Manel about his CBLOL debut and fast growth at RED Canids: “It’s my time”

Signed by to compete in the Circuito Desafiante (CD) with , Emanoel “” Lopes found himself facing an unexpected opportunity early in the second split of the Circuit Brazilian League of Legends (CBLOL).

During the second week of the competition, the support player was called up to the main roster following José “” Leal’s departure and began splitting his time between the organization’s two teams. In a short period of time, the player had to adapt to Tier 1 and take on an important role within a line-up that had already been working together.

In an exclusive interview with Sheep Esports, Manel spoke about the experience of competing in the CBLOL and Academy simultaneously, talked about his first series, explained what communication has been like with Eloy “” Rodríguez and his partnership with Matheus “” Motta, and also discussed working closely with Gabriel “tockers” Claumann and the rest of RED’s coaching staff.

Emanoel “Manel” Lopes: I don’t have any other word for it besides excitement. I’m very excited and I have been since the beginning. I really needed this experience of actually playing, both in terms of quality and quantity. I really wanted to play more games, then this opportunity came up and I said, “It’s my time. I have to go. There’s no way I can’t go, you know?”

I’ve been really excited since the beginning. When I got the news that I would have to play, nothing else crossed my mind. The experience has been really good, everyone at RED has been supporting me, the organization is very good and very well structured. Let’s keep going.

Manel: It’s a really good experience, but they are two lines with different goals. RED in the CBLOL has the goal of winning 100%. It’s not that Academy doesn’t want to win, but the priority there is learning. It’s a full team of rookies, everyone is just starting out in competitive play.

We knew there would be difficulties, but of course we didn’t want to lose. Moving up and having two goals, learning and winning, is really f*cking cool. Having this experience was what I needed and what I wanted. It was a really cool opportunity that came my way, and now I’m taking it.

Manel: I did. Scrims have been going really well, with good results and consistency from the team overall, both from me and the others. We’re improving really quickly. I thought I would have some difficulty, but as the scrims went on, I saw that we would be able to do it. I saw that I would be able to reach that level and complete this team.

The player that left the team was unfortunately a very big one, he had a very important role. I don’t think I’ve filled 100% of the space he left, but I’m doing everything I can to surprise everyone and exceed their expectations. No matter who it is, whether they’re good or bad, I’m going to exceed them, no matter what happens. That’s my focus.

Manel: It’s been really good. Normally, I take the initiative to lead the communication and start the conversation, but generally STEPZ is more of the one who decides that. Since he’s the jungler, I play around him, and the connection between him and me has been really good. We can make a lot of plays together.

Sometimes I make a play and tell him that he has an opportunity to make one. For example, I burn someone’s Flash in mid and say, “STEPZ, it’s your time to shine.” Then he goes there and shines. That’s been really f*cking cool. Everyone is starting to communicate and be more free. I think the team is doing really well and we’re going to go very far with this.

Manel: It’s been really good. They’re with me and on my case all day. I call them all the time too, and I bother them when they’re helping the others. I say, “What do I need to do here? What do I have to think about here?” Every moment and every day, we’re together trying to identify my mistakes and fix everything. It’s a really important job.

Manel: My improvement has been really good. Every day I’m a different player, it’s actually crazy. Every day I’m a different player, I have a different way of thinking, and it’s only getting better.

Manel: Our relationship is really good. He’s by my side all day, and we always talk before, during and after the game. We talk about everything. We’re trying to have the same way of thinking, and we’re succeeding.

Little by little, we’re connecting. I think this synergy is going to be really good going forward. We’re getting a really good understanding of what the other person wants, and that makes things much easier in-game.

Manel: My terrain control and my engages, which are what I’ve been focusing on since the beginning of my career. I need to have these two characteristics be really good or almost perfect, because that’s what defines me as a support. The lane is also very important, but playing the lane in the current meta has been difficult.

Manel: The preparation is going really well and so are the expectations. We have good plans and this week of practice was really good. We’re only expecting positive things.