26.02.25 - 19:0026.02.2025 - 19:00·6m6 Minuten Lesezeit·
Von Armand Luque
TL APA: "I've never missed an international in my career [...] We were getting our shit kicked in, but things clicked after our scrims versus 100T"
The triumphant Team Liquid advances to the First Stand. An exclusive interview with their midlaner, APA.
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"I donât know if weâre going to be the best team or the worst, since itâs such a small tournament"
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Having finally reclaimed their throne, Team Liquid has ascended to the top of the Americas, securing their first title since Spring 2024. Despite recent struggles, the reinvigorated squad made the League of Legends Championship of The Americas (LTA) Grand Finals look effortless, sweeping 100 Thieves with a 3-0 victory last weekend. In an exclusive interview with Sheep Esports, the teamâs midlaner, Eain "APA" Stearns, reflects on how he overcame his rivals, shares his expectations for First Stand, and discusses the teamâs growth since January.
Was it a mistake for 100 Thieves to let you play so many comfort picks, like Ziggs?
Eain "APA" Stearns: "At least for Ziggs, definitely. The Aurelion Sol and Neeko picks were a bit harder to avoid since they had a lot of other things to ban that made those champions viable. But for the first game, I was really, really surprised they let me have Ziggs.
Do you think the "Spawn Effect" is real? After his return from Australia, some people joked that his belt could be the sixth player of the team, helping you turn things around and look completely different now.
APA: I think that kind of discredits his influence when heâs coaching remotely from Australia. Heâs still very much involved and remains the head coach. But it is nice having him here in personâeverything just feels better that way.
That said, I donât think it was purely him coming in that made the difference. On the last day of scrims, a lot of things just clicked for usâhow we see the meta, how we want to play, and a lot of our silly mistakes just disappeared. So, while Jake definitely deserves credit, that shouldn't take away from how the team and I performed.
During the press conference, you described this split in three words: tryharding, stress, and depression. Could you elaborate on that and share your thoughts on the split overall?
APA: The first word makes senseâall of us tryharded as much as we could. Most of us were still putting in 14, 15, sometimes 16-hour days whenever possible.
For stress, it was mostly because we werenât winning as much as we did last summer. We finished fourth in the LTA North, and losing is always stressful, especially in a competitive environment.
As for depression, that was mostly just the last two weeks. We were getting our shit kicked in during scrims, and it really got to us. Even earlier this week, it was the sameâwe were losing hope. But then, on Friday, we had a really good scrim set against 100 Thieves, and that gave us a lot of confidence. It solved a lot of the problems we were struggling with.
Do you think it helped that you were able to defeat 100 Thieves, especially after what happened in LTA North?
APA: Yeah, I mean, once we knew we were facing 100 Thieves, we understood how to beat them. Looking back at our previous loss, I honestly feel like it was more about us losing the series rather than them winning it. That said, Quid (Lim Hyeon-seung) had a really, really good series back then.
Going into today, my goal wasnât necessarily to gap Quidâit was more about keeping him in check. Heâs a specialist on certain champions like Yone, Sylas, and Akali, which he plays really well. But outside of those, he becomes more of an average playerânot to be rude. And I think you saw that today. His Orianna and Viktor were just⊠average.
Credit: LTA Sul/Riot Games
This weekend was pretty eventful for you. Against Cloud9, there was that nearly hour-long pause, and in finals, your ADC broke his glasses during the match. Did it feel like the universe was testing your patience a bit?
APA: I donât know, really. We all came in ready to play until the series was over. To be honest, the pause felt a bit bad faith since we were up like 10k gold, but it is what it isâwe still won. And the glasses thing was just a little silly. I donât think it really affected us too much.
You're returning to Korea for the first time since Worlds 2023. Do you have any particular feelings about this?
APA: Iâm just excited for another international tournament. I want to make it clear that Iâve personally never missed an international event so far. Itâs trueâIâve gone to two Worlds, MSI, and if you count EWC, Iâve been to that too. Iâm also coming to the First Stand. So, itâs not really a shock for me, but Iâm still excited because itâs always fun to play against the best players in the world.
Does it feel strange going to the First Stand without having played a proper best-of-five? Todayâs 3-0 didnât really feel like one, right?
APA: Yeah, it definitely feels a bit weird. I wasnât a big fan of the format. I watch a lot of LPL and LCK, and you see these incredible best-of-fives from the Eastern regions almost every night. So knowing that our only BO5 is just a 3-0 stomp feels like we might be going into the tournament a little underprepared. But weâll do our best to catch up.
Do you have any thoughts on the teams you'll be facing at the First Stand? Have you been watching other regions like LCK, LPL, and LEC?
APA: I've seen that Hanwha Life and the Flying Oysters qualified. In Europe, I think it's most likely that G2 or Fnatic end up qualifying. Personally, Iâd like to see Fnatic go because weâve faced them so many times, and weâve kind of gotten the better of them. Itâd be fun to face them again and beat them once more. For China, honestly, I have no clue whoâs going to make it. Iâd like to say BLG because I think Knight (Zhuo Ding) is truly that region's GOAT, but genuinely, I have no idea. It could be anyone.
How do you see yourself fitting into the landscape at the First Stand in terms of power level?
APA: To be honest, I have no clue. Thatâs just the best way I can put it. I donât know if weâre going to be the best team, or if weâll be the worst. We could be the best because itâs such a small tournament, or we could be the worst. I really wonât know until we show up and play.
Like Jo "CoreJJ" Yong-in said, there are five teams, each with a 20% chance to win.
APA: Yeah, 20% chance.
Credit: LTA Sul/Riot Games
What do you think about the LTA trophy? I saw a lot of people joking that it looked like the McDonald's logo. Did it still feel nice to lift it?
APA: I mean, those are all people whoâve never lifted a trophy in their life. I thought the trophy was pretty sick when I was lifting it. So, to me, theyâre just all losers.
Do you have anything you want to say to your fans?
APA: This split has definitely been a rollercoaster. So, honestly, just thank you to all the fans, and especially my new Brazilian fans, for supporting us throughout the split. People might underestimate it, but when we were walking on stage and saw the crowd differenceâcheering for Team Liquid compared to 100 Thievesâit was just such a nice feeling. Iâm sure it made the 100 Thieves players a bit nervous too. It gave us a little more confidence."
Header Photo Credit: LTA Sul/Riot Games
