FNC Razork: "Something had to change. I could have been the one kicked, it was Fnatic’s decision"

FNC Razork: "Something had to change. I could have been the one kicked, it was Fnatic’s decision" | Sheep Esports

"It felt like we couldn’t improve more together, we were kind of stuck"

The boys in black and orange have dropped to the lower bracket of the League of Legends EMEA Championship (LEC) after a narrow 2-3 loss to Movistar KOI in the first playoff match. Despite this setback, Fnatic must refocus and prepare for their upcoming match against GIANTX. In an exclusive interview, jungler Iván “Razork” Martín Díaz spoke with Sheep Esports about Humanoid’s departure, handling fan criticism, and his team’s prospects in the lower bracket.

How are you feeling after this match? What went wrong, what could have been done differently, and what are you taking from this loss?

Iván “Razork” Martín Díaz: “Right now, I have a lot of things on my mind, many things I could have done better to make the team win. That's something I do all the time, whether I win or lose. I reflect a lot on what I did, my personal performance, and then I look at the team performance. I feel like we didn't play too bad, but we're still making a lot of mistakes. These games were really slow. I felt like all the games were really slow. And in our scrims, we are a bit more aggressive everywhere. I don't know if it's the pressure or something else, but we weren't the same as in practice.

Do you see improvements compared to the start of the season? Is Fnatic already doing better, given the difficult offseason?

Razork: For sure. Right now, the environment is way better. Our practice is way better, and we trust each other a lot more than in past splits. After game four, I felt like we were going to win no matter what. I felt very confident in myself and in my teammates, but they were better in game five. We made a lot of mistakes. MKOI are the game five legends. They always manage to perform very well in that game. So props to them. They deserved to win today.

How has it been for you transitioning from playing with Marek "Humanoid" Brázda for so long to now building a duo with Yoon "Poby" Sung-won, considering the language barrier?

Razork: I did play with a lot of Koreans in my past, so I like them a lot. I feel like they are pretty funny and easy-going people. With Poby, it was very easy when he joined. I talked to him a lot, and we were trying to get on the same page because we knew we didn’t have a lot of time to adapt to each other. So we wanted to make sure everything was as easy as possible from the beginning, and I honestly like him a lot. I’m so happy with him. He is really good, and he brings a very good mentality every day to work. So yeah, I’m very happy.

And for Humanoid, I obviously love him a lot, but I felt like something had to change because we were not really succeeding together. We were not burned out with each other, but it just felt like we couldn’t really improve more together, we were kind of stuck. Something new was needed in my opinion, and Fnatic made the decision to change mid. But I also could have been the one to get kicked, it’s all Fnatic’s decision.

Do you think Humanoid was scapegoated for Fnatic’s issues to some extent?

Razork: For sure. I feel like when we lose, we lose as a team. There are obviously some days when one player could underperform, but at the end of the day, we are a team, and we should be there for each other if someone’s having a rough game. I feel like fans will always find a way to blame the losses on someone. They can’t just accept that their team was worse that day or whatever. I’m not sure he was scapegoated though, I feel like they flame everyone in the team when we’re losing, but that’s just normal. Maybe with Humanoid it was a bit too much, but he’s still a great player and when he’s really motivated, he is for sure top two best mid in EU.

Has it been difficult dealing with fan criticism as a player? How has it affected you mentally?

Razork: Yeah. Honestly, in the beginning it was affecting me more. Sometimes it can affect your confidence coming into the game, like, “if I make a mistake, I’m gonna get burned alive on social media.” But I honestly couldn’t care less now. I feel like the same fans that support you can flame the shit out of you the next week. You shouldn’t really pay attention to that. If you play good, they will adore you. If you play bad, they will think you are the worst player in the world. There’s no middle term for some fans.

But I feel like the real fans from Fnatic, which is the majority, are always supporting. It’s understandable that they can get angry at the players sometimes, but they don’t write you stuff on social media. They just get angry, and maybe they punch a pillow or something and scream, but they don’t really say shit to you, and then they keep supporting you. That’s the real fans, I think.

You’ll be facing GIANTX next in the lower bracket. What are your thoughts on them, especially given their reputation as a strong scrim team?

Razork: They are a really good team. I feel like Jun (Yoon Se-jun) is extremely good in my opinion, so I’m excited to face them. It’s gonna be a close match. I’m confident in my team and in myself. I feel like we are going to win, but for sure it’s not going to be an easy series.

If you win, you’ll qualify for Madrid and likely face Karmine Corp or Vitality. Are you confident that, if you make it there, you can go on a deeper run and reach Worlds?

Razork: Obviously, yeah. I am faithful about the future, even though today was a rough day. I feel like we are improving, and hopefully we can make it from the lower bracket. Karmine Corp is kind of similar to us in many things. When they have a bad day, they are really running it down like us. But on a good day, they are pretty good, so it really depends. In my opinion, the top four or even top five teams in the league can easily beat each other. I’m going to be in Madrid no matter what, because if I’m eliminated, I’ll still be there since it’s my hometown. But hopefully I’ll be playing in it.”

Header Photo Credit: Alexandre Weber/Riot Games

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