Gen.G Ryu: “The reason behind today’s loss is our ability to make the tier list” – First Stand 2026 Interview

The kings have been taken down. After the incredible upset by G2 to take down Gen.G in the semifinals of First Stand 2026, we chatted with Gen.G’s head coach Ryu “Ryu” Sang-wook to hear his thoughts on what went wrong and why the team looked like a ghost of itself.

Davide: First of all, it’s unfortunate that you guys did not take the win in the series.

What are the initial impressions on the series now that it’s done and what do you think were the reasons behind the loss?

Ryu: So, overall, I believe that we lost quite one-sidedly, which is not a great feeling. And I think the reason behind today’s loss is our ability to make the tier list. I think we have failed on our part, and overall, I believe that it made the game a lot harder due to the draft.

Davide: This is the first time that you’ve been on the back foot in a best-of-series this season.

From your perspective, how do you think the players were dealing with the pressure coming into the third game?

Ryu: Yeah, going to game 3, a lot of players seemed to be pretty nervous, but everyone in the team is quite experienced and pretty seasoned. So I don’t think they lost their composure necessarily. I believe the main reason we lost is that we didn’t prepare adequately.

Davide: You mentioned the issues around the draft.

Was there any specific role where you guys did not make the best prep, or was it just team compositions that did not work out?

Ryu: Yeah, just considering the First Stand meta after the patch, I believe that just getting prio is the most crucial part of the game, and I don’t think we were able to manage that very well. So in the end, I believe that, you know, no matter which lane it was, I think maybe perhaps it was all lanes, I don’t think we were able to prep well enough in terms of being able to take the edge and take the prio.

Davide: G2, BLG, and JDG are left.

Who do you think will be the potential winner of First Stand?

Ryu: To be honest, in this First Stand, I believe that it’s possible for any team to win and I think it’s just going to be whoever is able to win through that draft and win that laning phase and just get that lane prio.

Davide: I kind of wanted to ask you a little bit more about Gen.G. So, in the past years, Gen.G had dominant runs throughout most of the season, but then struggled to fight at Worlds for the Summoners’ Cup.

Do you think that this small setback here at First Stand will allow the team to come back stronger, knowing that you will realize exactly what to work on moving forward?

Ryu: Yeah, obviously, we do believe that we can come back stronger. I think just today’s defeat is very regretful and we are quite upset about that. But the experience that we got from today is going to pay off. Just looking at the year forward in front of us, it’s going to pay off as a good experience. I think it just leaves a lot of regret that we weren’t able to be as flexible as we wanted to be today.

Davide: There have been a lot of discussions about the gap between Western and Eastern regions.

Prior to G2’s success, what do you think about the gap between the two regions and do you think is G2 just being an exception or is the gap actually getting closer?

Ryu: To be quite honest, I haven’t thought much about the gap, so I can’t tell you for sure, but I think what G2 did really well was that during the draft, they were quite flexible; they were being quite fluid with their own strategies, so that’s just the only thing that comes to my mind.

Davide: Next up is a personal question for you. The last time you played that on stage was in 2019 with 100Thieves.

Do you still miss playing on stage? Now that you’re coaching teams, is there any aspect that you love about coaching in LoL esports?

Ryu: Yeah, sometimes. Yeah. I definitely miss my player days. Obviously, I don’t think I am good [enough] to be on stage anymore, but I do think back on those days, and I miss those days. Speaking of the present, I’m quite satisfied and content with me working with the coaching staff as a head coach. And as a head coach, the process of being able to contribute in the draft process and also in-game is quite fun for me. So, honestly, I feel like I’m in a great place right now.

Do you have any last message you would like to tell the fans?

Ryu: Yeah, honestly, because it leaves a lot of regret, and it’s quite unfortunate the way we lost. It just felt so helpless. So I feel very sorry to our fans and I’m sure they’re quite concerned about us. But I think through this tournament, we were able to identify all of the things that we need to work on and improve on. So we’ll make sure that we actually refine those points, and within a year, I want to repay all your support with a great result.