TES Crisp: “There were some team fights that we should have won.”

Following their loss to Hanwha Life Esports, I had the chance to speak with TES Crisp and get his impressions on the series after Day 1 of First Stand concluded.

TES Crisp Full First Stand Interview – Day 1

The interview was done in Chinese and later translated to English. 

Hello Crisp, first of all, thank you for speaking with me. Before we start talking about the matches, I’d like to ask about your thoughts after the game.

Crisp: My biggest takeaway is that we made some mistakes in both games where we had the upper hand. There were some team fights that we should have won, but we didn’t handle them well. That’s probably the biggest impression I have right now.

Were there any aspects of communication and coordination within your team today that need particular adjustments?

Crisp: I think we communicated and coordinated as needed, but we made some errors during the actual game. In some situations, the decisions we made might not have been the best ones. We need to further reflect on how to make better choices in the future.

Davide: JackeyLove did mention that the team might have been a bit too anxious.

After facing HLE today, what’s your impression of them? Do you notice any obvious differences compared to the LPL teams?

Crisp: I feel that when they gain an advantage, they defend and trade resources very well. Their teamfight coordination is also quite strong.

Davide: Riot introduced anti-lane swap mechanics in the current patch. In a recent interview, Viper mentioned the importance of bot lane priority in the early game. Do you agree with this?

From a support player’s perspective, what do you focus on most in this meta?

Crisp: I think in the current meta, having bot lane priority in the first three minutes can give the team an advantage. However, after that time period, both sides usually shift focus to contesting the Void Grubs and drakes. The team with the lane priority might have more options when it comes to lane swaps.

As for the role of a support in this patch, I think it’s mainly about providing vision control, preventing ganks, and making proactive plays to catch opponents. You are constantly juggling between these three aspects.

Davide: TES made an incredible lower-bracket run in the LPL playoffs to reach the first seed.

Do you think you’re a team that just needs a bit more time to reach your full potential?

Crisp: I think compared to our form in the LPL, back then we were continuously playing matches, so our mechanics and condition were well-maintained. But now, we’ve had about a week without competition, and we also haven’t had many scrims recently. This led to us not performing at our best today, making a lot of mistakes in the game. These are things we need to work on in our upcoming matches. We’ll keep pushing forward and fix these issues so that our team can perform at the level we should.

Davide: You mentioned upcoming matches. Tomorrow, you will be facing Team Liquid.

What are your thoughts on TL? Which players do you think pose the biggest threat to you?

Crisp: I think their biggest threats are Impact, CoreJJ, and their AD carry. Compared to other teams we’ve played against, they have a unique champion pool. They pick champions that aren’t commonly seen right now. For example, they still like playing Lucian-Nami, which is a duo that very few teams pick nowadays.

What about Karmine Corp from EU?

Crisp: I watched their finals against G2, and I feel like they were the better-performing team in that series, especially since they won 3-0. In my impression, G2 is a very strong European team, so if KC managed to sweep them, it means they might be a formidable force. We haven’t played against them yet, so we’re not sure what to expect. But moving forward, we need to be cautious against every opponent, focus on adjusting our own form, and execute our game plan better.

Before we wrap up, do you have any message for your fans?

Crisp: We will definitely continue working hard and making adjustments in the upcoming matches. I think the biggest issue today was that our mistakes were self-inflicted. We made more errors than HLE did. If we can fix these mistakes, we should be able to showcase the level of gameplay that Top Esports is truly capable of.