Hanwha Life Esports Brion (HLE) wrapped up their final match of the first round with a clean 2-0 victory over DN Superus, snapping their losing streak and heading into the second round on a high note. After the match, we caught up with 'Casting' Shin Min-je, who spoke in detail about the reasons for the team's recent slump and the efforts they made to break the streak.

Reflecting on the win against DNS that ended their six-game losing streak, 'Casting' said, "Honestly, I feel like we should have won more games during the first round. It's a shame we couldn't show our full potential, which is why I really wanted to win today."

When asked about the frustrations of the recent slump and what the team focused on to improve, he replied, "We tried so many things. We kept changing and checking things one by one to identify our chronic issues and figure out what was causing the most trouble."

"We had a lot of discussions, and we concluded that our biggest problem was that we would play well in the early and mid-game, only to collapse later on. We focused our communication on fixing that, and I think it showed in our performance today. That said, we still need to refine the finer details to keep improving."

He also shared his thoughts on the current top-lane meta. "Looking at today's match, the laning phase wasn't easy for the top lane. However, I was confident in our mid-to-late game teamfights. That was only possible because our bottom lane and jungle played so well early on. I think our opponents might have felt pressured because the situation wasn't going their way."

"In the current meta, I think the most important thing for a top laner is to play stably through the early and mid-game when the team is doing well, and to know how to create variables when the team is behind," he explained.

When asked for more detail on how they worked to overcome their mid-game struggles, 'Casting' said, "Even when you give the same feedback, everyone perceives it differently. League of Legends is a team game, but everyone is in a different situation, and you have to know how to voice your own circumstances."

I believe team synergy comes from harmonizing everyone's opinions into one. For example, compare a situation where four people voice their opinions and quickly coordinate their movements versus one where only three people speak up. As you gain experience together, it's always better to have more people actively communicating and coordinating.

"In the past, there were times when I struggled to speak up. People have different reasons for that—some are shy, some fear disagreement—but ultimately, team synergy is about how efficiently the majority can communicate and coordinate. I think you have to go through that process many times to reach the best decisions," he added.