In this exclusive interview, Nicolas "Horéüs" Briand takes us behind the scenes of his esport coaching career. From his early days as a caster to his current role as coach for IziDream in LFL DIV2, Horéüs shares his exciting journey, his coaching experiences and his vision of competition. Find out how he turned his passion for League of Legends and the sport into a thriving career in esports, and what motivates him to keep aiming higher.
| Hello, can you introduce yourself and tell us a bit about yourself and how you got started in esports?
Horéüs: "My name is Nicolas and I've been playing League of Legends since season 1. I love sport in general, but basketball in particular! I'm currently the coach of IziDream in LFL DIV2."
"About my background, I studied business, but I've always been very passionate about League of Legends. At the beginning of 2018, I started as a caster for an amateur competition. Then, in 2019, I casted at O'Gaming alongside professionals like Glopo, Gardoum, Chips and Noi."
"At the end of 2019, for the Worlds in Paris, Riot knew that there would be a lot of people, so they asked us if we could come and do the rehearsals for the opening and closing ceremonies as extras. During these rehearsals, we bumped into Chips & Noi who told us that in 2020 they were going to acquire a new league to broadcast. So in early 2020 I did tryouts with the current OTP crew and a few of us got in, including myself as well as Zerotick and Finghin."
| How did you get your very first experience as a coach?
Horéüs: "You have to know that in the middle of 2020, during the Covid period, I was casting the LPL for Ogaming and I had a lot of free time. But I didn't necessarily want to get back into basketball because I was too involved in League of Legends. So I thought I'd take advantage of my coaching experience in basketball and try to do the same for LoL."
"I started by coaching diamond 1 and low master players at the time, which was very rewarding. Then I went on to coach teams. I started with Pulsia when they were reshuffling their roster between stages 5 and 6 of the Open Tour. So I spoke to the chairman of the association, who must have been Straakes, and he gave me the green light straight away. The coach who used to work with Pulsia, Clampy, wasn't sure if he wanted to stay or not."
"We still took part in stages 6 and 7 of 2020. We found that we were a good fit, which is why he came back to me when he was at Viv Esport. He told me that he had a good team that needed extra coaches. So, I started working with the team at that point, and everything went really well."
| Can you tell me about your recruitment by IziDream? How did it all come about?
Horéüs: "Before I joined IziDream, I helped Gameward with the ups and downs. It was also at that time that PCS contacted me to see if I was available for the Coupe de France. I declined, but that enabled me to make contact with Ayden, who finally left PCS to join IziDream. I had a few tryouts to be the head coach, which went really well!"
| Did you take part in the mercato? How did you go about recruiting players?
Horéüs: "For this mercato, I started by creating a document in which I listed my selection criteria. I drew up lists of the players I wanted, then rated them according to the specific criteria for each role. The first players recruited were Misanthiel and Kamiloo, youngsters with little experience but great potential."
"After that, the aim was to choose more experienced players to mentor these young talents. With IziDream, we were lucky enough to have a team with probably the biggest resources in DIV2, which put us at the top of the market."
"The other teams had to wait to see our choices before making theirs, although we also had to wait for the ERL 1 teams to make their own selections first."
| Did you feel any pressure when you joined this team? Perhaps the pressure of having to climb back into LFL?
Horéüs: "Hugo, the CEO of IziDream, is a very wise person. At the start of the season, he took the time to tell us that there was no pressure to go up and that the main objective was really to train players."
"The aim is to enable as many players as possible to move up to ERL1, but under no circumstances is there any pressure from the directors regarding results. I think we put that pressure on ourselves because we are competitors, and we want to achieve the best possible result. Of course, we want to beat the LFL team in the Up & Down and we're working in that way!"
| Can you go into more detail about the duties of a coach in LoL?
Horéüs: "We're two coaches with Blidzy as assistant coach. Although I don't like to make the distinction, for me we're both coaches and that's it. He had already worked with another coach before, and he really looks after the draft because he worked on it a lot in his career. His main task is to ensure that we have good drafts and that the players have good champions etc."
