Yeon: Team Liquid Has A Better Shot At Winning In Summer Than In Spring

Sean “Yeon” Sung and Team Liquid are heading into the LCS Summer 2026 Split with one goal in mind: winning it all. After taking down KC and pushing T1 to the limit at MSI 2026, their chances of challenging LYON feel higher than ever. I sat down with Team Liquid’s ADC to talk about the hard schedule, the state of the American ecosystem, and his thoughts on the meta.

How are you feeling? Did you manage to get some rest?

Yeon: Yeah, I definitely got enough rest. There was a lot of time.

Luca: There has been a lot of discussion about this EWC and MSI thing, where people proposed merging the events together.

Do you like that proposal, or is it okay the way it is?

Yeon: I definitely don’t like how close together they are. I didn’t actually attend the EWC and MSI main stage, so it was okay for me since I didn’t have that rough schedule.

But I do know that for the last two or three years, the schedule has been quite rough, because the teams that make it to third and fourth place have only a day or two to rest and then have to fly out again immediately.

So it’s not really a break either. I wouldn’t say I like the idea of them being merged, but I also don’t like the idea of them being so close back to back.

Luca: Did you have the chance to watch some games from the event? We saw Karmine Corp having a good run, and you actually smashed them at MSI.

Would you have liked to attend it, and do you think you could have had a good performance there?

Yeon: Yeah, to be honest, I thought the meta was a little different from what it was at MSI. EWC seemed a little more fun with the map being very proactive. I would have liked to play it, though. It seemed quite fun.

Luca: Now you’re coming into the summer split without having attended EWC, while there is LYON, who had MSI and EWC. Even if they got kicked out instantly after two games at EWC.

Do you think that fatigue could affect their performance at the start of the split, and that you could be more rested than they are?

Yeon: Yeah, I definitely think it’s quite rough, and it depends on the players, on how well they rested. But I don’t think it’ll affect them in the long run. Maybe they won’t do that well in weeks one, two, and three, but I think they’ll be able to bounce back. Usually, it’ll be fine.

Luca: They’re also without Kacper “Inspired” Słoma for the first one or two weeks, so it will be even harder for them, since he is really important for them. They look like the team to beat at the moment in the LCS after what they showed at MSI.

Do you think you are close to them? You looked much better after MSI, and you seem to be in really good form.

Yeon: Yeah, I think we played a lot better during their MSI run, and I think our game flow was quite good.

So I think we have a way better shot than we did in the Spring.

Luca: They reached the semifinals, and you had that insane fight against T1. Even though you lost, you actually had good games. They weren’t stomps, so it was nice to see. There is a lot of debate about NA and EU, as always, every year. In your opinion…

Is NA better as a whole region, or do you think your top teams are slightly better than the European ones?

Yeon: I would say the top NA teams are better than the top EU teams right now, especially because of the record.

But as a region, we don’t have that many players compared to them, or as many teams. They have a stronger Tier 2 infrastructure, mainly because they have maybe three times more players than us, maybe four.

I would say we should be better. We just don’t have enough players playing, in my opinion.

Luca: There aren’t even that many players being promoted from Tier 2 to Tier 1 in NA. We just saw Dignitas promoting Denathor (DIG top laner) from Tier 2 to Tier 1, so it’s a good sign for the ecosystem.

Johnson “Gryffinn” Le thinks that the European ecosystem is more functional than the American one, even though Europe is also struggling to maintain its Tier 2 ecosystem.

A new face to the #LCS

Welcome @Denathor_lol as our Top Laner for the 2026 Summer Split! pic.twitter.com/duOI9xz582

— DIG LCS (@DignitasLoL) July 15, 2026

What would you change in America in order to have more developing talent and keep the region strong?

Yeon: I would say even solo queue is quite low quality. I think there aren’t many players trying to actually go pro, and I don’t think there are many people playing solo queue. I think the main thing is that our population of people playing ranked is three times less than in Europe and Korea, and probably China too. I think that’s a big factor.

Luca: We’re coming into the LCS Summer 2026 split and the meta hasn’t really changed. We’re still seeing mages bot taking over everything every game. I remember you mentioning that you’re the type of ADC who just wants to fight and be aggressive.

How does it feel to be forced to play Ziggs bot and farm while the rest of the team has fun?

Yeon:

I do like playing mages. I think they’re quite fun. But playing mages versus mages is quite boring.

You’re just bouncing waves ahead and farming until someone comes to your lane. Usually, it’s more of a top-heavy, mid-heavy, jungle-heavy game. You don’t really see that much action on bot lane typically, so I don’t really enjoy it. I do enjoy playing mages, though.

Do you think that you, as a team, are a creative team, or do you prefer sticking to metas where you know what to do and follow the game plan?

Yeon: I think we’re in between both, honestly. I think we have very creative players, but we like to follow game plans usually. We typically like doing that.

Luca: And then I wanted to ask you a personal question about your relationship with Jake “Spawn” Tiberi, because in a past interview with us, he said that you were like his little brother, having spent a lot of years together.

Do you have the same vision of him as your big brother, or do you see him differently?

Yeon: Yeah, I would say it’s like a big brother/leader, mainly.