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Sitting at the very top of the LEC 2024 Spring Split standings, BrokenBlade and his team, G2 Esports, are aiming to cement their dominant streak in the league despite taking a loss to Fnatic this week. In this exclusive interview, the top laner discusses his career and recent performances in the league.
BrokenBlade, fistbumping crowd members after a win. Credit: Michal Konkol/Riot Games
| How are you feeling after your win versus GIANTX?
BrokenBlade: "Feeling pretty good, especially after the performance I had yesterday. I gave myself a promise I would never have such a game like that again. It's very nice to have a good match like this right after the disaster against Fnatic. It gave me a lot of my confidence back, it felt really good."
"I was given a lot of gold and like, first, Yike helped me a lot in the early game, and then I was given both towers in side lanes. I got really strong and, it was a very fun game to play for me."
| Outside of today, how do you feel about the rest of the week?
[Loss against Fnatic; Victory against Heretics]
BrokenBlade: "I would say I'm pretty happy with every game that we've played so far this split, outside of our match against Fnatic. Yesterday was a disaster. I doubt we're gonna have such a showing again. They got us good. It happens, it's BO1."
"I also obviously messed up things that could have been prevented. I was in a very good condition in my matchup. I got solo killed and that snowballed a lot of things. Yeah, other than that, I feel pretty good, honestly."
| With players like Irrelevant and Oscarinin stepping up, where would you rank yourself among top laners of the league? Do you see Oscarinin as a rival or do you believe your match against him was more of a fluke?
BrokenBlade: "I mean, I don't want to downplay anyone in the LEC. I think that I'm usually one of the best-performing top laners towards the end and start of the year every time. Everyone peaks at different times."
"I think that Irrelevant looked great in the Winter Split but, so far, he seems to be struggling a bit more in the Spring Split, despite still being a great player."
"On the other end, I think Oscarinin had a huge slump during the Winter Split, whereas he seems to be playing much better now. I obviously cannot downplay his performances this split especially since he really played much better than I did during our match. Still, I will make sure that next time we face off won't be like this."
"I'm really happy to see players like them step up and show up, it always gives me a lot of motivation to stay on top of my game and put them back where they belong. I love top laners who challenge me every day... Having to play perfectly, where one bad click or one bad decision can make or break the game for me, I love these kinds of match-ups. It happened in our match against Fnatic, right? In a way, it also happened to GIANTX today, but in my favor this time."
| In general, top lane has been perceived as one of Europe's weakest roles in the past. What do you think is its current state when compared to players from Eastern regions?
BrokenBlade: "I would say that Eastern top laners are better on a general level. In the past, they've had players like MaRin, Huni, and many more famous top laners. I think that this simply led to a lot of younger players wanting to be top laners, leading to a bigger player base overall and, making the chance of new talented tops to emerge more likely."
"Right now, I'd say that most Eastern top laners are simply smarter about their lanes than ours. They're also a bit more crips mechanically-speaking I'd say."
"I think it's always hard to tell but, for me who went to a lot of international tournaments, I feel like I'm getting closer to matching them. I know I am just based on how hard I got sh*t on during my first international tournament with TSM in 2020. I could not play a single lane back then."
"Right now, I would say that as a team, our performances are also better, so it's obviously a bit easier to play than before. Back then, when we went to Worlds and MSI, our scrim results were decent, right? It hasn't been as dominant as what we had in Europe but, it's also because we are playing much better individually now than in recent years. I think we're getting closer and, that's the goal of G2, right? We want to make it internationally, it's always going to be our goal."
| We've heard worries from public figures and fans about the progression of G2 in Europe. We've heard a lot from your team in interviews about how confident you are about the improvements of G2 from last year but, some seem to think that the team hasn't progressed as much as they would have hoped. What do you think about this?
BrokenBlade: "Well, I kind of find it funny hearing about some outsider opinions and how wrong they can be. They are entitled to their opinion, right? But we have much more details and insights. We simply know exactly what happens during and after each game, especially during practices, while they do not."
"The fans, analysts, and whoever else, only see the stage games and, sometimes form opinions that aren't true. It's always funny when you see some of them and just realize that they are either not true or the opposite of reality."
"Outside of this, I think that we are taking a much better approach than last year. We are focusing much more on actually playing the game macro-wise. Last year, we often relied on individual skill through hard-winning Draven or Kalista bot lanes for example. We wanted to snowball our games through early play most of the time."
"This year, we actually play our waves together and manage things better. Today for example, if you look at our game against GIANTX, we matched every single wave after getting Nashor, which made it very easy for us to secure objectives and reset on correct timings. That's what we're focusing on, maximizing our time efficiency. Last year, we didn't really do that."
"I think those changes will make us much more competitive against Eastern teams for example. Waves are a staple of the game; they'll always be a thing. Mechanically outplaying your opponent is not a reliable strategy, right? People often compliment Eastern players' mechanics but fail to see how smart they are in their macro games and how they move around the map to be at the right place at the right time."
"We are working on the right things and, outside opinions should not matter to us, right? In the end, what matters is if we can beat them or not. I want to upset both these international teams, but also local fans who don't believe in us. It's a nice motivation for us."
| You've been playing professionally since 2016, how do you view the game nowadays? We've seen a lot of pros get burnt out from playing it and, with time, start seeing their career differently, losing their passion. Do you still enjoy playing the game itself?
BrokenBlade: "It's funny that you're asking me this. I think that, at the beginning of my career, it was just like: 'Oh, I'm good at this game and I'm earning money doing this.'"
"The more I played and worked with several smart individuals, the more I noticed how much bigger this whole thing was compared to what I initially thought. I have to work much harder than I used to. Simply put, it's incredibly important because I'm in a position that many people aspire to be in."
"I need to wake up at specific times, eat specific foods, play a specific amount of games... I need to keep my body happy so I can play as much as I can. I don't really wake up with the mindset of 'Oh, I have to go to work', you know? It's more like 'I'm ready for another day and, I'm ready to get better.'"
"I'm not sure if people noticed but, I lost a lot of weight this year. I started taking my diet more seriously. I won't go into details because we don't have much time left but, I think that eating properly really helps me."
"I'm thankful to our staff, especially Isma, who does a lot of stuff outside of the game to help us play better. Now, I have a much better daily routine. I've started taking it much more seriously in the last two years."
"I do have a bit of this 'Oh, I need to go to work' view sometimes but, I don't see it as a bad or negative thing."
| Healthy Body, healthy mind!
| Next week, you face SK Gaming, Rogue, and Vitality. In a few words, what results can we expect from G2?
BrokenBlade: "I hope it'll be 3-0! I hope Fnatic loses games so we can be first in the regular season. It's going to be a very interesting week."
"I really want to play against Irrelevant again. It's going to be a fun matchup, I'm excited."
Header Photo Credit: Michal Konkol/Riot Games
