On August 21, in the 2021 LCK Summer Split semifinals, DWG KIA swept Nongshim RedForce 3-0 and advanced to the finals. Through today’s win, DWG KIA secured a spot at the Group Stage of the 2021 LoL World Championship. When Kim “kkOma” Jeong-gyun joined the press room after the game, he said multiple times that he was very relieved that they didn’t have to go through the Regional Qualifiers. Below is a full translation of his interview.

Congratulations on reaching the finals. You’ve reached the finals and secured a spot at the Group Stage. How do you feel?

With today’s win, we don’t need to play in the Regional Qualifiers. The schedule gets much more convenient for us, so today’s win and getting to the finals granted us a big advantage. I’m extremely happy about that.

DWG KIA chose Nongshim RedForce to face in the semifinals. What was the reason?

During the team meeting, we thought it would be better for us strategically to face Nongshim RedForce, so we chose them.

Did you predict a clean 3-0 sweep?

I just thought, whatever happens, we just needed to win. The players and coaches prepared very well, so that’s probably why we won 3-0. I didn’t predict a sweep, though, I thought we would win 3-1 or something like that. We needed to prepare strategies in case we lose so I predicted 3-1.

Does that mean you have more cards up your sleeves?

My players have many hidden cards prepared.

One of your biggest goals would be winning Worlds, but there would be another goal for you that’s closer. You and Faker are tied at 9 championships, so you’d be looking forward to the finals.

Whoever makes it to the finals, I want to win my 10th LCK championship before Faker does. [Laughs] I’m very thankful to the players and the organization for this chance. I really want to do it.

Which team do you want to face?

Since the players and coaching staff are doing so well, we’ll prepare to beat whoever comes up.

How will you prepare for the finals?

We’ll need to watch the match tomorrow as we reached finals first. I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s match — I’ll have fun watching it with an easy mind.

Any last comments?

I’m thankful to the players, coaching staff, and the organization for working so hard. Please cheer for us. I’ll do my best to the end to win the championship again.