BRO Casting: "We had the ability to beat T1"

had been stuck in a difficult position in this start of the LCK season. Today's clean 2-0 sweep against put that frustration to rest, at least for now. BRION's top laner Shin "" Min-je was at the center of it: a stellar performance on both Gnar and Ambessa, that silenced doubters of the champion's LCK viability. With an upcoming important match against soon, we asked Casting about how the team feels at the beginning of this round 2.

Shin "Casting" Min-je: "We'd been on a losing streak, so from our side, we were really desperate for a win, and I'm sure the fans cheering for us wanted to see a victory too. So winning 2-0 today, I'm really happy about it.

Casting: We stuck with the approach we've been using, but we focused on fixing the specific points where we'd been slipping up. Today it all just flowed really smoothly, so I think that's why we were able to win.

Casting: For some people it might've helped, like feeling less nervous today and playing better because of it. But personally, more than the venue itself, the level of play, last time we actually had the ability to beat T1, but we broke down in the same spots again. We came back and gave the same feedback as before. So I think we fixed those issues, and that's why we won today.

Casting: In Game 1 when I was on Gnar, I turned on the Jarvan gank and killed him. And after that in the Ambessa game, I was thinking about how to teamfight well each time, and we won those teamfights. And also as a team, our comms were really clean, like calling out whether we should go in or not, whether it's good or bad. I'm happy with that.

Casting: Back then, bot lane wasn't as volatile as it is now. Tank supports were picked a lot more, so the jungler could path toward Renekton's side. That made it feel dangerous for Gnar. But these days, teams think it's more valuable to help bot lane early than to play around Renekton, so Renekton feels more like he's picked as a safe bridge pick.

Casting: Ambessa as a champion, when she gets her items spikes she's incredibly powerful, but it's fundamentally hard for her to get to that point. So I think her win condition is getting into a good fight and funneling the kills onto her. But the LCK prefers more structured skirmishes and a macro-focused style of play, so Ambessa can't really show her strengths. On the other hand, in the LPL there's a lot more fighting, so there's more room for Ambessa to shine.

Casting: My first thought when I saw the Helm was that it has 10 armor and 10 MR built in. So I was thinking K'Sante could be really good with it. But I haven't played much solo queue on the live server yet, so I'm not sure if K'Sante is actually good with it. As for the Bow, I was thinking about the top lane picks we've been seeing lately, like Vayne, or Kiin (Kim Gi-in) played Twisted Fate top once, could champions like that get value out of it? I think it's still in the research phase.

Casting: The way I see it, BRION as a team is really good up to around 15 to 20 minutes, and we're great at planning the early game. Our fundamentals are quite good too. But in our earlier matches, we couldn't convert the gold lead into wins. I think we were lacking in the 'how do we close out with this lead?' part, which is why our games dragged on. But today, we did what we always do and got the early lead like usual, and I think we'd done a lot of work on how to close games out. Especially in terms of comms.

Casting: The biggest thing I noticed coming to the LCK is that the players I'm facing are all at such a high level. But once I started going up against them, it's more manageable than I expected. It almost felt like they were giving me one-on-one lessons, you know? In scrims, the opponent would be so good that they'd just destroy me, they'd straight up beat me up. But in those moments I could see exactly how they were winning, so I'd quietly absorb it and grow alongside them. So the environment has been really good.

Casting: Right now, our coach, Duke, he played top lane himself, so he knows a lot of the finer details, and he's been teaching me a ton. I'm still in the process of absorbing all of that, so I've been trying to stay focused on this. I think once I do, I can become more aggressive and sharper.

Casting: I mean, it's the same for me in the position I'm in, but wanting something badly and working hard to get there is a good thing — it's an important value in life. But I just hope they laugh a lot. From our perspective too, those guys are ultimately doing this to be happy, so I hope they never lose their smiles.

Casting: Personally since I play toplane, I want to be stronger in the 1v1 against my opponents and generate more of a lead by the 10 to 15 minute mark. And as a team, I want us to get closer and become more solid, to not crumble, and to be a team that even from the outside, people look at and think, “BRION is rock solid.”

Casting: When we played them in Round 1, there were definitely things they did that impressed me. But the good thing is, I could see what they were doing well. So for this match, we're going to focus on how we can learn from that and how we can exploit their weaknesses. We're going to practice hard with the goal of winning for sure.

Casting: Right now, in terms of pure skill, I think Lee "" Seung-min is playing really well, so I'd love to go up against him and come out on top.

Casting: After our matches, I've noticed there are actually quite a few international fans among the people supporting us. So I'm really grateful that they tune in from so far away to watch Korean matches, and if we get the chance, I'd love to go play internationally and meet them in person.”