Oner discusses the pressure of playing with T1, his role models

T1’s Jungler Oner spoke with Gamelevate after the second day of the group stage to discuss the pressures of playing with T1, his thoughts on Viego in the Worlds meta, and surpassing his role models.

T1 entered the 2022 World Championship as heavy favorites. From a nearly undefeated record in Spring, being a runner-up at MSI 2022, and showing their strengths in Summer, T1 dominantly return to the World Stage. Also returning to the World stage is T1’s jungler Mun “Oner” Hyeon-jun who looks to show why he’s still a favorite amongst the junglers at the tournament.

The following interview has been edited for length and clarity. We’d like to thank the team at Riot Games for providing translations

Oner, thank you for taking the time for speaking with us today. Can you talk to me about your thoughts on the game versus Fnatic?

I think that they’re a very good team. This is the first time I’ve actually faced Fnatic and they were really well-prepared for this match. I feel bad because I made a few mistakes during this game.

Before we talk more about this game, you’ve been with T1 for about a full year now. Do you think there is still pressure to perform on this team?

I do sometimes feel overwhelmed because lots of fans are looking forward to me doing well, but I try my best to not feel that feeling and I know lots of fans are rooting for me as well.

In this game, you played Viego. Viego has been in the meta for quite some time now but he remains a power pick. What makes him good in this particular meta?

I think Viego is good at jungling and teamfights and it also has good utility. I think building a team around Viego is really good.

Group A is a very difficult group, as you’ve said yourself, with junglers like Fnatic’s Razork, EDG’s Jiejie, and C9’s Blaber. What do you think of the jungle talent in this particular group?

I’m not at the stage to actually evaluate or judge anyone on their jungling level or to say who’s better than anyone else. However, I think that all of them are super great players and I’m looking to learn a lot from them.

Speaking of which, a lot of people look up to you as a jungler. Who do you look up to?

I used to have a real role model and that used to be Canyon. But now I’m striving to be better than Canyon, and I don’t look up to him as a role model, but more of a player to overcome.

Tomorrow you face C9. Coming off the loss, without giving anything away, what’s going to be most important for you guys to come away with the victory tomorrow?

I have been nervous about these previous matches and that’s why I haven’t been performing as well. I think that if I could concentrate on the match better, that’s what’s gonna bring the team victory.

I’ve been asking a lot of players about North America. I believe this is your first time in NA. Have you gotten to explore New York City a bit? And if so, what is your favorite thing so far?

I haven’t had a chance to actually go out to the city and explore more. I was more focused on playing games and practicing.

Finally, is there anything you’d like to say to the fans of T1?

I think that my performance wasn’t up to my level for the previous matches. So I’m gonna try my best to improve his performance and to bring victory for the fans.