Today marked the end of Movistar KOIâs MSI 2025 run. How do you reflect on the series against CFO? What are your immediate thoughts and emotions after the loss?
Ălvaro "Alvaro" FernĂĄndez del Amo: "Throughout MSI, I'd say we improved a lot, especially in how we play and view the game. Individually, we had the level to compete with the best, but mentally, we were not prepared. That's how I feel, but I haven't rewatched the series yet, of course. We were really scared. We weren't really decisive in what we were doing against CFO. In the last game, they played really well and had a really good game plan. They did that late invade and denied us on botlane. They are a strong team and a contender for the tournament. We should have worked better so that we could avoid having those doubts in the middle of our games.
Javier "Elyoya" Prades Batalla also mentioned in our interview that he felt mentally off against BLGâover-respecting them, not playing like himself. What do you think caused this shift in mentality? Did it affect the team?
Alvaro: Confidence isn't something you can work onâit comes and goes. What's important is knowing how to use those feelings. Frustration, for example, can be a double-edged sword. It's hard to explain it all, but I know that personally, I never felt that block to engage. There were many moments when we were behind against BLG where I found engages on Nautilus, and I like that from usâwhen we keep going forward regardless of the gold lead.
As a group, we're not looking for those plays when we're behind. Today, since it was possibly our last chance and elimination was on the line, I could see that our team was playing with regrets. That was my personal objectiveâplay with no regrets. I could have had regrets about how I trained and prepared, but I think today I achieved that. I had no regrets.
In game two, you changed your draft approach with a much more aggressive early-game comp. Was that shift a deliberate attempt to push back against a certain lack of confidence and force yourselves to play more aggressively?
Alvaro: That draft was mostly prepared by our coaches. I didnât have a problem with itâthe draft was good. But when CFO made that play on botlane with Bardâs portal and got a double kill on us, the game became way harder very early on.
Regarding the Karma pick, I picked it because I thought it was a really strong botlane duo with Caitlyn, and weâd get a lot of advantages from it. I debated picking Rell, because it fits well into how our team works and Iâm the kind of guy that likes to engage, but I was afraid theyâd go Poppy since we also had Ambessa and Lee Sin. I donât think Iâm unidimensional thoughâI can play those champions. If I had gone Nautilus instead, they wouldâve taken the Rell. It made things hard for us. I think the way we could have fixed this situation would have been to pick Poppy on second rotationâthatâs what I told Melzhet (TomĂĄs Campelos FernĂĄndez). We could have also banned the Lucian and left Kalista open so I could pick the engage.
Regardless though, we didnât lose because of our draft. Later on, when they got ahead and could play around Bardâs ultimate, we had immobile champions and it was hard. But that game shouldnât have gone that wayâwe shouldnât have gotten into that state in the first place.
In game four, you struggled into CFOâs ApheliosâThresh, and your Kalista did not end up being as impactful as she could have been. Was this something you anticipated, or did it catch you off guard?
Alvaro: They had a plan and coordinated it well. I thought our position in the early botlane 2v2 wasnât the major issue. At MSI, almost every team has been doing level one strategies. We planned for that and wanted to do the same, which is why we went for invades on topside to gather information.
We were thrown off when they late invaded us and Pantheon started on bot side. It became really hard for us to get any sense of control. If we pushed bot fast, Thresh could come from behind and Pantheon could skip camps to cheese us at level 2. If we sacked the wave, weâd just lose anyway because Vi canât match Pantheon in 1v1s, so Elyoya had to path top since he couldnât fight him level 2.
We knew that from the startâit had already happened in other games. We knew weâd fall behind, but we were confident we could bounce back. We were around eight or nine CS behind, and they got drakes, which was really good for them. As Kalista and Renata, we want to get those drakes, but we had to respect the Pantheon.
Thereâs already a narrative forming that EMEA is the weakest region, especially with both teams dropping out in the first round of the lower bracket. Whatâs your takeâdo you believe EMEA is truly weak right now?
