You just played a match against Cloud9 where you unfortunately lost, any thoughts on the match?
Dhokla: I think for me personally, I just need to get back to playing on stage, because I played a bit differently, and I just have to get back to being comfortable on it. There's going to be some growing pains there. And then I think they just played slightly better than us, had a better game plan of how to execute. Our comp didn't really have too much engage so it was hard to look for a comeback play.
The game was a very interesting one as the game had a really long pause towards the end. So how does it feel having to continue playing after such a long pause and getting back into it?
Dhokla: Yeah, I mean that next fight immediately, I definitely lost track of where I was. After we got like the knock up on Azir, I thought I had him ulted, but honestly, after that I didn’t recognize what was going on, it was all a blur. So you definitely lose focus. But the game was in a rough spot anyways, so I don’t necessarily think too much would have changed.
So far from scrims and such, what are your thoughts on your team's power level at the moment?
Dhokla: I mean, we've always been a pretty bad scrims team, so I don't really want to take too much data from them. I think the important thing is our vibe and how we communicate with each other, and that’s even better now. It's only one game I don't want to overreact or anything, but I think we're in a pretty good spot.
NRG Dhokla and Contractz on stage - Photo by Robert Paul/Riot Games
Over the off-season the roster change NRG made was getting huhi. How has he fit in with the rest of the team, and how does it feel playing with him?
Dhokla: He fits in perfectly, feels like he's been playing with us for a long time. Everyone besides me has been on a team with him before, so he's been really easy to integrate. He's a good communicator, brings energy and brings a lot of opinions which are needed, so I think he fits in very well.
And so far from playing scrims and champions queue and such, how do you feel the meta is for top lane?
Dhokla: I believe Udyr is quite strong, but at the same time, K’Sante is as well, and he serves as a good answer to Udyr. I noticed Gen.G recently picking Darius to counter him, and Olaf also saw some play. Apart from that, there hasn't been much experimentation. It seems like there are just four or five champions that are considered staples.
Last year you guys played really well and won the summer split. How confident are you that you are able to repeat this for spring and go to MSI?
Dhokla: I’m very confident. Honestly, I think every game we lose, we're just gonna get better, and it's only the regular season. After making that run in the playoffs, it kind of puts into perspective how valuable it is to learn over the course of the split instead of just thinking about the wins and losses so concretely. So I'd say I have a healthy mindset going into it, but obviously wins are still important, so we're gonna walk in and do our best.
Do you have any messages to the fans who support you and would like NRG to repeat their success?
Dhokla: Yeah, I mean, we picked up a lot of fans and a lot of support for our run last year and, obviously, we want to keep continuing to do that. We had a rough start in our first game, but our trajectory towards winning has never been a straight line. So we'll just see you at the end of the split.
