On day 22 of the 2021 LCK Summer Split, Afreeca Freecs defeated Liiv SANDBOX 2-1 after a very bloody bout on the Summoner’s Rift. As this match marked the start of round 2 in the split, this victory meant that much more for AF. 

The following is the post-match interview with the head coach of AF, Jang “Cain” Nu-ri.

Congratulations on the victory. How do you reflect on the team’s round 1 performance?

I’m not too satisfied about it. We had more losses than wins early on, but seeing the players build trust and show progress after each match. Our goal is to continue on like this and make it to the playoffs; starting off round 2 with a win feels very good.

I think there’s a lot to say about game 3 of the series.

I got really worn out while watching from the coaches’ booth [laughter]. Towards the end, I was pretty much praying that the team would pull through.

What are some of the things that you felt the team needed to fix prior to joining as the head coach?

I think that their teamplay needed a lot of work. The team seemed very lost in their macro and did not sync in teamfights. These things still need work. They couldn’t push their leads well; even with an early 2K gold lead, the team still doesn't snowball as well as they could. This is our biggest homework.

What do you think the reasons are behind the team not being able to snowball their leads?

It’s hard to pinpoint one reason. There are a lot of reasons, such as giving the enemy time when the support-jungle is roaming around the map and recall timings not being in sync. These are just a few of the reasons.

The last time AF played LSB, Kim “Kiin” Ki-in said that he regrets not banning Gnar against them.

We were aware of Summit’s Gnar, but in the process of fixing our draft, Gnar was exempt from our bans. We made sure that we definitely banned Gnar this time around, because Summit’s an exceptional Gnar player.

Lastly, is there anything you’d like to say?

As I always say, I’m very grateful for the fans supporting us. The fans are what keeps the players going.