Solary may be playing under a bit more pressure than their rivals in this Summer Split. In an LFL where no king has managed to stay on the throne this year, the team has still not reached the top. And this, despite a roster in line with the club’s ambitions and a promising third place at the Flash In earlier in the season. But in the Spring Split, the “team of friends” collapsed after the regular season, finishing in 7th–8th place.

Their head coach, Danny "Dan Dan" Le Comte, sat down with us to talk about how the team is trying to bounce back from that disappointment, the mindset they bring into this last split of the year — one that could give Solary their first-ever qualification to the EMEA Masters — and his view on the state of the league this year.

*Interview conducted before the match against Team BDS Academy

The last time we spoke with Solary, it was with Nicolas "Decay" Gawron, right after your elimination. He was very emotional, quite disappointed even. With a bit of hindsight now, how did you experience that difficult period?

Danny "Dan Dan" Le Comte: "It’s always tough. When we started the year and saw the other rosters, we told ourselves: “Ok, we can be one of the best teams.” We ended up second in the regular season, and then lost against everyone… honestly, it was disastrous. It’s hard to bounce back after that, but we got back into scrims before all the other teams. We played more, we practiced more, because we knew we had three or four months to give everything. If you give it your all and still lose, at least you can say, “C'est la vie.”

Specifically, how are your trainings, your scrims going?

DanDan: We started our scrims at a very high level. At the beginning of the split, we were facing Karmine Corp Blue and Vitality.Bee, and honestly, if we had played like we did in scrims at that moment, we would have destroyed them. But the thing is, there are things you dare to try in scrims that you can’t really bring out in an official match. I’d say we’ve faced two problems so far. The first is that we’re forced, in a lot of scrims, to practice things we can’t reproduce in official games. We had to adjust our way of scrimming a bit — it’s a shame, but that’s how it is. The other problem is that by starting a month earlier than everyone else, we get closer to burnout more quickly. That’s normal. It’s like G2 when they go to MSI: they play more games than others, so fatigue comes earlier. You have to learn to manage that, to give yourself breaks even in the middle of a split, to keep a good level without burning out. We’re going through that phase right now.

Mark "Markoon" van Woensel mentioned in a post-match interview that Solary was unfortunately known for throwing their gold leads. How do you train a team to stay calm in-game?

DanDan: It’s difficult. As a former player, I know what it’s like. When you have a gold lead, you feel like everything is easier and you can try anything. But in reality, nothing changes: you have to play the same way as if the game were even. It mostly takes more discipline. We’ve often thrown away big leads, and it’s very frustrating because you tell yourself you’re better than that, that you can even do better than other teams. Last week, I told the players, “If you want to win, stop throwing. It’s my future, but it’s yours too. And everything is in your hands.” And I know that’s sometimes hard to hear as a player. I was one too. But when you’re in the game, it’s always in the players’ hands, and they have to realize that. As a coach, I can’t click for them. All I can do is remind them: you have the mouse, the keyboard, you have to press the right buttons, and keep the discipline.

Let’s talk a bit about the LFL format. What do you think about the switch to three splits?

DanDan: Honestly, three splits is a lot. When I was a player, we did two, and that was already intense. Now, there’s not really any break anymore; it’s a continuous grind. But I do like the switch to BO3: it allows better practice in the regular season for playoffs, and it also brought in the Fearless Draft. Now players are much more encouraged to play League of Legends all year long. So there’s good and bad.

This year, we see that almost every team is capable of beating the others. How do you explain this LFL level?

DanDan: I don’t really know, but I think there are two ways to see it: either the league is very stacked, or, on the contrary, not stacked at all. The Fearless format, for example, changes a lot. Before, you could spam the same champion five games in a row, which stabilized drafts and the level a bit. Now, there are more variables, more things happening in a series. Sometimes you’re forced to play a champion you’re not 100% confident on. That makes matches less predictable.

What’s your relationship with the Solary fanbase? We don’t see you much on social media.

DanDan: Yeah, I’m not really into social media. I’m pretty private. I’m 30 years old, I’m kind of a “grandpa” in esports (laughs). I’ve always played for teams that didn’t really have a fanbase, like LDLC or Misfits. I think we had three fans. So coming to Solary and seeing that energy in Paris during the Spring Split, it was incredible. This fanbase is incredible. What’s great is that even when we lose, the fans keep their faith and believe in us for the following week. That helps the players a lot: instead of getting flamed and feeling bad, you feel supported and you get “ok, no problem, next week we’ll play better!” It must be the same for Karmine Corp, by the way. I’d even say that playing for fans who believe in you takes away a lot of stress and can really help the players."