GEN Kiin: "On the NA server, players seem much more reluctant to give up [...] I've learned a lot from seeing that determination"

remain unbeaten in the Worlds 2026 Swiss Stage. After taking down Invictus Gaming on Friday, the LCK champions faced another tournament favourite on Saturday in . As in their five previous LCK meetings, Gen.G came out on top. Now sitting at 2–0, they will face LYON on Sunday, with a place in the playoffs at stake.

Following the match, Kim “Kiin” Gi-in spoke to Sheep Esports. Gen.G’s toplaner discussed the keys to the victory over HLE, the adjustments the team made after a shaky early game against IG, and his impressions of the North American solo queue environment.

Kim “Kiin” Gi-in: “During the break after qualifying for Worlds, I filmed some content for my personal YouTube channel with Lehends. I think he also wished me luck, though it was more of a lighthearted, joking kind of encouragement.

Kiin: Since we haven't reached the later stages of the tournament yet, I think he would have told me not to drink anything at all.

Kiin: On the Korean server, players tend to surrender relatively quickly once a game starts going badly. On the North American server, however, players seem much more reluctant to give up and keep playing until the very end. I've learned a lot from seeing that determination. Their willingness to keep fighting even when they're at a disadvantage has been a positive source of motivation for me.

Kiin: I think preparation is extremely important in areas like champion select and drafting. However, the longer a game goes on, the harder it becomes to prepare for every strategic situation in advance. Once you get past the 20- or 25-minute mark, you need to rely much more on making adjustments and coming up with strategies on the fly based on what's happening in the game.

Kiin: The biggest difference was that, in a best-of-one, we could immediately pick our key champions without having to save them or think about saving certain picks for subsequent games. We also prepared for Hanwha Life Esports' particular strengths. Compared with other teams, they're especially good at moving together as a unit, both in terms of rotations and overall map play, so we made sure to account for those tendencies.

Kiin: In yesterday's game, we lost ground early on in the jungle matchup. So, for today's match, we discussed being especially careful about unexpected situations like that and doing our best to navigate them without giving up an early advantage.

Kiin: Why? Hmm... I feel like it's about time I lift the World Championship trophy at least once. That's what I'm trying to use as my own personal motivation.”