On day 23 of the 2022 LCK Spring split, Gen.G faced off against Liiv SANDBOX in the second match of the day. With the players who had COVID making a full recovery, their full roster [Doran-Peanut-Chovy-Ruler-Lehends] was back in action for tonight’s match. It was a 2-0 sweep for Gen.G, marking a great start for Gen.G’s round 2 run.

After the match, Inven Global had a chance to sit down with Gen.G’s head coach, Go “Score” Dong-bin, to hear how he reflects on the team’s round 1 performance, as well as some of the inside scoop of how the Gen.G roster functions.

As the superstar roster of the 2022 LCK Spring, what were the team’s expectations prior to the split, and how has the team lived up to those expectations?

Looking back at round 1, I feel that we started off strong, but towards the end of round 1, we weren’t able to really execute our strategies due to players getting COVID, which forced us to use emergency subs from our CL roster.

How did you implement your experience from your player days into the inner workings of the team? 

Having experienced both the good and the bad from my days as a player, I implemented my experience to help create schedules that were the most comfortable for my players, as well as creating the most optimal team atmosphere for the team.

You stated in a previous interview with us that the position of Gen.G’s head coach came with a lot of pressure, especially with such superstars in each role. Do you still feel a lot of that pressure?

We thought of round 1 as the time for us to shape the team. Through garnering experience and figuring out how everyone wants to play the game, our goal was to build that synergy, teamwork, and be on the same page that everyone can work towards. Now that round 2’s officially started, we hope to continue building on what we've built so far to make our way to the top. 

From your perspective, how do you assess the team’s growth, both as a team and on an individual level?

The players are already so talented as individual players, so I think the biggest points of growth comes from gaining their confidence as a team, and finding more trust in each other. Even though these guys may come from different team backgrounds, they seamlessly find the solutions to be on the same page, and I think that comes from the players bonding quite well outside the game as well.

In the LCK, there are head coaches that are more stern and strict with the players, whereas there are also those that want them to just be friends. Which category do you fit in?

I’m definitely the stern and strict type [laughter].

As LCK heads into round 2, What are some of the things that the team needs to improve on? What’s the one keyword that comes to mind?

Momentum. Due to unfortunate circumstances, we lost a bit of the great momentum we had earlier in the split, so finding our rhythm to ride that high momentum will be very important.

One of the most anticipated matches of round 1 was Gen.G vs T1. Unfortunately, you had to field in subs due to COVID, so how do you anticipate the team will perform in the rematch?

I might be Gen.G’s head coach, but at my core, I’m a fan of the LCK. I’m personally very excited about the matchup, so I want to not get too hung up on the result of the series; I want the series to be an absolute banger.