The Spanish juggernaut of Movistar KOI reigns supreme after defeating both Karmine Corp and G2 Esports in back-to-back best-of-five series to claim the League of Legends EMEA Championship (LEC) crown. With their tickets to Canada booked, the team now looks ahead to the Mid-Season Invitational (MSI), where tougher international competition awaits. In an exclusive interview, toplaner Alex "Myrwn" Pastor Villarejo reflects on his first-ever regional title, the hard work behind the team’s success, their expectations for MSI, and more.

This is your first LEC title, and it must feel incredible—especially in your second year, after all the hard work you’ve put in. How do you feel right now?

Alex "Myrwn" Pastor Villarejo: "Honestly, it just feels fucking amazing. There are no other words to say it. Winning is just an insane feeling. Not everyone can have it, you know—in the end, only one team wins every split. It’s something that you have to be grateful for. It just feels so insane.

The last time you were in the LEC Finals was Winter 2024, where you lost 1-3 to G2. Did beating them this time feel like revenge, or was it just another team to beat?

Myrwn: The only thing I kept from last year was the intention not to repeat the same mistakes. Even though I believe I had a good mental back then already, I’ve improved a lot this year compared to my first year, and it showed. Even yesterday, for example, I was getting destroyed by Canna in game 1 and 2, but then, in game 3, I was the one gapping Canna. I’d say this showed in our series against G2 as well. I was getting caught sometimes, but in our last game, I played at my best when it mattered most. It’s way easier for me to recover mentally during a series nowadays, even if I’m not doing so well. I just move on to the next game with the mindset that I’m the best player at this video game.

You had strong performances against both Canna and BrokenBlade, even solo killing them. Do you think it’s fair to call you the best toplaner in the LEC right now?

Myrwn: Of course, I think that today, I’m just the best toplaner in the LEC. Canna is a really strong player, but I’m the best fit for my team and I have more impact than he does. He’s really good at laning—he gets insane leads—but when it comes to teamplay, I just step up way better for my team than he does. Every player has their positives and negatives. I’m grateful that I get to play into such good players like him or BrokenBlade. I enjoy myself the most when I’m playing into good players.

Today’s win over G2 looked even more convincing than your match against KC. What changed in your preparation, and do you think KC was the tougher opponent overall?

Myrwn: Last week we used all our effort preparing for Karmine Corp, and this week we focused a lot more on G2 because we already knew what KC was going to do. They didn’t really change the way they played against us. Even though we dropped some games, it was more on us than on them, honestly. We just prepared way more for G2. They also played a bit worse—maybe they still don’t deal really well with the nerves and pressure since they’re new players. But yeah, that just takes time. In my first split, I completely choked it, so I think it’s normal for these players not to have enough experience, you know? I’m sure we’ll see a better version of G2 in the future.

Was there something extra satisfying about beating KC—especially after they picked you in round one and you stopped them from going to MSI by beating them twice? Did it feel like you proved Spain is better than France right now?

Myrwn: Of course. They talk a lot, but they didn’t play as well as they talk, so it just shows who was really on top. And beating them two times in a row—it’s not about luck. We should have won the regular season too and shown that, honestly, they are just our children this split—and hopefully they will be for the rest of the year. They talk a lot on Twitter, but then you type to them in chat, they don’t answer back. Maybe they’ve muted it or something.

Before your first match against KC, Melzhet said your scrim win rate was around 20%. Has the situation improved since then? Do you think that first win was the turning point? And how close is your current form on stage to how you perform behind the scenes?

Myrwn: Our win rate was maybe even lower than that. We had about four scrim sets since we found out our opponents, and we went 3-2 twice and 5-0 twice, for a total of 16 wins and 4 losses. We did a really great job this time—much better than before. I really liked what Melzhet told us today—it was something along the lines of: “Even if they beat us, we won’t truly lose, because we did our job.” Even though this split was rough, and we had some really tough months, scrims, and even official matches, we’ve just learned from it all in the end. We got a lot of experience from that, and we showed it in the finals. We came in clutch. There will be so many moments from this split to remember.

You're going to MSI now—your second international appearance after last year’s Worlds, which was a tough run. Do you think things will be different this time? How confident are you in MKOI’s chances at MSI?

Myrwn: The good thing about our roster is that we actually have a really high ceiling. Last year we performed really badly internationally. But with this roster, we should aim for a lot more. We have the skill, the talent, to be the best. At the start, it might be difficult, but I’m pretty sure we’ll learn way more than we did last year. And in the end, we’ll see, you know? I really hope we can go far. I honestly think we can battle the top teams. It would be so insane—they are the teams we look up to every day.

Are there any teams you're especially looking forward to facing at MSI? Maybe Bin and BLG?

Myrwn: Well, in the end, Bin is one of the best toplaners, so why wouldn’t I want to play against him? For me, any good toplaner, any good team—I’ll learn from them, and I’m really excited to face them. When it comes to the LCK, honestly, I'd love to play against any of the top four teams. They’re just insane. But I’d say Gen.G—they’re my favorite team from the LCK. I’m a big Kiin fan, what can I say? I just hope that whoever we play against, we just play our best.

Is there anything you want to say to the KOI fans, or even to your family as well?

Myrwn: I want to thank all the fans first, because they always come out and support us. They spend their money to be here, even when we don’t always deliver. So I really hope it was worth it this time—now that we finally brought the trophy home for you. I just hope you all had fun. Thank you for always supporting us. It took a bit longer than we wanted, but better late than never, right? To my family… I always tell them—I love them so much. Winning my first LEC trophy with them right there—it’s just an amazing feeling. I couldn’t ask for more, honestly."