We spoke to GIANTX support Lee “IgNar” Dong-geun after their games last night. The Korean discussed his joining the side, leaving NRG on a high, a “chaotic” start, and — most importantly — kebab preferences.

Excel’s merger with Spanish organisation Giants not only saw a change in the side’s identity, but also brought with it a refreshed roster for the 2024 season. After week two of the winter split came to a close and with the team teetering on the edge of playoff qualification, Lee Jones found an opportune time to gather some insight.

Esports.net: What went wrong against Fnatic?

IgNar: I think we could snowball harder. Then obviously at mid — the first big fight — it was really big. When we look at our comp, we should snowball, but then if they get ahead I think it’s a little bit hard to play the game. So I think snowballing and teamfighting.

Are you confident you’ll still reach playoffs?

Yeah, we’ll see. Anything can happen, but I hope we try hard and then I think we can make it.

How do you rate GIANTX’s start to the season so far?

I think for now our team is a little bit chaotic, to be honest – we didn’t have clear calls sometimes. I think that makes a little bit of confusion for me, but every team is kind of the same. It’s early in the split, so I think we’re fixing it.

Credit: GIANTX | X

Usually a support would be one of the shot-callers, have you been involved in that aspect since joining?

Yeah, support players usually make a lot of calls. But I think it’s more like every player is much more easily able to see the angles or to shot-call when the team is watching the same direction, in my opinion.

So I think first we need to work more on what the team is watching. Five men should see one thing the same way, then it’s much easier to make a call on it. So I think we are fixing it.

Lee Jones: I wondered how you came to join GIANTX, returning to EU after years in NA.

What made you decide to leave NRG after a really successful split last summer?

There was a lot of chaotic stuff going on at the end of this off season. I thought I was going to stay on NRG, but I feel like many things happened, like chaotic things. I also wanted to come back one time to EU, so I think that’s why it happened.

Is there anything you’re missing from LA now that you’ve left? 

I would say the weather. The weather was really nice.

Who’s got the better kebabs, LA or Berlin? 

I think Berlin kebabs are so good. They don’t compare.

How are you finding the game in season 14 with all of its changes?

I feel like right now like every character is feeling so strong for me because of the items, much stronger than before.

On the map change; before, if you made one mistake, you could easily die because the map was smaller and everything was closer. But right now, I feel like it’s much more easy to retake the bushes and spots because everything is further away. So I think with these two things it’s a big different feeling for me.

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