PNG Boal on rivalry with Xyno: "I really want to beat that guy"

lost 3-1 to this Sunday (13) in the CBLOL playoffs and dropped to the Lower Bracket. Despite the result, the team has shown significant improvement compared to its performance during the regular season and will now have a week to prepare before facing the winner of vs. next weekend.

After the match, paiN top laner Felipe “” Boal spoke exclusively to Sheep Esports about the team’s improvement, the changes to its coaching staff and roster, and rookie Daniel “” Lisboa’s adaptation. The player also discussed the rivalry with LOUD, Carlos Felipe “” Ferreira’s trash talk during the week, and reaffirmed his belief that paiN was built to win the CBLOL title.

Felipe “Boal” Boal: “I think the step-up we’re making right now is a mixture of two things. I’d say the first and most important point is that, since the beginning of the championship, everyone has been putting in a lot of effort during reviews and in our day-to-day work to find solutions, talk about the game, understand how each person thinks and how they like to play. There’s collective merit to it, everyone is trying. And the second point is that our team has a group of people who, in my opinion, are very grounded. Everyone has a good idea of what they want to do, what’s good and what’s bad. Obviously, we need to sharpen our game more, we need to be more decisive in certain moments, with faster, more effective or more decisive plans. I actually think that’s why we lost today, but overall, we have a lot of experience. And Namiru, coming in now, is a talented player who is learning a lot. We have a strong group that is putting in a lot of effort, so this step-up is something that naturally happens. It’s a process that has been going on for a long time, it doesn’t happen from one week to the next. It’s block by block. We’ve been building this step-up for a while, but it’s starting to show more now.

Boal: I believe it has something to do with it. With Xero (Sin Hyeok), when we were starting our team, we were making a lot of mistakes, we didn’t understand the meta very well, and we were still learning how we wanted to play and build our team. I think he had an approach that was more focused on him making several decisions himself, and precisely because the players were still in the process of learning and understanding what was strong in the meta, what each person liked, what made sense or didn’t, I don’t blame him. I think it was a valid approach for the moment we were in. And since he left, I think in the first few weeks, even though we won the week after he left, I don’t think it had much to do with it. I think wasn’t playing that well, but the way we work nowadays, we have much more input from the players in the draft, in reviews and everything else. I feel like nowadays we’re managing to find a balanced middle ground between what the players like and what they feel comfortable with. I think I have a very clear example of that. The change that happened from one week to another, where I played Olaf and got hit by an Akali, and the following week I played Akali into Olaf. That’s a very clear example for anyone who was watching. Both the players and the coaching staff stepped up after Xero left because we kind of lost our captain, so to speak. So I feel there’s merit on both sides in that.

Boal: I believe the main point is how much Namiru is helping us understand each other better. With Keine (Kim Joon-cheol), I think he didn’t get along that well with some players, and sometimes the language barrier also made the whole relationship more complicated. I feel like nowadays we’re able to build something more sustainable. And Namiru, aside from what I just mentioned, is a very talented player. As I mentioned in an interview, I think last week, when players are younger, they make mistakes in certain macro situations, they lack a little bit of that experience or instinct here and there, but they have a lot of hunger. They look for a lot of angles because our LoL is very much about that. They really want to prove themselves, and I think that fits us very well because he’s a player who looks for a lot of angles. As I said, he makes interesting plays, so it’s been good for both sides, I’d say. I’m also managing to build a good relationship with him, so the side lane aspect is improving as well. We can still improve a lot, but I think he’s a guy who still has a lot to improve. He’s far from reaching his ceiling.

Boal: I think that whole thing about him saying he was going to retire, everyone was secretly thinking: “I really want to beat this guy.” At least for me, I really wanted to beat him today. I know it was a joke from him, it was a jab at us, but I really wanted to beat him because I think he’s a brilliant player. I don’t think he played that well today, to be honest. I think I played better than him for most of the series and, regardless, that doesn’t take away from the credit he deserves for what he’s been doing this split and in the other tournaments he’s played, because I’m a close friend of his and I’m very proud of the player he has become. At least for me, since I’m basically his direct opponent, that whole story motivated me. I really, really wanted to win today. I was really frustrated with the loss, but whenever I get the opportunity to talk about him, I like to praise him because I’m genuinely very proud of the person and player he has become, and it makes me very happy to see that he’s finding his own path. Just not against us, you know? I tried really hard today, but I’m sure that if we fix some things, we can become a better team than LOUD, and I think everyone saw that today. It’s a very bitter feeling, but I still have a lot of confidence in our team.

Boal: Without a doubt, I think this series showed a little bit of that because, whether we like it or not, we’re a new team, theoretically. We started this split and we have a rookie mid laner who joined our team two weeks ago. In my opinion, we showed some really good things today against LOUD. Obviously, we lost because of things that are essential to our performance and to winning the championship, and I’m sure we’re going to improve a lot as this week of practice goes on. But from the first few weeks until today, I have no doubt that we have a team built to win, and I believe everyone on our team feels that way. I don’t know if everyone always felt that way from the beginning, but I refuse to have that kind of mindset, putting myself or my team down. I’ve always believed in the project. That’s why I decided to join paiN. And I believe we’re managing to show that nowadays, both in the series against Keyd and this one. Even though we lost today, I think that, as I said earlier in this interview, we did some good things and we’re going to have a very important week to fix things that will change our game and make us much better. I have a lot of confidence that, in the coming weeks, we can beat everyone.”