Nongshim RedForce finally picked up a long-awaited match victory.

On the 3rd at LoL Park in Jonggak, Seoul, Nongshim defeated OKSavingsBank BRION 3–2 in Round 1 of the 2025 LCK Season Play-In. Nongshim went up 2–0, then dropped Games 3 and 4 in a row to face a crisis, before closing out the series in dominant fashion in Game 5.

Below is the full interview with Nongshim RedForce coach Park "Chelly" Seung-jin and jungler Kim "GIDEON" Min-seong

You won 3–2 after going the full five games.

Chelly: Unlike the first two games that we won comfortably, losing Games 3 and 4 was disappointing, but I’m relieved we took the match.

Gideon: I made a big mistake in Game 3 that dragged the game out, so I’m just glad we still won.

What happened with the direction in Games 3 and 4?

Chelly: Lehends isn’t fond of Elise, but I asked for it. Things didn’t unfold the way we’d envisioned, and in Game 4, the draft (ban/pick) itself was a bit tricky.

You won Game 5 in a landslide—what changed?

Chelly: Going into Game 5, with some rookies on the roster, I told the players to keep things as comfortable as possible. We paid extra attention to the overall composition and drafted with that in mind.

Gideon: After how I played in Game 3, I had a strong mindset that we simply couldn’t lose because of me again. I stayed calm and was able to execute.

What was the early-game setup for Game 3?

We started with good vision control, but the mistake was being overly certain that the opponent wouldn’t contest that area.

You’d been facing Legend Group teams and today you beat a Rise Group opponent. In terms of pure performance, do you feel you’ve resolved many of the issues we saw in the Legend Group matchups?

Chelly: That’s something we’ll only know once we face the Legend teams again. In our wins we were dominant, but in the losses I felt those were games we shouldn’t be dropping. It’s an area we can only fix if everyone on the roster keeps the will to improve and puts in the work.

Next you’ll face the winner of Dplus KIA vs. BNK FEARX. Who do you think takes it?

Chelly: Both teams have very distinct identities. Personally, I don’t think it will be one-sided. I expect it to go the distance, with DK edging it out in a five-game series.

Gideon: Whoever comes up, if I play well and we play well, we can win—so it doesn’t matter too much.

From today’s series, what are you satisfied with, and what concerns you?

Chelly: We’ve played a fair number of BO5s this year, and in BO5s there are times when we lean on Kingen or Lehends. I’m satisfied that we leveraged that well today, but as in Game 4, we need to do a better job controlling for unexpected draft scenarios.

Any final words?

Chelly: This is our first win in almost three months. Thank you to the fans who kept supporting us. Please continue to cheer for us so we can make it through the Play-In.

Gideon: I know it’s been tough on the fans. We’ll do better from here and show you a team that wins a lot more.

This article was translated from the original that appeared on INVEN.