On the 3rd (KST), in the 2019 LCK Spring Split Wild Card Match between SANDBOX Gaming and DAMWON Gaming, DAMWON defeated SANDBOX 2-1 and succeeded to advance to the next round against Kingzone DragonX. In the match, Nuguri and Showmaker’s performances stood out.

You won today and reached the next round of the playoffs. How do you feel?

Nuguri: More than reaching the next round, I’m happier that we’ve secured a spot in the Rift Rivals. I wanted to play in an international competition.

Nuclear: Me too, I’m happy that we can play against teams from abroad with my teammates.

It was a very close match. What feedback did you receive after Game 2, which you lost?

Nuguri: We all said that if we don’t make mistakes, we would win. When the bot duo evaded Jarvan’s ganks well in Game 3, we thought that we would be able to win.

Nuclear: SANDBOX is a team that makes decisions very quickly and we were rather indecisive. We had feedback regarding that matter.

Can you elaborate more on the feedback after your loss in Game 2?

Nuclear: The team atmosphere wasn’t that good since we lost a game that we should have won, but our coaching staff held on to us well.

Nuguri: I had the initiative to take charge of the game, but I made bad decisions in important situations.

SANDBOX banned Kayle and Vladimir in all games. Did you predict that they will?

Nuclear: We were quite sure about Vladimir, and we did say that it’s possible that they could ban Kayle as well. We beat SANDBOX when we played a champion that can carry the late game.

Nuguri: Personally, I thought they may attempt to counter Kayle.

DAMWON often gets compared to last year’s Kingzone DragonX; the bottom duo with the Pray-Gorilla duo.

Nuclear: Our styles are similar, but I think our bot duo still has a long way to go to match the performance of PrillA in their prime. We need to put in more effort.

Nuguri: Kingzone of last year had a very strong upper half and their bot lane helped them well, but we often go differently according to the situation. Still, I agree that we’re generally similar.

The playoffs schedule is really tight. Does that give you pressure?

Nuguri: It is quite tight, but there isn’t that much pressure. The better team will win.

You weren’t able to win a single game against Kingzone DragonX during the regular season.

Nuclear: Kingzone had an amazing flow in Round 2, and their recent performance is really good. However, since we also have a good flow, it’s not that scary. We’ll see how it goes.

It seems that your style is the opposite of Kingzone now. Kingzone has a strong bottom and DAMWON has a strong upper half.

Nuguri: I think I need to make good decisions in all situations. I need to help my teammates so that their bot lane can’t scale and show their strength.

Nuclear: We lay a lot of strength in the upper half, and it’s true that our upper half is really good, but even if the game goes around the bottom lane, I’m confident to not be pushed around. If the our teamwork is good enough, there’s no pressure.

Starting from Playoffs round 1, it’s a Bo5 format.

Nuclear: There are several experienced players in Kingzone. That matter is a bit of an issue, so we should focus on our concentration during matches.

Any last comments?

Nuguri: Playoffs is in two days. I want to prepare well and reach a higher spot. Please cheer for us.

Nuclear: It’s the first time in the playoffs for us, so we’re pretty nervous. However, we’ll really do our best so that we can deliver good performance and an interesting match.