Genji’s ‘Score’ Ko “Dong-bin” Ko blames himself for the loss.
Genji fell to BilliBilly Gaming (BLG) 3-2 in Game 2 of the 2023 League of Legends World Championship Quarterfinals at Sajik Gymnasium in Busan on Wednesday. The reigning LCK champions, No. 1 seed and favorites to win the tournament, Genji quickly ended the tournament as they once again fell to their knees to BLG, who they had defeated at the last MSI.
In a post-match interview, head coach Ko “Dong-bin” Go expressed his disappointment first. “We wanted to go higher and believed we could, as we were always picked to win,” he said. We were eliminated quickly, so there are many things we didn’t show. I’m very disappointed,” he said.
One of the deciding points of the match was the banpick. BLG had prepared a card called Rumble, which they didn’t utilize, and showed flexibility in their ban picks, while Genji was forced to play a difficult game as they were outnumbered by ban picks, especially in the first 1-2 sets of the match. Coach Ko Dong-bin, who led the banpik, also realized the responsibility. “In the first and second sets, the combinations we had prepared didn’t work well. So we were at a bit of a disadvantage from the start. Overall, the players were in good form, but we couldn’t organize a flexible combination. It’s my responsibility as a coach,” he said, blaming himself for the defeat.
In particular, in the second set, Genji chose the red faction and played a ban pick that took out all of their high-tier champions, including Rumble, Oriana, and Jaya. “The coaching staff thought a lot about it, but we chose the red faction because we thought that the bottom lane and the overall lane would be better if we went with the red side,” said Ko Dong-bin. “The overall lane went as we had planned, but the difficult combinations were very difficult, especially the first and second sets of the lane. I think this was largely due to our lack of preparation against the champion, Renata.”
Coach Ko Dong-bin blamed himself for the defeat. “I don’t want to talk about what we need to improve as a team, but I want to talk about me. Every time I’ve played an international tournament, I’ve been eliminated quickly. I think I didn’t adapt well as a coach to the different environment when preparing for domestic tournaments and international 토토사이트 tournaments. I think the players worked hard and could have done better, but it’s a pity,” he said, recognizing his responsibility.
Ko then shared his hopes for next season. He said, “The players lost one or two games lethargically, but there were some parts of the game where we struggled collectively. There were no mental issues. I think Zenji always has the potential to do well in international competitions. I think we can do better next year,” he concluded.
