Gen G Peanut on facing T1 on the international stage and moving back to the LCK from the LPL

With a rematch of the LCK Spring finals on the MSI stage, T1 and Gen G had to come out swinging. Despite the first two matches looking like a stomp for T1, Gen G turned it around to bounce back and push the series to all five games. It was so close to being a reverse sweep, but sadly for Gen G, it didn't come to fruition.

We caught up with Han "Peanut" Wang-ho, the jungle of Gen G to ask what happened in that series from his perspective. We also asked why he opted for peanuts over other nuts that he could've used for his unique player name!

Question: What are your top 3 jungle picks in this meta at MSI 2023?

Peanut: "From this meta, my priority picks are initiating champions, such as Malphite and Wukong. My playstyle as a jungler is centered on initiating and the ability to initiate by myself rather than other players. Viego and other champions require a balance with other players to make anything happen."

Question: Having beaten T1 on your home soil, what was it like to face them on the international stage compared to the LCK?

Peanut: "I personally wouldn’t compare when we face them in LCK versus international matches, because at the end of the day, T1 is one of the best and top teams in LoL Esports and so I prepare to focus on myself, our team, our game and how we can prepare to face them. This was a good lesson having lost to them, because it will help us strengthen ourselves and progress forward in MSI."

Question: We saw you take Wukong into several games until T1 banned it, meaning you took Poppy. Were you expecting to play Poppy into Rumble? And what was your reason for choosing Poppy?

Peanut: "Because T1 banned K'Sante and because I prefer to initiate, I wanted to find an alternate champion to paly, so on the team, we thought Poppy would do well in its place."

Question: You were incredibly close to the reverse sweep - it would have been one of just three in international LoL history. How are you feeling having come so close?

Peanut: "For the last game and last team fight, we didn’t really have a chance to properly prepare ourselves for it and so had been waiting and when T1 started we knew we had to counter but we weren’t well prepared for it and that’s why we lost."

Question: What does it mean to you to be a pro player?

Peanut: "I think the most important thing about being a pro player, is about winning, and even more important than just winning is about how you prepare. So if we take time to discuss with the players, coaches, so we can prepare contingency plans – not just plan A and B but also plan C."

Question: You formerly played very briefly in the LPL back in 2020, what was the reason for moving to the LPL, what did you gain from it and why did you move back to the LCK?

Peanut: "The reason I went to the LPL is that I wanted to widen my perspective in terms of the type of game styles that could be played and I wanted to challenge myself to see how I could become a more valuable player in esports. I came back to the LCK, because the LCK is my home, it’s my home region, and I felt like I had done my time in the LPL – which they agreed with and it was the right time to come home."

Question: The desk were mentioning how you are always smiling in game regardless of how the game is going, how do you maintain such a positive outlook?

Peanut: "Ahhh, if Gen G is winning then I'm smiling because I'm happy but if we are losing or something goes badly in our strat, as the captain for us, I try to keep the morale up and make sure the other players don’t get too down so that we can focus on what we can do next."

Question: What is the meaning/story behind your in-game name?

Peanut: "In Korean "peanut" means "Han Wang-ho" [Peanut’s legal name] and this translates to King in English, when I debuted I wanted my summoner name to be King, but one of the coaches said it would be a poor choice to have this name. So instead he suggested something else, according to the coach I looked like a peanut so that is how I got the name."

Question: If you were an animal, what animal would you be and why?

Peanut: "I think I would be a cat, because I have many cats at home in Korea, and I think my personality is close to being a cat."

Question: What is your favorite thing about MSI being hosted in London this year?

Peanut: "I actually really like the food here in London. I know people have said it's not good but I actually like it. I'm also very happy to be able to play and play my style for the fans face-to-face because the LCK has been a lot of virtual play and broadcast due to COVID 19."

Peanut and the rest of Gen G will be in action on Wednesday, May 17 against Cloud9. Follow esports.gg for all the latest esports news and updates across League of Legends