After the victory of BDS Academy against Team GO at the LFL Days in Nice, former LEC player and BDSA toplaner Janik “JNX” Bartels is confident for the continuation of the split. After 5 years in the ranks of SK Gaming in LEC, the German player wanted to try his luck in LFL.
Congratulations for your victory! How do you feel after the game ?
"To be fair, after the game yesterday against KC, I was very hyped because it was such a long game. And today it was more like we knew we were going to win, and we came up today, and we showed it. It was more of an expected win, but I’m still happy. The crowd was really nice, so it’s fun to play in front of such a nice crowd."
Yesterday, you won against KC, who were first in the ranking. Yet, I feel like you had a slower start with BDS Academy. Is that the case?
"So we were 3-3 before going into this week, which was like the middle of the pack. But we all never thought that we had a middle of the pack team. I just feel like we had some unfortunate official games because, honestly, speaking from scrims, we were like stomping everyone."
"Of course, scrims are always different from officials, especially when we are winning so many scrims it sometimes can give us fake data on certain things and give us too much confidence. And then maybe we play a draft that's very difficult to execute, and we end up losing that game. I feel like that happened already in two of our losses, where we played like a draft that was harder to execute."
"But I do believe it's part of our progress, and I rather be like 9-9, make it to the playoffs, and be the best team possible rather than being 8-0 and then getting surprised in best-of-five and losing. So I'm very happy with the progress we're making."
This is your first time playing in LFL even though you played in LEC. Was it a big factor in choosing to play BDS Academy? Are you happy to be here in LFL?
"Yeah. So playing in the LFL was really important for me. It was either I play LEC or, if I don't, then I want to play LFL. I felt like, in order to prove myself worthy of LEC again, I needed to show up in the LFL because it's generally considered as a stronger region, and I can tell it is a stronger league for sure. So that was, for me, a very important factor. It's just fun to have a lot of competition."
"In the Prime League, you have the top three teams, top four teams maybe who are good and then the bottom teams, they can't compete. But here in LFL, I feel like everyone can compete. So every game has excitement in it, and I think that's really quite amazing."
So you played for five years for SK Gaming. Does it feel refreshing to play for a new organization in a new league ? Does it help your motivation?
"Yeah, for sure. There was also a point for me where I didn't want to play with SK anymore even though SK is all great. I just wanted a change of atmosphere because I felt like I needed as a player as well to go the extra step again. Since I already did this extra step once to make it into LEC, and I just do it again, I feel like I needed a change of environment, a different league, different players."
"Even though I'm playing with two of my friends Keduii and Reeker again. It's still a very different thing when after the game, there's managers and coaches from the team that I don't know who are excited about me winning, or also seeing them upset with playing after we had a 0-2 week."
"It also gives a different level of motivation when I don't know these people that way because they won't brush off poor performances just as me having a bad week. This gives a different level of stress"
Is the fact that you are playing with former teammates, and even a former head coach, an advantage you have compared to other teams?
"Yeah, for sure. It's a very big advantage, because I feel like trusting your teammates is one of the most important things. That's obviously a great bond of trust in our team even before we started a game together. So I think that's a big advantage."
"And it's also about knowing how we each want to play the game. I feel like the most difficult part when you are new to a team is, especially with very experienced players like those we have on our team. There are different ways to play the game, and you need to align with one. With Keduii we've played for so long already, I'm very aligned with how we want to play. We see the game very similarly, so it's just easier to click as a team. So I would say we started from a very good base level already, and that's also probably showing in our scrims results."
So you also have a new player in the team, Parus, and my sources (laugh) have told me that you rate him highly. Could you tell me more about that?
"Yeah. So basically, in my career, I met a lot of young players, even in LEC. I've been through a lot of rookies, and with Parus, he's like, I think he's 20 and he was like a random person to be fair, like two years ago, no one knew who he was. He was playing in TCL Academy, and then he played one year or one split. And then another year when he won everything, with Istanbul Wildcats."
"Even when he was with Istanbul Wildcats, it was like his first time being good and you still cannot take adjustments from a player being good for one year. But from the first games with BDS, I was very impressed with his knowledge about the game and also his capability of communication. Normally rookies get really excited in games and then get very stressed. But I feel like he is actually the calmest one in the team and also out of the game. I think he's very, very big talent."
Let’s look back at your time at SK Gaming. During that time, you had a role swap when you played in LEC. Could you tell me more about the decision back then, why you took it? And if you are happy today to be a toplaner ?
"I'm very happy to be a toplaner. I enjoy this role a lot, and it's a lot of fun to play on stage and in competition because you can really show your skill. I think the individual skill difference shows more on toplane. I think that mid it's a bit more neutralizing the way it works because top you're usually left alone, so if you are getting stomped, there's no one who is going to come and help you."
"When I joined the LEC, I was a midlaner, and in my very first split, I played seven games, and I played champions like Corki, Aatrox, Qiyana, Akali. And I was very good in those games. To be fair, if I look back at them, it was maybe, performance-wise, my most pop-off games I had in the whole time in LEC. This was also the same year where Doinb won worlds playing champions like Kled and Nautilus. I was so happy to see it succeed."
"After that, when Riot added lost chapter to the game, midlane became very different because mages were suddenly ten times better. You couldn't play anymore if you played Nautilus, once the lost chapter is purchased, you don't get priority anymore. There's no point in playing Nautilus. So the way midlane changed was bad for my playstyle. Champion-wise, I had to play a style that I'm not so comfortable with, so it was difficult for me to learn."
"The last point is the way communcation works. When I played with Selfmade, it was really easy for me since he told me to what to do. Then I played with Trick, who is also a very great player, but it was harder because I had to say when I needed to do, which Trick was used to from a midlaner due to his time with Perkz. I am much better at being involved by my team rather than involving people around me"
"The communcation profile of a toplaner is that for the first 10 minutes, you are full muted. You only communicate tp-advantage and solokills. On toplane, you play more your own game, and that was always what I was really good at as a midlaner with flanking champions and stuff like this. With champions like Syndra and Azir I was a bit lost because I would need to drag my team around me
"The communication profile of a midlaner didn't suit me as well and that's only something that gets punished at LEC-level. Before LEC level, this was never a problem, because the game is played more simple. It was also a natural transition for me because a lot of champions from mid such as Aatrox, Urgot, maybe even Akali, became toplaners. I thought that if I want to reach my peak as a player, I need to be a toplaner, because it fits more naturally for me to play"
