For any competitive League of Legends team, good practice is always a sign of success to come on the Summoner’s Rift. But for North America’s first seed NRG Esports, practice might not always make perfect—and that’s a good thing.
In a candid interview with Korizon Esports’ Ashley Kang, NRG’ veteran support Lee “IgNar” Dong-geun revealed that the team’s scrim win percentages back in NA were near 30 percent and that their scrims in Korea were even worse, at around 10 percent.
“There were many [scrims] when we barely won a game, so I wasn’t feeling confident [against G2],” IgNar confessed. “It was the same back in NA—we performed better when we’re on stage, especially when we don’t make early-game mistakes. Honestly, I wasn’t expecting anything out of today, and now I feel like I’m in this daze since I had no expectations yet won.”
NRG has also been one of the more underrated teams of the tournament so far, which can be a huge boost of a squad since they can play without any fear. IgNar agreed that being an underdog works for him, since he has played at a relatively calm pace at Worlds 2023 compared other high stake games.
As a result, he viewed the game with a broader vision and subsequently made better decisions for himself and his team as the intensity ramped up. This underdog mentality has been seen across the history of League esports, from NRG’s win vs. G2 Esports to DRX’s Cinderella run to the Summoner’s Cup last year at Worlds 2022.
Looking ahead, NRG will have to continue this miraculous run in the knockout stage as they battle for supremacy against one of the best teams in the world. Before this, however, the Swiss stage will have to reach its epic conclusion, with six more teams fighting to move forward in the tournament. Catch all the action when the Swiss stage ends tomorrow on Sunday, Oct. 29.
