After an intense LES Kickoff split, the competitive scene has delivered plenty of stories both on and off the Rift. This time, Sheep Esports sits down with Macaquinho (Sergio Bouzende Rodrigues), one of the standout voices of the moment. The player reflects on his performance, key takeaways, and feelings after the season’s opening stage
Congratulations on your run at the LES Kickoff. You’ve reached the final and qualified for the EMEA Masters. How is your overall feeling about this event?
Sergio “Macaquinho” Bouzende Rodrigues: “We’re happy, but we left with a bit of a bitter taste for not having won. To be honest, there was no pressure. I thought I’d personally feel the pressure, but it’s the first event where I didn’t feel any pressure at all. I was feeling a bit under the weather on the first day. I think it showed, but otherwise it was fine. We showed the synergy we have as a team, the fact that there are five of us Spaniards. You could tell we were in sync, which was what we were aiming for. We made mistakes that we’ll work on for the EMEA Masters, but we’re very happy with the result.
MKOI Fénix completely dominated the final. What happened in that series?
Macaquinho: Honestly, I don’t know if we managed our energy correctly throughout the day. Maybe we got a bit carried away when we beat MKOI Fénix. It’s true that we didn’t play particularly well against them either. But the energy of the moment, the vibes, being at the event and everything else created more pressure ahead of the final. I think our nerves got the better of us and that we all generally struggled in the final. I would say these were our two worst games of the whole event, and that’s that.
Were your nerves the main problem, or do you consider MKOI Fénix to be a strong team? MKOI Fénix also proved they’re solid by beating Heretics 2-0.
Macaquinho: Well, it’s clear we didn’t play to our full potential. But I also think that on that particular day, MKOI Fénix played very well compared to the days before. I think the opposite happened to us. On previous days we played a bit better, and on that day we didn’t show up as we usually do. They played quite well; they didn’t let us catch a break. They kept coming at us and finished the games very quickly. Well, their roster was clearly a Top 4 one. But in terms of names, I don’t think they were that much better than us. It’s also true that, apart from the change they made, they’ve been together longer than us. But I think it was more down to us.
The 2-1 win over UCAM was a very entertaining series to watch. What was the series like from the player’s side? The comms became really loud in the studio.
Macaquinho: If the comms are ever released, people would be blown away. We started strong in the first game. We were listening to each other, and we started doing things right. In the second game, we kind of fell apart. I don’t know what happened. Suddenly, we completely stopped doing everything we’d been doing well on the first map. But the third game was the worst one by far. It was easy to execute and to finish it off. We’d played a pretty solid early game and things were going completely our way, and suddenly they started picking us off; we kept failing to respect them time and time again. And at a certain point our comms literally were: “Let’s get together, let’s play ARAM and whatever happens, happens”. It was incredible.
Did you expect to get this far in the LES given the other teams’ rosters? Have Barça’s expectations been met in this tournament?
Macaquinho: We were eager to win. We didn’t put in a great performance at the Iberian Cup, but over the last month we’ve knuckled down and tried to improve. I think we’ve changed as a team. The main goal was to reach the EMEA Masters. I think it’s going to be an incredible experience and one from which we’ll learn a lot. Obviously it’s a shame we didn’t win, but we all had high expectations in general. We weren’t afraid of the rest of the teams. There were plenty of teams we could beat, and if we showed what we’d learnt, we could go quite far. I wouldn’t say we’d make Top 1, but reaching the Top 3 was definitely possible.
What can we expect from you at the EMEA Masters? There’ll probably be some very strong teams from France, the Prime League, etc., and the LES’s level is is arguably lower than last year.
Macaquinho: We need to focus. We’ll rest for a few days, but we’ll get down to work straight away. There are loads of things to improve. If we’re not properly prepared, they’ll beat us to and we’ll be out by the next. Our priority will be to show the best form possible. We don’t have much time, but I suppose we’ll have better scrim partners, which will help us make faster progress.
Last year was a bit of a disaster for you. But this year in the LES we’ve seen a much more solid midlaner. What’s changed in the months since you joined Barça?
Macaquinho: There are certain things you don’t realise at first. When you join a project with more resources, like Barça’s, there are things you don’t give much importance to initially, but as time goes on, these things become very important and help motivate you and make you more consistent every day. Obviously, the calibre of the staff at Barça has helped us a lot. Our coach has helped us a great deal with the mechanical and individual aspects, mainly Selenex(Eric Lozano Gutierrez) and I. Everyone in general, but especially us. He got to work with us from day one and we’ve been training every day without stopping. And that’s what has helped us the most to improve our micro-level performance and be more consistent. I think that was one of my weaknesses, actually. I think I had some really good peaks in form, but it’s also true that my baseline level was terrible. Things like routine and motivation have also been a big factor. When you join a project that excites you more, it also helps you to stick to routines and be consistent.
As you mentioned earlier, this squad consists of five Spaniards. What’s it like working in a completely different dynamic? You’ve got Koldo, who’s quite the guy and has been in the Superliga for many years. How do you feel within the squad and how does it differ from your previous project at Guasones?
Macaquinho: Putting aside the resources aspect, it’s mainly the energy level. As there are five of us Spaniards, and we all share the same culture, there’s a certain unity. It’s true that you have to know how to keep it under control too, because there are days when we’re full of enthusiasm and we need someone to slow us down. Scrims can get out of hand and sometimes we don’t know how to handle it. Over time, we’ve managed to sort it out. But the difference is huge. On a personal level, I couldn’t explain it, but I think it’s simply that everything is much easier. The fact that we’re all on the same page, with the same goals, makes it much easier to communicate with one another. If there’s a problem, we tell each other without any bad blood and sort it out quickly.
Spanish rosters have featured quite prominently in this LES. I would say that 5 out of the 8 rosters are entirely Spanish. What do you think about these opportunities being given to home-grown talent?
Macaquinho: This depends a bit on one’s opinion, but I think every regional league should try to grow its own talent; I think that’s what it’s all about. I think it’s necessary, especially at this moment in time. Both for the league’s sake and for the spectators’ sake. I think it’s much more entertaining and appealing to watch.
Do you have a final message?
Macaquinho: A big thank you to everyone who has supported us throughout this tournament. I think it’s clear that we players are going to give it our all in terms of content and competition to make everything more entertaining. We’re going to try to perform well at the EMEA Masters and any forecoming tournaments.”
