After years spent on the periphery of Korea’s elite, top laner Kim “Kiin” Gi-in finally gained his first titles this year after joining Gen.G, six years after his LCK debut. Now both an LCK and MSI winner, only a LoL World Championship title remains out of his grasp.
We spoke to the former KT Rolster top laner ahead of his opening match at Worlds 2024.
Esports.net: How has preparation been going? How are you feeling ahead of the tournament?
Kiin: We didn’t get a lot of time to prepare so far, but the process isn’t really going too bad. So I would say that as long as we keep going this direction, I think we’re on the right path right now.
Lee Jones: Last year there was a lot of pressure around JDG’s Golden Road attempt, which they ultimately failed. Despite the LCK summer loss obviously being a disappointment…
Do you think you might benefit from not having the Golden Road narrative hanging over Gen.G during Worlds?
Kiin: Yeah. So from our defeat in the Summer finals, I’m honestly a little disappointed that we weren’t able to get that achievement – that was a big milestone that we were able to sort of go for. But like you said, there is definitely less pressure, and I think it was a really good step for us to take in regards to just kind of looking back to our mistakes and just pinpointing our problems so that in the end we are able to be successful in Worlds.
Image credit: Riot Games
Lee Jones: Going in the other direction, there’s been discussion around whether winning Worlds would cement your Gen.G roster as the strongest League of Legends team of all time.
What are your thoughts on that?
Kiin: So in regards to the best League of Legends team to be produced, that’s never crossed my mind before. But I’m sure that if we were able to win Worlds, I would agree that it would cement that our team would be the best in the current era.
Lee Jones: Chovy in the mid lane has been said to play the highest level of LoL that’s ever been seen.
What’s it like playing with someone like him? How much easier does it make it to do your job in top lane?
Kiin: So, yeah, Chovy, he is so good at laning phase and especially trading during the laning phase as well.
I can agree that he does make it a lot more comfortable to play as a team in terms of macro and just like individual plays, I think it allows me to really fully just focus on my own game. So it’s very comfortable just thinking about that, though.
I don’t think it’s just Chovy who plays really well. I think everyone else in the team also excels at what they’re doing and I think all we have to do is just focus on our own individual play. So I think right now I can just confidently say that our team is very good.
Lee Jones: You’ve got quite a tricky round one Swiss draw against Weibo.
What did you think of the draw?
Kiin:I do believe that they are very strong and they have good potential. So I think we just have to make sure to be wary of what they’re good at and just their strengths so that we are ready to face them.
What do you think about the European top laners at Worlds?
Kiin:So I haven’t faced enough European top laners to really say how I evaluate them or anything like that. But I have watched a lot of them play some unique champions that are not very conventional to use typical games. So I think those are very entertaining to watch.
Who do you think is the best top laner at Worlds this year?
Obviously I’m here to win it all, so I will say myself.
Read next: MDK Alvaro - My objective is making it to top eight
