On the 19th of June, Day 19 of the 2019 LCK Summer Split took place. On the first series of the day, DAMWON Gaming defeated SK Telecom T1 with a score of 2-1. Throughout the series, when situations seemed dire for DWG, Nuguri stepped up for his team and created several advantages that allowed his team to take the victory. 

The following is an interview with DWG's top laner, Nuguri.

Please introduce yourself to our readers!

Hello, I'm DAMWON Gaming's top laner, Nuguri. It's nice to meet you.


You're currently on a winning streak. Your team seems a lot stronger than before. What's changed?

When we lost game 1 during our series against Gen.G, our mental strength took a big hit. I felt that our mentality is easily affected by our losses. It was after our match with Griffin when we started to encourage each other to stay level-headed even if we are to lose the 1st set of a series. That's when we started the reverse-sweep meta.


Reverse-sweep meta?

It's not something that I aimed to do. It just happened.


Even if you're to lose the 1st game, you come back harder on the 2nd. Is it something to do with mental strength?

We've gotten a lot better at controlling our emotions.


The entire DWG squad looked better today. For a while, DWG was called a Nuguri one-man team. Although this is big praise for an individual, it could also be perceived as an indirect insult to the rest of your teammates. What's your opinion?

Personally, it felt great hearing that. I heard that praise because I played well. However, nowadays, I think ShowMaker is playing much better than me. In terms of macro, I'm still very lacking. One of our Baron attempts today happened because I was very frustrated at how the game was progressing, not because of macro. I have to work on it.


Khan is quite a competent top laner himself. He's shown great performance on Aatrox today. How was it playing against him?

Khan used to be famous for being a very aggressive top laner. Nowadays, however, I think his playstyle has changed. I guess you can say he's more of a team player now? It seems like he's trying to blend in with his team.


Did Khan's changed playstyle enable you to pop off?

It's a lot scarier facing aggressive players. Since Khan played with his team and macro in mind, it was a bit more comfortable dealing with him in lane. That's what I think.


SKT is currently on a losing streak. Having just faced them, why do you think they're struggling so much?

I feel like they're losing their unique team color. Back then, SKT was very fearsome, because as soon as we allow an opening, they'd surround us and kill us. Each player on SKT is also very strong during the laning phase. Everything about them used to be very scary... but right now, I think they're trying approaching the game differently. We might've won today, but I don't know if we can win against them next time. Every player on SKT is strong... they might just be experiencing growing pains from trying things differently.


So instead of thinking that they're just simply underperforming, you think they're experiencing growing pains from their process of changing things within the team?

I think so. The process of gaining team synergy.


I guess other teams should be careful of them then.

Yeah, SKT has always had something about them. They had a slow start this split.


You'll soon compete in the Rift Rivals. It'll be your very first international tournament. How do you feel about it?

I'm really looking forward to it. I also have new teammates, so I'm really excited to compete in it.


There are a lot of talented top laners from the other regions, including TheShy. Is there a certain top laner that you're excited to face at RR?

I'm looking forward to playing against Zoom because I think he's a great player. I found out 369 is also a young player. His Jax and Camille in solo queue... he always scores a solo-kill in the side lanes. I'm really excited to play against them.


You're making me look forward to it as well. Great work today, do you have any parting words for your fans?

We've defeated SKT for our 3-game winning streak. We'll show great performance against our next opponent, Kingzone, too!