Damwon Gaming has defeated Brion Blades to advance to the next stage of KeSPA Cup 2018. They were held to high expectations coming into the tournament, from rumors of impressive scrim performances against World Championship teams. Due to this, they are expected to go far in the tournament. With this win, they will advance to the next stage, facing KeG Seoul, an amateur team that has upset another LCK team, Hanwha Life Esports.

Damwon Gaming’s top laner Jang “Nuguri” Ha-gwon has been interviewed following their win.

With the first series of today over in Kespa Cup, we will be interviewing the winner of Damwon Gaming vs Brion Blade. Please welcome Damwon Gaming’s Nuguri!

Congratulations on your win!

Nuguri: Thank you.

There have been lots of rumors about Damwon, supposedly dominating in scrims and solo q. Many fans had high expectations for the team and wanted to confirm if it was true. How do you feel with the 2-0 finish today?

Nuguri: While we did win the series 2-0, in our game 1, parts of it were messy, which may have been disappointing for many.

While early on you were at a deficit, the comeback win itself was also quite impactful and I’m sure it will have increased expectations for the team.

In early-to-mid game, there were some disadvantages, but despite that, you were scaling up reliably, Nuguri.

Nuguri: In the first set, when our bot tower was getting pushed early, I thought the game would be difficult, but as time passed and I scaled I was able to push lane against Sion.

One of the highlights was the Baron steal.

Nuguri: Ah the Baron steal… If it wasn’t for that… I mean Punch just somehow… So the call was to leave the baron, but someone said that they [Brion Blades] didn’t have mana and said there was a chance, so Punch jumped in and stole it.

At the time, Damwon had just been aced but Alistair and Khazix revived just in time to steal it. So the calls were conflicting at the time?

Nuguri: Yes, I said to not contest and to push a lane somewhere else since I thought we couldn’t. The situation at the time was quite desperate.

Outside of that Baron steal, you were just flying around making plays on Ryze.

Nuguri: Oh was I?

Yes! Also starting with the second set, I felt you were getting target banned. Were you also getting that feeling?

Nuguri: I don’t feel it was target bans, but more part of their strategy.

Your carrying was a shining point in this series, but there was Canyon’s debut game on Khazix. How did you feel playing with Canyon?

I played with him before during practices and I knew he was a great player. So there wasn’t any worry, I thought he would be good.

So there weren’t any worries coming into it. Now you will be facing KeG Seoul. Are you ready?

Nuguri: Looking at the games, the amateur players are excellent in their laning phase, so I am expecting good games from them.

Next year, before next season’s LCK, it will be amazing to go far in Kespa Cup. Can you give any words of determination regarding that?

Nuguri: For the remaining games, I will make sure to play without mistakes and practice more to show good gameplay.

Again, congratulations on your victory!

Nuguri: Thank you.

This has been an interview with the winner of first series today, Damwon Gaming’s Nuguri.