"From time to time, we also have draft battles, and he and I talk a lot together about preparation. I'd say he takes care of 80-85% of the draft, mainly during official matches, but he also manages some individual sessions with the players."
"As for myself, I'm in charge of the scrims: I define what I expect from the players during training sessions, I work with them and make sure they concentrate on certain parts of the game. I also talk about the points we're going to work on in scrim, but especially post-match reviews. I also look at the teams we're going to play, to see what their habits are, etc."
"I also try to organise team-building moments with the players, so that we can spend time together outside the game, working on communication and team cohesion to ensure that everything goes well between the players and that they enjoy playing together."
| We had a debate recently about the role of the coach in the draft. Can you tell me about the way you work at IziDream?
Horéüs: "We talk a lot beforehand; we do a lot of preparation before the match to analyse how our opponents are going to play. Generally, we always come up with a plan that's been discussed with the players in advance, but sometimes we get caught out, so at that point we take the time to discuss with the player whether this or that champion is preferable to another. The pick will depend above all on whether the player feels up to playing the champion in that situation."
| Your season is going very well at the moment. How did you prepare for the start of the season?
Horéüs: "We mainly worked on communication between the players, how to challenge a goal and secure territory. I think that if the players communicate well and know the basics, I'm satisfied."
| Are you satisfied with the level you're currently showing?
Horéüs: "Yes, I'm very happy with the level we're showing! But I'm still convinced that the players want a demanding coach, who will push them to work in all situations. There's always room for improvement!"
"If I take the game against PCS for example, where we had a significant advantage, I still think we could have finished the game much earlier. I'm always looking to take something away from our official matches, whatever the result."
| It's still a long season. In view of your very good results, what's your plan for continuing at this pace and hoping to secure promotion?
Horéüs: "I prefer to take the official matches one by one, but I'm still thinking in the long term because I still have the coach's vision. I know that at the moment we've mastered certain aspects of the game, but I also know what I want to work on in the future."
"I've already got in mind the part of the game that I want to work on for the playoffs so that I can master it as well as possible. So yes, I'd say I'm thinking about the future, and I know where I want us to progress, at least for this split!"
| How important are fans to the players? We've seen with the LFL days, for example, that in France there's a real community that supports the players. Do they feel this pressure? Or is the pressure mainly linked to the fact that they have to perform in order to be spotted by bigger teams?
Horéüs: "Yes, we're lucky to have a very large community in France. I don't think the players feel any pressure because of that, but I know that, for example, Piwek and Highway who come from the Polish league find it funny to see that there are so many viewers for French DIV2."
"Secondly, no, they don't have any pressure from the numbers, because if they want to climb the ladder and aim for bigger teams, those numbers shouldn't impress them. If teams like the Karmine with a huge community come looking for them, they shouldn't put that kind of pressure on themselves."
"The players will first look at the organisation's infrastructure, how they will be supported, whether they have what they need to play, how they will be guided, etc. They will then be able to see what they have to offer."
| Can you tell me about your long-term plans? Do you see yourself continuing to coach for a long time? Knowing that it's still quite new for you.
Horéüs: "I love the idea of coaching. Competition is something that's really driven me since I started doing sport! I want to win the DIV2 and I see progression as a ladder."
"At the moment, my aim is to win this competition, and once I've done that, I'd like to win an ERL1 title. I still want to stay in France once this stage is over, but if an interesting project is offered to me then I might give it a go. For the moment, I'm planning to stay in France."
"Otherwise, I'm also thinking of continuing to stream but, again, I think that will be coaching because I love choosing people and reviewing their games to help them progress. I really enjoy helping others and especially seeing them progress. It's something I really enjoy doing and I can see myself continuing!"
| What can we wish you for the future?
Horéüs: "Have a great season with IziDream! And above all to continue to perform well throughout the year and why not beat the LFL team who will be there for the Up & Down!"
