LYON Berserker on the EU-NA debate: "I don't think EU is better than NA — it's just G2"
LYON come into MSI as the LCS's first seed, and their Korean ADC isn't shy about where he stands. RFT.GG sat down with Kim "Berserker" Min-cheol before the tournament to talk about being the West's best bot laner, how he rates EU as a region, coaching up his bot lane partner Isles, and whether LYON can finally trouble the LCK and LPL.
How are you feeling?
It's been a while since I've been to MSI, so I'm kind of excited for it. I'm looking forward to it.
After the split you had individually, are you confident you're the best ADC in the West right now?
In the West, of course. I think so.
Who do you see as your biggest opposition in the West, if you had to pick one?
The only one I thought was really good was Hans Sama, back in 2022. When I first came to the LCS, I played against him, and I won the game but I felt like I got gapped. So
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I do think he's the best ADC in EU, but I still think I'm better than him now.
I watched the whole serie, but not in detail — I only really watched game three detailedly. I'm not sure, but KC kind of lost their minds, I feel like, watching that. But I'm kind of happy TL won against KC.
You feel KC didn't play up to their level maybe?
I only watched their LEC final, so I don't know exactly how good KC really are. But that's definitely not how they play, I feel like.
After First Stand, a lot of people put EU over NA. Do you think that last series is a statement of the opposite?
I think it's fair that people think that way, because G2 beat Gen.G at First Stand.
But personally, I don't think EU is better than NA — it's just G2.
We'll see: if we beat G2 at MSI, then we're just better than EU. So we'll see.
Photo Credit: Stefan Wisnoski/Riot Games
Coming back to LYON — one of your biggest improvements this split was your 2v2 with Isles. When you joined NA you played for a long time with Zven, already a veteran. How is it kind of being on the other side with Isles, and how do you evaluate your progression as a duo?
I actually played with him back in 2022, before I played with Zven, so I already knew he's pretty good at laning — I don't really have a problem laning with him. But at the beginning of the season, I didn't think he was good at reading the game. As a support, he should read the map, put wards wherever he wants, and be exactly where he needs to be.
So I kept talking to him about that, and he looks like he's improving — I do think he can get compared to the other best supports, so I'm looking forward to it. When I was on C9, I didn't really speak in reviews, I didn't really talk about the game — I was just chilling, also I'm playing ADC so [laughs]. But now I've played this game for about seven-eight years, so I try to keep my game knowledge up. That's a big difference, I guess.
You played a lot of ranged matchups with Isles this split because of the meta — he was on a lot of enchanters. Now that it's shifting toward melee supports, are you adapting well, and confident playing both?
Before, I preferred us just playing a mage support and bullying the 2v2. But we'll play together for a year now, the meta keeps changing, and you should be able to play other support. So, like I already said, I keep talking with him before like, "you should be here," or "put the ward there." So I'm hoping he does well when he plays melee supports and roam supports too.
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Before First Stand, you said you didn't believe you could win against LCK or LPL. Have you changed your mind after the split?
I did say that before we went to First Stand. But I don't mean it in a negative way; I was just telling you the fact of how I felt it. I didn't feel we were that good when I won split one.
But now, compared to First Stand, we're pretty good.
Back in split one we didn't really play as a team, we didn't know how to play team game. Now we're actually good. So I do think we can compare ourselves to even with LCK — with LPL for sure. So yeah, I'm looking forward to it.
You were in the LCK right before joining LYON. What are the avantages of being on a middle-of-the-pack LCK team versus a top LCS team?
The reason I joined LYON is that Inspired just DM'd me — "if you want to come to NA, come play with me." I didn't really know why, but okay — he's the best player in the LCS, so I was down, and I just went for it. The difference between playing on a middle or low team in the LCK and a top team in the LCS is that in the LCS you get to go to international events, so you can learn a lot from how teams play at MSI and on the international stage. In the LCK, you're still playing against the top LCK teams, so you can still play — but you're not going international, and you end up chilling a lot. Of course [I prefer going to internationals]. But I still wanted to challenge myself in the LCK.
Photo Credit: Leo Sang/Riot Games
Last question — what are your ambitions here with LYON, personal and as a team, and what would feel like a good enough tournament?
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