Falling only one auto-attack short in a heart attack inducing endgame,
Fnatic has had a bittersweet start to the
League of Legends EMEA Championship (LEC) Roadtrip in Madrid, before beating G2 Esports the next day. Sitting in a comfortable 2nd place in the standings (5-2), Fnatic have shown a great performance throughout the weekend in Madrid.
After the first day of the Roadtrip was over, in an exclusive interview with Sheep Esports,
Óscar "Oscarinin" Muñoz Jiménez shares his insight on playing in front of his home crowd, his weird pocket picks, their series against MKOI, as well as the differences between the Spanish and the French fans.
How have you felt playing against Movistar KOI with all of the Spanish fandom cheering for both teams?
Óscar "Oscarinin" Muñoz Jiménez: "It felt pretty good, but I think that we played much worse than usual and I think we could have prepared a little better for some drafts, which were a little weird in my opinion. But we felt pretty good in general. I think that it's normal that things don't turn out as good as normally, due to the special environment we are in. I would say that this has been the craziest stadium I've played in so far, to be honest. Even if there were less people than in other places, it was brutal. The people were going completely crazy. It was a lot of fun to play, honestly. So, super good sensations overall.
You showed two surprising pocket picks, Warwick and Wukong. Was the decision made on the spur of the moment, or had you planned it?
Oscarinin: I wouldn’t say that anything was necessarily planned. It mostly depends on their picks. I still have a lot of picks prepared, which I haven’t shown yet, like these two. One turned out better than the other one, but I don’t think that either of them was necessarily bad to begin with. I still have a lot more cooking to do, so I hope that I get to show it.
Is playing in a stadium different from being in the studio in Berlin? Do you prepare differently in any way?
Oscarinin: I don't think we have prepared differently. In my opinion, playing in a stadium like this already makes you stay focused, because you are in a very competitive environment, completely oriented towards playing. It's not like the studio in Berlin, it's very different. It feels like something very important is on the line. I definitely think that getting into the mindset is not a problem at this kind of event. Against SK, I do think we didn’t get into the mindset, but a stadium helps a lot with that.
Fnatic during the first day of the LEC Roadtrip in Madrid
Do you think that being able to experience how you work in a bigger stadium while playing a low-pressure regular-season match benefits you in the future?
Oscarinin: I think it's beneficial to see how you play when you have a lot of pressure on your shoulders. Even though it's just a regular season match, a completely normal game, it feels like it's something more important. It's good to see how you play while being more nervous than usual. I don't think there's anyone on our team who suffers from that, but it's always good, just in case. We should be able to play well under pressure, even though today we played a little bit worse than usual.
Are you happy that laneswaps are finally gone? Has your role within the team also changed since laneswaps are no longer a thing?
Oscarinin: Yes, I think that nobody liked laneswaps. Especially toplaners, but nobody in general. Neither the botlane, nor the midlaner, nor the jungler. The midlaner was a mere spectator, who watched how the game ended at minute 2 or 3. So it seems to me that everyone is happy that they are gone. I’m especially thrilled. I found it extremely boring not being able to play 1vs1. You couldn't play many picks, because you had to play either tanks or things that were able to survive the swaps. However, now we can see picks like Gwen or Jayce, which are picks that are so much fun and give toplane a bigger diversity. I can cook a lot, and so does Myrwn (Alex Villarejo). In my opinion, this helps players like us, who have creative picks so that we can play 1vs1 in lane.
Oscarinin: I haven't experienced much the French fandom first-hand. After all, we're not going to be on their Roadtrip, and the Berlin studio doesn't have enough people to be able to tell the difference. I would say that both communities are very crazy, very euphoric. They truly experience League of Legends very passionately, and it's always a lot of fun. In that regard, I don't think there's that much of a difference. Today it was amazing how people lived the experience, and I think the French community will probably do the same. It's beautiful to watch such passion, and these two communities are the ones who showcase it the most. It's really fun to see how the fans go crazy when you're playing, and to hear people cheering and chanting for you.
Last but not least, a few last words for the fans who have watched you today in Madrid live and also the ones who have been watching you from home?
Oscarinin: Thank you very much to both Fnatic and Spanish fans, all those who have supported us overall. What we have experienced today has been incredible. Although it is MKOI’s event, Razork and I as Spaniards, have felt lots of love from the community and we are extremely happy. Let's hope that something like this repeats itself in the future."
Header Photo Credit: LEC/Riot Games
