On day 38 of the 2021 LCK Spring split, Gen.G defeated DWG KIA 2-1 and managed to take their 11th split victory. This match was very important for Gen.G to secure 2nd place, and with an upgraded performance, they managed to topple the goliath of the LCK and hand them their 2nd loss of the split.

After the match, in an interview with the bot laner for Gen.G, Park “Ruler” Jae-hyuk, he shared, “I had a feeling that we were going to win, because our practice has been going very well, so I was confident. Scrim win rates are one thing, but I was more satisfied with the practice process. Not only were our opponents the 1st place LCK team, we had to defend our 2nd place spot, so tonight’s victory is incredibly meaningful. I think we’ll be able to prepare well for our remaining matches as well.” 

Prior to tonight’s match against DWG KIA, Gen.G suffered a 0-2 loss against T1 in their previous series. When asked about how Ruler felt after the loss and the feedback he received, he replied, “Personally, I was left very discouraged, so I took extra care of myself mentally. After the series against T1, I just took the next day off and reflected on the loss. Internally, our team discussed how we should find a definite direction for ourselves.”

And it looked like Gen.G found their team’s direction tonight against DWG KIA. Kim “Rascal” Kwang-hee was left on an island in the top lane to fend for himself on Cho’Gath, while the rest of the team snowballed their advantages in the bot lane. “That direction was to play bot-ccentric. Rascal sacrificed a lot of resources for the team, while the rest of us pushed our advantages in the bot lane. For me, as long as I don’t get pressured verbally, I don’t feel pressured at all. No one pressured me that way, so I feel that I played better tonight.”

When asked about the Jinx-Thresh bot lane, he replied, “As long as the players on Jinx-Thresh play well, I don’t think there’s a bot lane duo that can beat them. At least for now. Currently, Jinx scales to become more explosive towards the late game, so if utilized properly, she’s a very good champion.” When we asked the same question about Tristana, he replied, “Tristana’s a situational pick. I think she’s good into Kai’Sa, but I don’t think Tristana can be picked blind”.

In game 2, Ruler took Exhaust on Jinx, an odd Summoner spell choice for a champion that’s so immobile. He commented, “I believed that I would not be able to survive against their aggression. I suggested that we take Exhaust-Ignite to match their aggression, and felt that the spell choice would serve me well in the late game as well”.

He continued, “Game 2 ended very abruptly, because we left our back line way open for Canyon’s Hecarim. The suddenness of it all left us dumbfounded, but despite being down by a lot, we put up a very good fight, so I feel that we proved ourselves with our gameplay. I also felt that we were better than our opponents in many different aspects as well”.

Lastly, Ruler commented, “Just because we beat the 1st place team, I do not believe that it automatically makes us a good team. We’ll need to work harder in preparing for our remaining matches of the split, as well as the playoffs”.