After reaching the pinnacle of fame with DAMWON Gaming, winning the LCK Summer 2020 and the World Championship 2020, Nuguri surprised fans by announcing his departure from the team at the end of last year to join FunPlus Phoenix in the LPL.
In China’s premier professional tournament, the player nicknamed “Cat Bear” had a fairly decent debut season, as he and his team made it to the LPL Spring 2021 finals before losing to a highly performing Royal Never Give Up.
The defeat in the finals prevented FPX from participating in MSI, and they now have quite a bit of time to prepare for the summer split. During his break, Nuguri had the opportunity to answer Korizon’s interview about his experiences over the past six months in China.
In the interview segment, Nuguri admitted that he felt quite regretful for not being able to secure the LPL championship this season. He acknowledged that he did not perform well in the finals, while also praising Xiaohu – his “senior” from the opposing side:
“I am very impressed with Xiaohu; clearly, he has a lot that I can learn from. This season, he completely transitioned from mid-lane to top-lane, but he showed very quick adaptability. Xiaohu’s champion pool is extremely diverse, and he also has no shortage of amazing skill displays.”
Like many other experts, Nuguri believes that MSI 2021 will be a “story of its own” for the two representatives from China and Korea – RNG and DWG KIA. However, when asked to predict which team would win the championship, Nuguri simply replied:
“I won’t say anything in advance. However, if RNG wins, then LPL will have 4 spots in the World Championship later this year, which will reduce the pressure on us significantly in the summer tournament.”
According to community opinions, this answer also implies that Nuguri “wants” RNG to win more. However, this does not upset Korean fans, as Nuguri’s reasoning is quite “justified”: RNG winning would provide FPX with more opportunities to reach the World Championship, as LPL’s spots would increase from 3 to 4, thus significantly reducing the competition ratio.
Even as a South Korean player and even a former member of DK, the fact is that Nuguri is currently wearing the FPX jersey and competing in the LPL. If it were FPX securing a spot at MSI instead of RNG, he would definitely prioritize the goal of defeating his former team.