Following a strong start to the
LEC 2024 Spring Split,
Team Heretics, led by head coach
Peter Dun, now displays confidence. With a solid record of 4 - 2, the team approaches the final week of the group stage, aiming to secure a spot in the playoffs. In this
exclusive interview, Peter Dun delves deep into his coaching principles, the organizational framework at TH, and the team's performance throughout the league.
The new Heretics roster, spring 2024. Credit: Wojciech Wandzel/Riot Games
| The team just took a win against Team BDS, what are your overall thoughts on that match?
Peter Dun: "Yeah, not too bad. You know, we've had a few sloppy games, but today we decided to pick a comp that had a higher barrier of execution. The guys pulled it off well. We've only had like eight full days of scrims so far. The fact that we can pull off something like this is really promising moving forward. Regarding the playoffs, I think we're locked, but I'm not 100% sure. Hopefully, we'll win at least one more game in the last week."
| You also won against SK Gaming and lost to G2 Esports this week. Do you have any thoughts about those matches as well?
Peter Dun: "Our goal for this split is simply to buy as much time as possible, right? As a team, we understand that we're starting very late compared to other teams, being a group of five. Therefore, every win we secure means more scrims, more time in the office, more time working with each other, and more time building synergy."
"So, as I mentioned, it's really promising that despite being so far behind other teams in our preparation, we don't necessarily need to pick these team-fighting comps; we can play the 1-3-1. As coaching staff, we've seen it in scrims, we believe our players can do it, and I think today was an important day to show our players that they can do it as well. So, we're very happy with today's result and hopeful that we can maintain this momentum next week and throughout playoffs."
| We heard before the start of the split that the team struggled in scrims. Do you think that the current state of the team is looking better? What has improved since then?
Peter Dun: "Yeah, I mean, I think our scrim win rate is actually pretty good. Last year, it used to be way lower. It's not a G2-level scrim win rate, but it's pretty high level."
"Nevertheless, the games and scrims don't really matter as much as the team working on their own performance and pushing themselves to not pick champions in a position of uncertainty, thinking, "What happens if we mess up?" or “What's our backup plan?”... Make no mistake, if we fell behind today with our comp, we could have never won that game, right?"
"Just having confidence that we're not going to mess up, we're not going to make a mistake, and we're not going to be in side-lanes at the wrong time. And I mean, you saw the SK game; we had a 5K gold lead, we were in the side lane when we shouldn’t, and we almost lost. However, we have to be able to play these things if we want to be serious about being competitive in Europe. You know you can't just sit around and let the other team beat you. So yeah, I'm happy with the progress of the team so far."
| During the Winter Split, you also found yourself at a 4-2 score at the end of Week 2 before eventually finishing 4-5 and falling out in playoffs. What is the team doing differently to avoid the same result?
Peter Dun: "I think our 4-2 last split was a bit fake, as is our current score, right? Because the strength of our schedule last split was really... Well, we faced some of the weaker teams in the LEC at the start of the split. Whereas this split, we play them in week 3, right? So this score feels much different than before since we played most of the teams that went to Worlds last year for example. Even if we lost against G2, I feel like we’ve played well into those top teams so far, and, against them specifically, we had a decent early game as well, though we made one mistake too many in the mid-game."
"However, I think that it should be really obvious from just watching our level of play. This is a much more proactive team, we're not scaling the game out anymore. Maybe we're playing a little bit too fast now, judging from the SK game, but we're playing faster, which is good for us. We're playing more confidently."
"One thing that Zwyroo has is, as a rookie, you always respect people, but you always like... You don't know enough that you should be afraid. Sometimes his confidence gets him in trouble, but he’s never afraid of making plays on the map, taking a losing match-up, and things like that. He has this sort of “youthful enthusiasm”, despite being 25 [laughs]."
| Being a rookie and all, he’s limit testing!
