sits atop the
2026 LEC Spring Split group stage with a 6–1 record after another win over
. With a one-week break ahead, the team gets a brief respite before closing out the stage against
and
in Week 6. Still, the objective remains clear: make a strong impact in playoffs and prove the Bees belong in the conversation for best team in Europe.
In an exclusive interview, support player
spoke with
Sheep Esports about the team’s results, the LEC schedule, fan interactions, and the state of the Turkish scene.
How does it feel to be at the top of the LEC at 6–1, with playoffs already secured? Has the way you’ve been preparing changed at all with playoffs on the horizon? You had some spicy picks today with the Elise and Quinn.
Kadir "Fleshy" Kemiksiz: “It’s good to be locked in playoffs. How we played and practiced this week was already in prevision of that: exploring new champs, new concepts, and trying stuff out gameplay-wise. We didn’t really prepare for
, we were just trying to expand our champion pools for best-of-fives.
Right now, even on a low-energy day like today, we are locking in during games and showing up. I would say that we are legit a 10x better team in officials than in scrims.
Would you say that Vitality limit tests a lot in scrims?
Fleshy: I mean, everybody limit tests; it’s not like we are making it bad or unproductive. It goes both ways, for both teams. It depends on who you face, how they play, and how you play. So it’s not like we are just fist-fighting in scrims or something like this.
Is this the first week you’ve started preparing specifically for best-of-fives, or did that begin earlier?
Fleshy: It’s the first week we’ve been training like this. We only have two matches left, and we have two long breaks due to not attending the roadtrips. So right now, we are focused on watching what others do and preparing for playoffs. We are also trying to spend time sustaining a good mood in the team through team activities and stuff.
What’s your take on the current LEC scheduling and roadtrip format—does it create disadvantages for certain teams? You will have a long break before playoffs now.
Fleshy: I don’t think it really influences us. Personally, I would have preferred playing one or two matches every week throughout the season. We had three weeks in a row where we played two matches, and that felt good.
Now we’re getting into these end-of-split road trips, and there’s obviously a cost to them. You can’t bring every team, so I understand why it makes sense from Riot’s side. But if it doesn’t make sense for the teams, then maybe those discussions should have happened before the project was approved.
How has last year shaped you personally and mentally—do you feel more mature and better at handling emotions compared to before?
Fleshy: Definitely. I used to get tilted much faster—I wasn’t really thinking much when I talked in the past. Now, if I get mad or games turn out badly, I know how to calm myself down and talk about what happened in a more constructive way. It’s something that I’ve benefited from both in-game, but also outside of it. I think I’ve improved myself a lot. These are really nice kinds of lessons—how you interact with people and all. These skills are really important, maybe the most important, only second to clicking well.
So this growth is affecting your personal life too, especially in how you communicate with people?
Fleshy: Yeah, I’ve started listening way more to others. I spend more time thinking about my next answer as well. That’s a big issue in pro play—some people just start arguing when they disagree and won’t let their teammate explain themselves. If you let everyone express themselves, you’ll be able to argue your side better, while also understanding them better. It has helped me in real life as well, for pretty much any standard conversation I have.
Fleshy: It would definitely be a loss overall. Obviously, most fans watch from home during the regular season, but we can still see and feel the 100–200 fans that are here every day. For them, it’s a social activity, and for us, it brings more hype into the matches. When we see a crowd—even if it’s small—it hypes us up. When we were playing on Mondays during week 1 and 2, the studio felt so empty, it felt like we were playing scrims. There were no voices, no chanting, nothing. It would be bad if matches were to all be played like that. Still, I get they’d have their reasons.
How important are fans to the LEC as a product—would you go as far as saying players wouldn’t have a job without them?
Fleshy: Well, that’s how it works in every sport. If we don’t have fans watching, then teams can’t get good sponsors, and then it trickles down to us players. Without fans, our contracts, the support we get… nobody will want to invest, right? Maybe then people will just start flocking to Counter-Strike 2 or VALORANT instead, where there might be more hype, more fan opportunities, and all that.
Given your history in the Turkish scene, how do you feel about its current struggles, including situations like MISA failing to make the EMEA Masters finals and then parting with most of their roster?
Fleshy: It was very sad. I was rooting really hard for MISA to win EMEA Masters. Seeing them be reverse swept and then part with their roster… I mean, it makes sense from the owner’s perspective. They poured their money into their players and staff, into the gaming house. They took care of everything from food, daily life, PCs, and all of that, right?
When you build something to win it all and fail at that, I understand this kind of response from the owner. It was really sad to see though that they couldn’t take the trophy home.
Do you find it disappointing that there has never been a Turkish organization in the LEC, especially after the EMEA merger?
Fleshy: I wouldn’t say I’m disappointed necessarily. I don’t know all the orgs there, but when I was in the TCL, most of them were not paying their players very well. They were treating us well of course, but I remember when I needed to talk with upper management, it wasn’t really the best.
I think MISA, from what I heard, is perhaps one of the best organizations in Türkiye though. I was really hyped for them due to that. The owners are very involved, spending time with their players like friends, drinking tea with them. It’s much easier to be focused and relaxed when you don’t have to think about things like your salary being late or stuff like that. I’m a bit sad the adventure of MISA took a turn like it did.”
