Ending the LFL Days 2024 in a 2-0 score, BDS Academy now aims to close out the regular season with a bang. Currently sitting in sole possession of first place, the team already looks forward to the EMEA Masters and winning the LFL playoffs. In this exclusive interview, Keduii talks about his transition from the Prime League to the French ERL and his expectations for the team's future.
Keduii and SkewMond, celebrating after a victory. Photo: Elliot Le Corre
| How do you feel after taking down Karmine Corp Blue?
Keduii: "I’m doing good, very good, it was a crazy game. I’m maybe a bit exhausted but those 40 minutes were worth it."
| The game was extremely back-and-forth but, you stood tall on your Ezreal. Are you happy with your performance today?
Keduii: "We had an easy draft, so I think we could have made this game much faster. But yeah, there were a lot of mistakes from us, but also sometimes from them. The game was just very random. There were moments in which we were winning, and others where we completely ran it down. I think that I played okay today but, it's hard to play at my 100% while at a LAN. There's so much going on around us but yeah, I'm just happy we won."
| An incredible atmosphere in Nice today! Did you like playing in front of such a huge crowd? Maybe there was a bit of satisfaction in silencing the KC fans?
Keduii: "They were chanting until the very end. I could hear them the whole time, even when Karmine Corp was losing. This was my first time playing against them offline on a big stage. I've always played against them online before. I'm just very happy to have beaten them in an offline setting."
| You've always been the pride of the Prime League and now, joining the LFL is a big step in your career. How do you see this move for your career? Is the end goal still the LEC?
Keduii: "Yeah, for sure. I was hoping I could join the LEC from the Prime League in past years but, there's no need to lie, the level of the Prime League is way below the level of the LFL. "
"I was really surprised by how strong teams are in the LFL when I joined. It's hard to tell who is going to make playoffs because, in my opinion, there are at least eight teams that could probably win the Prime League altogether."
"It's a very important step for me, and I'm happy to be with BDS. I think this is the best team I've ever been on. We have the chance to win it all. I'm just really happy to be in the LFL."
| I assume you must be very comfortable playing with JNX, Reeker, and Arvindir again right? You've played with them a lot before, how do you feel about the roster in general?
Keduii: "I know them all very well. I'm especially happy and impressed by my support, Parus. He's honestly insanely good. I'm a bit sad he couldn't be with us at the LFL Days today."
"But yeah, this is a very comfortable line-up to be on. I didn't request to play with a full German line-up or anything though [laughs]. I knew what I could achieve with BDS because of the experience I had with these players."
| Unfortunately, you'll be playing against your previous bot lane partner tomorrow, [GO] Prime. How are you feeling about this match-up?
Keduii: "I love this guy. I fully enjoyed the one year I played with him. I think he is also in a strong team with Team GO. I'm very happy that we all got another strong team and that we even can compete against each other in the LFL. It's super cool. It feels even better being able to do so in Nice too. It's going to be a very fun matchup."
| Do you like the weather in Nice, better than Germany? How is it here overall?
Keduii: "It’s so much better than in Germany. Being here feels like a vacation honestly, I like it a lot. We haven't seen a lot of the city yet, we've mostly been waiting for our games and watching other teams. It's all been really crazy being in the venue and playing on stage."
| Have you had time to interact with the fans?
Keduii: "Not that much yet, not really. We just go around as a big unit the whole time. There's a lot of preparation involved for our matches as they are very important for the standings. We haven't had much time."
| You underperformed slightly in the first few weeks. What do you think you improved to rise to your current position?
Keduii: "We're all very good individually but, I feel like sometimes, we are just lacking that killer instinct. We need to learn not to fear going in harder, and playing more aggressively, just like we did today [against KCB]. It's one of our biggest weaknesses. We often just do not play actively enough. We're working on it and, I think it's good that we realized it this early in the competition."
| This game felt like you often had better ideas on where to be on the map compared to Karmine Corp as well. Do you think that your macro is a strong point of the team in general?
Keduii: "Yeah, I mean, to be honest, I think both teams did that. We were both running after each other on the map at different stages of the game. One time, things ended up really bad for us but then, they took a huge loss as well. Honestly, this game wasn't very good for either team. We could have played way, way better. Still though, beating a team like Karmine Corp is insanely huge for us and it gave us a lot of confidence that we can win it all."
| Are you confident about the team's playoff chances?
Keduii: "There are so many good teams in the league that even getting to playoffs is something that you can be happy with. There's still some work to do but, we are obviously aiming to win it all. We first need to finish the group stage, but I think we have what it takes. I'm very confident that we'll reach playoffs and will ramp up over the next few weeks."
| Are you reaching the EMEA Masters this split?
Keduii: "Yeah, 100%."
| Do you believe you have what it takes to compete there with teams from other ERLs?
Keduii: "Yes, for sure. I think that, if you make it to the EMEA Masters from the LFL, you can always win the tournament. I think this region has a bigger advantage than the other ones honestly."
| How have your scrims been going? Are they indicative of your results?
Keduii: "If I'm honest, we are winning. We are stomping every team in scrims. It's stupid to say, but I don't think there's any team that has stopped us yet in scrims. We haven't scrimmed Karmine Corp yet, and I heard they're also doing very well in practices."
"But if we can translate our scrim performances to our in-game performances, then I feel like we'll be the best team by far. It'll be a long road for us to get through since we've had some issues with official matches. But yeah, our scrims have been going insanely well."
| Do you have anything you want to say to the fans?
Keduii: "I'm just very happy that there were so many people here today. This was my first time in such a big arena, and seeing so many people watch your game is crazy because usually, you see the online numbers, which are hard to put into perspective. But now you realize how many people are watching your games. So, I'm very happy that everyone who came to Nice today, I'm very happy for them."
Photo Credit : Elliot Le Corre
SK Keduii, king of the Prime League.
