Longzhu Gaming coach Kang “Hiari” Dong-hoon said he is convinced the world’s best League of Legends team is still recovering from a lengthy Mid-Season Invitational and quick turnaround before the start of the League Champions Korea summer split. After Longzhu defeated the bbq Olivers 2-1 on Thursday, Hirai said in an interview with OSEN’s Ko Yong-jun that Samsung Galaxy’s surprise 2-0 win against SK Telecom T1 was impacted by SKT’s tight schedule, and he doesn’t believe the reigning LCK, MSI and world champions have dropped even a step in the grand scheme. Longzhu plays SKT on Wednesday, and Hirai said he expects it to be just as difficult as always. “Although SKT lost to Samsung, I don’t think SKT was in its best condition due to the recent Mid Season Invitational schedule,” he said. “I anticipate a difficult game, but we will try to put on a good match against the world’s best team.” Fatigue following tournaments has been a rising concern across regions and teams, especially those expected to perform well. Amid conversation about SKT’s 10-day turnaround between the end of MSi and start of the LCK summer split, the Korean eSports Association even felt the need to explain why SKT had to play on the second day of competition. KeSPA locked SKT into the second day, more or less, expecting it would attend MSI. SKT resumes its summer split schedule on Sunday against the bbq Olivers.