When asked about his initial impressions of Zeus, Viper described the top laner as "quite playful and a bit childish." He shared, "When I first heard about Zeus joining HLE, I was a bit surprised. At the time, my break was about to end, and we were pretty busy, so I didn't have much time to think about it. But overall, Zeus did really well last season. He's a world champion, so I was confident he would do well with us."
Viper also commented on Zeus's personality, saying, "When I first met him, he seemed very... youthful. He was born in 2004, so initially, I thought he might be like a young boy. But he's not really like that. He's quite a character. I'm not entirely sure yet, but I think he has a playful and mischievous side, but he also seems reliable. As I've gotten to know Zeus, I've realized he's a bit playful and childish, but at the same time, he seems like a pretty caring person. So I think he'll be a good teammate."
Viper also shared some amusing anecdotes about his former teammate, Scout, particularly his iconic curly hair at the World Championship. "I don't know how many years he's been doing that," Viper said. "When I first saw him with that hair, I wasn't sure if he was going for a specific look or not. I was even thinking about the meaning behind that hairstyle."
Reflecting on HLE's performance at Worlds, Viper expressed his disappointment at their early exit. "That loss affected the entire team, the players, and the coaches," he said. "Looking back, I wonder what would have happened if we had approached the game differently. I believe HLE could have done better."
Viper continued, "At Worlds, I felt like HLE relied too much on what we were comfortable with, on our usual playstyle or certain strategies, because we had won with those strategies before. It felt like we were constantly searching for something comfortable or safe. Personally, I think HLE should have been more aggressive, taken more risks, and minimized avoidable mistakes to achieve better results."
