G2 Mikyx: "I still haven't lost to Faker in a best of five."

G2 Mikyx at Montpelier during LEC 2023 Season Finals

"T1 has been shakier compared to last year."

Carrying the hopes and dreams of the EMEA region, Mikyx and G2 Esports are now preparing to take on the reigning World Champions, T1. Ahead of what promises to be an exciting match at the MSI 2024, the support player sat down in an exclusive interview to discuss his team's prospects and hopes for the tournament.

| What was your reaction when you heard that you were going to face T1 again?

Mikyx: "I was pretty glad to hear that our first game would be against T1; they're a very strong opponent. It'll push us to prepare as much as possible."

"Either way, we would have played Top Esports or T1, so it's not like the other match would be easy. I'm just excited to play against this roster in an official game."

"We avoided them in every tournament last year, so this will be the first time I get to play against Keria in an official game since 2020, back during his DRX days. I'm very excited for that. "

"I also still haven't lost to Faker in a best-of-five, so I'm excited to continue my streak."

| Being 9-3 against T1 historically, do you think that G2 has a good shot at winning? How confident are you?

Mikyx: "I'm pretty confident. I think we're quite decent, and I believe T1 hasn't been at their best. They looked pretty good against FlyQuest, but overall, they've been a bit shakier in their gameplay compared to last year. Nonetheless, I'm just excited to play against them."

"I think the meta might favor us a bit with all the lane swapping going on. And T1 can't really pull out their crazy strategies without having to worry about getting lane swapped on. So it's quite exciting."

| Have the leaked scrims impacted your practice at all?

Mikyx: "Not really. Scrims against TL got leaked, but I don't think it really matters much, as it was kind of the start of the bootcamp. It's not like any of the drafts were a big giveaway of what we're actually doing. So, in the end, it's just a bunch of fun stats for the fans."

| From the hardware issues reported by Humanoid to the leaked scrims, which were later reported to have been due to not having tournament realm accounts, how have the overall conditions been for G2 while preparing for MSI?

Mikyx: "PCs were fine for us. Maybe Fnatic just had worse hardware since they are Europe's second seed [laughs]. Our accounts did come in pretty late but, it was still towards the start of our training so it didn't end up mattering that much."

| With teams figuring out lane swaps, is there still room for experimentation and finding new surprising strategies?

Mikyx: "Yeah, there are different evolutions of the lane swap. Just like back in the day, people kept finding new ways to abuse it or utilize those lane swaps. And I think now, with people doing it more and more throughout the play-ins as well, people are going to be more aware and adaptable."

"So, teams just have to find new ways to evolve the swap and then metagame it. It's going to be interesting to see how people adapt."

| This is your first trip to China since 2020, which happened at Worlds during COVID. How are you enjoying the trip this time around?

Mikyx: "Well, the first time I was here, I spent the majority of my time staying in the hotel. So this time, it's nicer that we can go outside a bit more. But other than that, the hotel is nice. That's a good part about it."

"There are just a lot of regrets from 2020 that I have. So it's not the greatest to relive those memories. But hopefully, I can make good ones this time around."

| Could you run me through an average day in the life of Mikyx at the moment?

Mikyx: "I wake up around 10, then I brush my teeth, exercise, scrim, take a bit of a break, play solo queue, eat, scrim again, play some 2v2s with the Fnatic bot lane, practice matchups, play more solo queue, have VOD reviews or meetings, and then go to bed. That's pretty much my daily routine so far, every day."

| How do you feel about the current form of G2? Are you ready to take on other Eastern teams as well?

Mikyx: "I think right now we're not at our fullest potential yet. We still need to work on our discipline quite a bit. On stage, we are usually way better at that, but once we get that down, I think we can take down any team."

"We're all progressing, so that's good. But I don't think we're very far behind LPL and LCK teams based on what we've seen from play-ins."

| What are the minimum expectations for G2 at MSI 2024?

Mikyx: "The lowest expectation would be winning at least a best-of-five against an LCK or LPL team because last year we didn't manage to do that at all. The bare minimum would be to achieve that."

"Beyond that, I would like to win everything. I want to dominate because then people can finally dispel the narrative that the West can never win. So I think if we deliver a strong one-sided performance, then people might finally start believing that we can actually win."

| What would you have to say to hype up fans who are still doubtful of the LEC?

Mikyx: "I guess watch our best of five, and you can make up your mind. If we suck, then you don't have to believe, but if we do well, you might have to reconsider."

| In 2019, G2 had promisq as their star substitute. This year, Kesha is fielding this spot. Do you think he brings the required strategic edge for the team to win MSI 2024?

Mikyx: "Yeah, both are from Sweden as well, right? It's definitely a bonus. Kesha is exactly what we need. With his leadership, I think we can make it through."

"He's been talking about how we can win and, I think that if we do what he says, G2 will win MSI."

Header Credit Photo: Michal Konkol/Riot Games