Hanwha Life Esports defeated third-place Nongshim RedForce 2-1, fending off their pursuit while staying hot on the heels of KT.

During the LCK Cup, the team was eliminated early because, despite the players' individual skills, they lacked team synergy. However, they have shown significant improvement as a team since the start of the LCK regular season. In fact, 'Zeka' Kim Geon-woo mentioned, "We are definitely doing better than we were during the LCK Cup."

Q. How do you feel after today's win, which marks your fifth consecutive victory?

I'm satisfied with the win and the five-game winning streak, but we made many mistakes, so we need to focus on our feedback. One regret is that our calls regarding Baron and other objectives were misaligned in the second set.

Q. The team atmosphere is great thanks to the winning streak. It feels like your synergy is finally clicking—what are your thoughts on that?

It's certainly better than it was during the LCK Cup. Since the regular season involves consistent tournament play, our synergy seems to be developing naturally, and I can feel myself improving as well.

Q. You mentioned that in the first set, the opponent failed to execute their team composition's concept. It seemed like Aurora's performance was at the center of that—what do you think?

Aurora is a champion that needs to secure kills in early skirmishes to be effective. Looking at our composition, I thought it would be best to focus on team fighting. Mid-lane first picks aren't great these days, but Aurora is a relatively safe choice to take.

Q. In the second set, you picked Ziggs for the mid lane. What was the reasoning?

I thought that if we played without mistakes, our composition would be strong due to its long range. However, we took too many losses in the middle of the game, which made things difficult. While our composition had good wave clear, the opponent had strong sustain, and it became very tough after we gave up the Dragon Soul.

Q. The final set was a close match. Nongshim seemed to have the edge in raw power, but the quick decision to go for Baron was the turning point, right?

We started the third set with an advantage in the bottom lane, so the game was in our favor. Rek'Sai also joined the fights well, making it a very winnable game. As for team fights, our composition was designed for the top side to engage while the bottom lane cleaned up; by using Nocturne's ultimate to initiate, we caught them off guard and created favorable positions.

Q. With this five-game winning streak, you are now 6-1. You are closely trailing the first-place team, KT, who are 7-0, and you have a match against them on the 29th.

KT is on an undefeated run and their momentum is very strong. They seem to be the best team right now, but we have talented players as well, so I am confident we can win.

Q. Any final words?

The first round ends next week. I want to win all our remaining matches and finish the first round with only one loss.