Day 35 of the 2021 LCK Spring split has come to its conclusion. In the second match of the day, NS RedForce managed to defeat DRX 2-1 and pick up their 5th match victory of the split. As the playoffs race nears its end, the victory that NS picked up tonight was a much needed one for the team. However, Han “Peanut” Wang-ho, the jungler for NS, has his sights further than just the playoffs.

The following is Inven’s post-victory interview with Peanut.

How does it feel to pick up the team’s 5th match victory tonight? 

DRX has a great top-jungle synergy, and they’re very good at teamfighting. It was all about how to play out the game against a strong team, and I’m very grateful for our bot lane in making my job easier.

Do you believe that NS’ bot lane deserves all the credit for tonight’s victory against DRX?

We have days where our bot lane plays very well, and today was that day. Also, DRX’s bot lane isn’t too strong, so the games tonight were easier to play out.

The jungle matchup was against a jungler who’s arguably performing the best among the LCK junglers, Hong “Pyosik” Chang-hyeon. How do you rate him as a player?

Junglers need to be good at playmaking. In that regard, players like Pyosik and Canyon are players to look up to, so there was definitely some luck that came with our victory tonight.

In game 1 and 3, there were two instances where NS executed a bot lane dive. Not only did they take place in the time frame, it seemed that NS was sure that the enemy jungler wasn’t there for a countergank. Were you aware of the fact that Pyosik likes to full clear his jungle, so he wasn’t going to be bot?

One thing I noticed about Pyosik was that he doesn’t like to go bot before he purchases his mythic item. He usually likes to play around the top lane, so I was pretty certain that he wasn’t going to be bot. I had a good read on his location on the map.

Sion was a key champion for both team's drafts tonight. How do you rate Sion as a champion right now?

There are teams/players that know how to play against Sion, but there are those that don’t know how. Teams/players' level of preference comes from that preference. Personally, as Kim “Khan” Dong-ha explained in his recent interview, I also believe that he’s a great champion.

The race for 6th place becomes more fierce by the day, so I think tonight’s victory holds more meaning.

As long as we play out the rest of our matches well, I think we can go to the playoffs. Truth be told, I’m also worried about what to do after we make it to the playoffs. There’s a lot of work to be done.

So, you’re worried about not only making it to the playoffs, but also on what to do when NS makes it?

That’s right (laughter). I might be counting my chickens too soon, but our hard work won’t matter if we get eliminated from the playoffs. In that regard, I do believe that it’s healthy to look further into the future and prepare for it.

Which team do you think will be your toughest opponents in the playoffs?

There’s too many to choose. If I had to, teams that have strong laners are very tough.

As the playoffs draw near, the interest in the ‘east side of the LCK’ grows. Is there anything you’d like to say to the fans?

In the four matches that we have left, we’ll try to win three of them. We’ll give it our all in putting on performing our best, until our very last match of the Spring split.