On January 19th, DAMWON Gaming had a perfect victory against KT Rolster when they won in both game 1 and 2. All players in DAMWON Gaming played their parts well with great teamwork and back up. Nuguri, the top laner for DAMWON Gaming, stood out the most with his great mechanical skills, which he displayed to mercilessly crush his enemies. He dealt the most damage out of two teams, carrying his team.

Following is the interview we had with DAMWON Gaming's top laner, Nuguri.

How do you feel about your victory?

I feel so great that we got to win against KT Rolster 2-0 this time as we thought they were one powerful team. We will keep going on with this spirit and win even more.

Your opponent, KT Rolster, was a team with a tradition and reputation of a ‘rookie killer’. Weren’t you and your teammates nervous to play against them?

I think such reputation for KT Rolster was created because of Score, the jungler for KT. Score actually displayed many plays where he killed rookies with great skills. I am thankful that Canyon performed very well even though he carried the burden of playing against Score.

If you were to pick an MVP besides yourself, who would that be?

I’d like to pick our support, Hoit. In the first set, he did great when he initiated and created opportunities for us to take an advantage overall. Even though our jungler couldn’t pay much attention to our bot laners since he was mostly helping me out during the second set, our support held out well. Our support also did a great job of making an opportunity for Vladimir to go in during the team fights in the later phase.

You did a great job of carrying your team today. The name ‘Nuguri’ started to gain renown abroad as well. Is there any secret to playing Vladimir well?

As a Vladimir, you should never fall back in the early phase. It would still be an advantage if you and opponent laner scaled quite evenly so there’s no need to rush in and play recklessly. If you take time to scale well, then there will be no better champion than Vladimir to carry during team fights in later phases.

In fact, there were many times you carried your team that other teams often kept their eyes on you. You also started to earn your reputation. How do you feel?

It feels great but at the same time, I find it burdensome. I’m worried about continuing to carry like this then later getting criticized for performing bad. But still, my feeling of happiness is greater. It also motivates me to do well as much as I am given high expectations.  

Your team seemed so determined to place wards especially around the Baron today. Was it a strategic move or just an action that came out unconsciously?

We paid close attention on the Baron in both games today. In the first game, we thought that we can win if we don’t let our opponent team take the Baron since they had taken two Mountain Drakes so we kept our eyes on the Baron. In the second game, I was certain I would win against our enemies when I was in the bot lane, and my teammates made sure the enemy jungler couldn’t come to me by keeping a good vision control around the Baron.

Who is the shotcaller in your team? Your team had great backup, which made you all seem like a whole.

Most of the times, everyone makes the call. But out of all, it is our support who makes the call most actively. He is very leading when he initiates team fights, especially when he is playing Rakan.

Your coach said that although each of you have great mechanical skills individually, you didn’t have time to work on your teamwork yet. What is your thought on your team’s coordination?

I certainly don’t think we have a great coordination. Maybe it’s because I’m not the type who approaches first and acts friendly, which I do feel sorry about. However, everyone in my team has great talents individually. We will be so much better if we work on our coordination. We are focusing our feedback on this. It is a problem we need to solve yet.

Did you keep your eyes on Gango as a team? Your team kept their focus on him in the first set, and it seemed you have thought of a way to counter Draven when you didn’t ban him in the second set.

We paid a close attention to Gango’s Draven. We prevented him from picking Draven by banning him or come up with many ways to counter his Draven.

DAMWON Gaming certainly has the spirit. How far do you think you will make it to?

I do think that we can make it to the finals although I am not certain. As I have mentioned before, as long as we work on our team coordination, I think we can even win the LCK Spring Season.

What is DAMWON’s final goal for this year? Your coach said that he wants you to make it to Worlds after making it to the LCK playoffs.

The common goal we have for our team is to make it to the playoffs. It is different for everyone. Since we still have a lot of time until Worlds, it is something we can think later after we have solved aforementioned problem.

Lastly, could you say something to your fans? Especially, to your fans who are supporting you from abroad.

The name, DAMWON Gaming, may be unheard of in the West but I think we are a team with great strengths. I hope that you would watch us with interest and support us because we will do great.