the current state of the Korean scene, among other topics. 

What has your preparation for the tournament been like? What aspects have you been focusing on?

Our team practice time is from 2pm to 11pm every weekday, with a dinner break. During our free time, we also practice our aim and play pug matches. Our focus has been on improving our teamwork and communication. 

Of all the teams in attendance, yours is perhaps the one that is the least known (apart from 5POWER). What are your goals for this tournament? Do you want to use it as a learning experience, or are you aiming higher than that?

We want to give our best and see how we fare against the best teams in the world. We will try to learn something from every match we play.

At the StarSeries S2 finals, your team went out after two matches, taking just 12 rounds. Were you surprised with the level of play there? What steps have you taken to be better prepared against international teams?

We learned a lot from that event from the practice matches we had and from the official tournament matches. And while we did not play as well as we would have liked, those matches inspired us to train harder. It has been a year since that event, and we believe we are a stronger team now, so we are excited about this event.

At the recent IeSF World Championship, your team finished in third place. Were you happy with that run?

We always try to win the tournaments we enter, so we were a bit disappointed. Still, top 3 is not that bad.

kAyle is MVP Project's newest member

Recently, we have seen a lot of Southeast Asian teams pick up players from other countries. What is your opinion about this? Is this something that you have ever thought about?

We believe communication is the result of teamwork and friendship, so it is important that all members of our team speak Korean.

Rambo, the former 3D player, joined the team in October as a coach. What have you learned from him so far?

He has helped us to maximise our practice time and to improve our teamwork and communication. He also plays an important role in our strategies and helps the players to fix mistakes they could be making.

South Korea had some very good teams back in 1.6. Why do you think that the country has not yet produced a CS:GO squad capable of facing the best in the world while it continues to thrive in other games, such as League of Legends?

Since Starcraft and League of Legends are the most popular games in Korea and have the biggest prizes, that is where many of the best gamers compete. This means that the CS:GO community and the level of competition are not at the same level as in other regions.

What is the relationship between your team, MVP PK and MVP Academy? Do you often practice against each other?

Since the entire MVP organisation is located in the same building, we are all close friends and we see each other almost every day. We play each other a few times a week for friendly competition. Sometimes, the losers have to go and make coffee!

Last month, you picked up kAyle, one of the hottest prospects in South Korea. What is your opinion about his first weeks on the team? Do you believe he has the potential to become a star player?

We were really lucky to find a player like kAyle. He is really young but has a lot of match experience, so he has not had any problems to fit into the roster. He is improving day after day and has the potential to be a great player.