Hanwha Life Esports defeated Nongshim RedForce 3-0 in Round 2 of the Regional Qualifiers and put their hands on LCK’s last ticket to the 2021 LoL World Championship. Through this win, Hanwha Life Esports made a miracle run — from being 8th in the Summer Split to reaching Worlds.

In the post-match interview, Kim “Deft” Hyuk-kyu said, “We did our best while preparing for the gauntlet. It’s a relief that the result is good,” and shared his thoughts about heading to Worlds. “About two weeks ago, I had an interview after our last regular season match. Even then, Worlds seemed so far away, but now that it’s reality, it feels that you never know what will happen in life.”

“The last memory of my previous Worlds wasn’t too good. When I think of last year, I remember exiting the stage after losing to DAMWON Gaming,” said Deft. “I thought ‘Would I be able to come back to Worlds again?’ I’m so happy that I got another chance. Our regular season results were quite bad — although the process was harder, at the end of the day, I think I feel a bit happier.”

In the broadcast interview, Deft had said that he’d like to meet EDward Gaming at Worlds. Deft had played in EDward Gaming while he played in the LPL. “Meiko and Scout played with me when I was in EDG. They’re doing well, and I’d like to see how it would be facing them.”

Deft’s performance truly shined during the Regional Qualifiers, making people forget about his struggles during the regular season. “I don’t think anything changed except for the early game laning. I think my laning improved a bit, and since the team’s performance as a whole improved, it was easier for me to do well in teamfights,” he explained.

Although Hanwha Life Esports secured a ticket to Worlds, they have one more match left — against the 2021 LCK Summer Playoffs runner-up, T1. The winner will head straight to the group stage at Worlds, and the loser will have to fight from the Play-ins. Deft said, “Whoever goes to Worlds are there to try to win the championship. I think we need to win tomorrow to raise the chances of doing that. I’d like to prepare well and win.”