SK Mikyx: "A lot of our drafts were last-minute decisions"

Despite putting on a show against Fnatic, SK Gaming sits at 1–2 overall in the 2026 League of Legends EMEA Championship (LEC) Versus at the conclusion of week one. Preparing for their upcoming matches against Karmine Corp, Natus Vincere, and Karmine Corp Blue, support player Mihael "Mikyx" Mehle spoke with Sheep Esports in an exclusive interview to discuss areas for improvement, the team’s atmosphere, and Adam "LIDER" Ilyasov’s development.

Mihael "Mikyx" Mehle: "We kind of messed up in draft, especially in picks four and five. I don’t think we really had the most optimal solution there. Then the game also started pretty rough, with Aurelion Sol losing his whole HP bar and TP at level one. I tried to salvage his lane, then he got solo killed, and then he died again after.

After that, we tried to take a 3v3 mid and the game became pretty rough. They were just much stronger everywhere, and Ezreal also killed us in bot lane. So yeah, the whole bot side of the map was on fire. At least Wunder (Martin Nordahl Hansen) was holding his own and actually getting us some leads here and there by trading the map. But yeah, I mean, the game was pretty much over pretty fast.

Mikyx: Mostly, we have to improve our drafts. A lot of our drafts were last-minute decisions, we were changing our minds a lot about what we actually want to play. So we ended up with some weird drafts. I think that’s the main thing we have to talk about as a team later on.

Besides that, I guess from this last game there’s not too much to take away after the early game. But in the Vitality game, there were a lot of mistakes after early, like in mid-game we were not really pushing our waves and pressuring sides like we should. So that’s something to look at.

Mikyx: Our coaching staff actually does have quite a lot of influence, and I think they’re doing a very good job. I’ve never seen such a hardworking staff. Maybe it’s also because we’re practicing from a hotel, so we’re in the same room basically the whole day. You can see that they’re always doing something, and we just talk about drafts, the game, or whatever. There’s always something going on. Everyone’s pretty reasonable as well when it comes to talking about different things. So far I can’t really complain.

Mikyx: G2 was kind of similar atmosphere-wise. Everyone was having a lot of fun together and enjoyed spending time with each other. So even in games where you were losing, you could still have some fun. Even in this game where we were getting stomped, we were still kind of laughing about it because we knew it was really rough. It probably would have been a remake angle in scrims, but we were just trying to see what we could do to actually come back into the game.

So it still wasn’t as depressing as it would be in most teams, where it’s just complete silence throughout the early game, like, “yeah, I’m dead again...” In that sense, I like it. But then again, it’s only the first week, so we’ll see how it goes for the rest of the split and the year.

So far, from the two losses we had, I feel like we had very good conversations after our first loss especially. Everyone took it very well, and everyone took a lot of responsibility and ownership for how they played. I like that a lot compared to some other teams. So far, so good from my perspective at least.

Mikyx: The hotel has been pretty nice. We have good breakfast, and I like that everyone is basically in the same room for the whole day. From when you wake up to when you go to bed, everyone is in the same room, having fun with each other, talking about League, talking about whatever. So I like that aspect of it, and I think it’s going to be kind of the same when we go to Cologne.

I guess the traveling aspect can sometimes be boring, or you lose some time from playing solo queue. But I think you can still use a lot of that time talking about drafts, because even nowadays we have two- or three-hour draft meetings. So even if we have a six-hour bus ride or whatever, we still have time to talk about drafts, review stuff, and so on. You can use that time for other things instead of just spamming solo queue, so I don’t really mind it too much when we actually have to do it.

So far, yeah, I like the setup. I mean, I like the Cologne facility a bit more. I feel like we had more stuff there, like a couch. We don’t have a good couch here, so we can’t watch The Boys currently. But yeah, we’ll see.

Mikyx: Yeah, I agree with this for sure. I think the other top three teams would be G2, KC, and MKOI. I assume those three are going to be the teams to beat this year. And yeah, I feel like we can win against everyone, even though today might not have shown it. I feel like it was a bit unlucky. So yeah, anything can happen in best-of-ones. Even G2 is 1–2, the same score as us.

Mikyx: I think so, for sure. Best-of-ones are always a little bit awkward. People say it’s harder for players like LIDER, for example, to play best-of-fives or Fearless because you run out of champions to play. But I feel like it’s kind of the opposite. Some situations are so niche or situational that you can’t pick certain champions in game one, because there are so many different champions open that can counter you. So I think it should be better for us once we get to best-of-threes or best-of-fives.

Mikyx: He needs a little more habit practice in solo queue. I feel like he has too many bad habits from playing solo queue and tilting. Then, I guess, champion pool will be the next thing. If he can play mages as well as he plays his normal melee champions, at the same level, I think he will be the best. But so far, he needs to put in some work.

Mikyx: Yeah, I think it’s really nice. It’s one of the best changes so far, at least for solo queue. I missed playing duo queue in general. I feel like it’s also easier for me to keep spamming the game when I have a duo to play with. If you play solo and just keep losing, it’s so demoralizing. But if you have someone to play with, at least it’s kind of fun, and you have someone to rely on within your team, even if the rest are a bunch of noobs. So yeah, I’m a big fan of that.

Mikyx: I don’t mind, but it’s a little annoying that you kind of have to ward the same spots to get more information. It kind of defeats the purpose of putting sneaky wards or something like that. But I don’t mind it, honestly. It’s fine.

Mikyx: No, I haven’t watched anything honestly for the past two months. Maybe in the offseason."