Before the official start of the 2022 LCK Summer Split, DWG KIA (DK) welcomed Nuguri back – the player who helped this team win the championship at the 2020 World Finals. After that success, Nuguri transferred to play for FunPlus Phoenix (FPX) in the LPL region. However, this overseas excursion did not yield good results, and ultimately, “Nuguri” (his nickname) returned to his “old home”.
However, in reality, this “homecoming” of Nuguri was not perfect. DK’s performance with Nuguri did not improve their standings or results compared to their previous Spring Split. Not to mention that Canyon also had a rather unstable performance. This made DK appear even weaker in the 2022 Summer Split compared to Spring. While they still posed challenges to Gen.G Esports and T1, at times, people doubted DK’s ability to secure a spot at the 2022 World Championship (Worlds 2022).
As known, when entering the playoff stage of the recent 2022 LCK Summer Split, Coach Daeny made a change by allowing Burdol – the Top Lane player recruited at the beginning of the 2022 season, to play more frequently than Nuguri. The peak of this decision was that the coach only put Nuguri in for one game against T1 when DK’s situation became critical. After that, in games 4 and 5, Nuguri continued to sit on the bench despite Burdol not performing effectively.
Many rumors circulated in the LCK community after this incident. Many believed Nuguri had health issues. However, the subsequent announcement from DK stated that this change was entirely Coach Daeny‘s decision. Nuguri, on the other hand, was perfectly fine and did not have any issues.
Recently, DK held a fan meeting ahead of the Worlds 2022. During this fan interaction, Coach Daeny was, of course, asked about the switch between Nuguri and Burdol in the playoffs. Here, the coach clearly explained the situation.
Coach Daeny stated: “I will tell the truth. Nuguri actually did not agree with my directives. Like when I instructed him to always be present in the bot lane when there’s a Dragon. I also made it clear that I know he plays well, but he has to let the opponents know he is in that area when there’s a Dragon. But he did not agree. Therefore, I had to use Burdol instead. I cannot give a definite answer (on how the Top Lane will be chosen). But my job is to exploit their strengths and limit their weaknesses as much as possible, right?”
Conclusion
It is evident that a conflict exists between Coach Daeny and Nuguri. And perhaps, whether Nuguri gets to play regularly or not depends not only on his performance but also on how well he can adhere to Coach Daeny’s strategies.