Peter Dun: "Everything is new, everything is exciting, and Trymbi obviously adds a lot of shot-calling. He is a very aggressive player, and I think he's a good mix for Jankos because one thing about him is he's capable of providing the overarching structure. Jankos is at his best when he can recognize those snap opportunities, right?"
"Yet, there are very few shotcallers in Europe who are capable of providing the overall structure. Jankos is okay at doing it. Like he's not bad, he's serviceable, but he's not insane if he has to do that. And I think this is what Trymbi gives him, right? He provides a structure and then allows Jankos the opportunity to go for his Lee Sin, for example. He is enabled when he doesn’t have to think about structures and gets to focus on making snap plays. This iteration of Heretics definitely lets Jankos play to his strengths."
"Wunder also likes to play the game very, very fast, high-tempo style. Zwyroo also likes that style and, overall, this team seems to be working really well together; everyone is playing to their strengths."
| We’ve seen a rise in ex-pros becoming coaches. We saw this year that Heretics welcomed Kirei to its coaching staff for example. How do you spread tasks between one another? Do you cover different aspects of the game?
Peter Dun: "So basically, we have like… How should I say this… We did an interview process, trying out, I think, 148 people. Personally, I interviewed about 90, 95. Araneae, our General Manager, interviewed some, and Rob, who was our performance coach, interviewed some. It was a very, very in-depth process, taking more than a month. We would have about 6 interviews a day for 30 days straight."
"I'm very happy with Kirei, I think he's doing a really good job. Fans like to joke a lot about drafting. After last split, I've stepped back from drafting responsibilities, leading scrims and such instead. Kirei is the one who's really setting up our drafts. They’ve improved this split so, good job, Kirei! He's doing a really good job there."
| Is he able to prove a better “in-game” perspective due to his status? Do you play the game yourself?
Peter Dun: "So, I don't play the game, but I believe it's about a mixture of responsibilities, right? We all have different specific skill sets and work with different people in the team. My approach, which I've been very vocal about, towards coaching a player is not to dictate what they must do but rather to provide examples from VODs. When working with a mid-laner, for instance, I might say, "Rookie does this, Faker does this, Knight does this," and discuss how each approaches a specific matchup. While I might prefer Knight's approach, I'm open to incorporating aspects from each."
"There are disadvantages to this approach. It takes time to adjust coaching between roles because I need to catch up with my VODs. Additionally, when new champions enter the meta, it might pose a challenge since I'm not playing them in solo queue. However, throughout my career, I've coached every position in the game. So, I don't believe it's solely about being an ex-pro player or not. It's more about flexibility and putting in hard work."
"For example, Kirei isn't just coaching Jankos all the time. Sometimes he works with the bot lane, sometimes with Wunder. Lopon mainly works with Zwyroo because they have a good relationship from the academy setup. Different people have different responsibilities within the team. I believe you don't have to be an ex-pro player to know how to coach the game, but it certainly helps." "During interviews, if you're not an expert player, I'll question you most about your game knowledge. If you are an expert player, I'll focus more on your coaching philosophy and self-improvement mechanisms. Adaptation is crucial, as game knowledge from Season 6 may not be applicable in the modern day. So, yes, I think that's just the approach. Adaptation is important."
| In a few words, MAD Lions KOI, Karmine Corp, GIANTX, what score are you hoping for? Is it a 3-0?
Peter Dun: "I mean, we better go 3-0! Wunder went on the EUphoria Podcast and said all those things about MAD Lions KOI... So, we better back him up or else there's going to be dramas." "As always, looking forward to the games, especially our MDK match. It’s a big Spanish organization and, they also have Myrwn, I love playing against him. I worked with him during the Iberian Cup, he’s a fantastic guy. I wish him all the best but, Wunder was the original “cheese pick player” in Europe so, expect some Stilton (type of cheese)! It’ll be a fun one."
Header Photo Credit: Michal Konkol/Riot Games