Alvaro: It's hard to say. Of course, we finished 7th and 8th with G2, but what was shown in officials was different from what happened in scrims and everything. Anyways though, we need to put in more effort to improve as a region. But I think those are all words and narratives that don't mean anything. We grew as a team, we developed a lot, but we need to do more.
Having this international experience will help us be better and come back even more prepared next time. Thereâs EWC now, Worlds later this year, and everyone in Europe is still pushing one another even harder than before. We can be a strong region, but it's sad we couldn't represent Europe well this time around.
Credit: Liu YiCun/Riot Games
Do you think the LCP is now on a similar level to the LPL and LCK? CFO pushed T1 to five games and just beat your team todayâwhatâs your view on where they stand?
Alvaro: I believe every region is close to one another. Against BLG, we could have won the fourth game and pushed it to a fifth. And like you said, CFO pushed T1 to five games, and they still have more to prove in the tournamentâletâs see how they do against Anyoneâs Legend. Theyâre a strong team.
GAM didnât make it out, but itâs really cool to see this diversity because we used to have only two real regionsâthe LCK and LPL, letâs be honest. Every region is pushing the others in their own ways. Even if we finished tied for 7thâ8th place, it doesnât change that. The gap is still wide, but I think itâs getting closer.
What do you think is the main area your team needs to work on moving forward? Perhaps around lane assignments? In game one, for instance, you lane swapped SivirâAlistar into Sion instead of laning against EzrealâLeona, which should be a decent lane for you. Can you walk us through that?
Alvaro: Here, for example, we lane swapped mainly to get the grubs and because we thought we could get punished in botlane. In that sense, it was still okayâbecause if we got the grubs, we could be strong on side lanes afterwards. The plan was to kill Sion, gain tempo, and have me defend bot, which is what happened. Of course, our lane assignments can still improve a lot. We studied them and found out they rely a lot on swaps. Sometimes we even swap to anticipate theirs, for example.
What do you think needs to happen now before Summer Split? Do you still take any positives from this MSI experience that can help the team grow moving forward?
Alvaro: There are for sure positives. Right now, I obviously wonât be able to see them all, but I think Iâm someone who can see the bigger picture and find the good in these events. We earned ourselves a lot of valuable experience from international play. Elyoya is still the only member who really had a lot of it before. Weâll be more confident and comfortable the next time weâre here. I donât think experience was the major issue thoughâwe have other problems. I had a good experience in Canada overall, and it was the first time I left Europe in my life. I didnât have the opportunity at Worlds since we only went to Berlin. Weâll go back now, prepare for EWC, for Summer, and give it our all.
Do you think this mentality issueâthe lack of confidence or hesitance to take initiativeâis more widespread in the West? We often hear about a kind of mental block against Asian teams, especially from veteran players whoâve lost to them repeatedly. Do you believe thatâs a real thing?
Alvaro: Personally, I donât feel scared. Iâll give you my point of view, since I canât speak for othersâbut I mean, weâre all human. Everyone makes mistakes, even them. If youâre scared of them, youâve already lost. I wasnât scared to engage. When I see someone playing cocky, itâs probably because they think they canât get punished. If you start respecting too much, thatâs a problem. Iâm not scared of them. There are players who look up to othersâI donât. I have respect for players, of course, like Keria (Ryu Min-seok) who I love to see play. But I donât look up to anyone, because Iâm a competitor, and I want to smash them the next time if I lose.
Is there anything you want to say to your fans?
Alvaro: Thank you to the fans still supporting us after the rough loss. It sucks and it feels like shitâto us probably more than to you. We need to go back home, and we're losing a huge opportunity playing at MSI against all these teams. Regardless, thank you, and please keep watching MSI. The teams still here also need your support. See you all soon."
Armand Luque is an interviewer and journalist with deep roots in the EMEA League of Legends scene. A veteran of the esports world, they hail from France and are best known for their work on Leaguepedi...
