League of Legends
Team BDS completely turned the tables with their first-place finish during the 2023 Spring regular split. However, after the disappointing 9th & 10th place finishes in 2022, the team’s transformation has been a hot topic for the fans as they can’t stop improving.
The top laner of the team, Adam "Adam" Maanane, has been praised for his continued development as his confidence keeps on growing by the day. Following his team's win against KOI, Adam joined BLIX.GG to discuss BDS’ transformation, his personal development, and much more.
Photo by Michal Konkol/Riot GamesYohan Markov, BLIX.GG: You have been on the rise for the past two splits and it’s nice to see one of the newer teams doing that. To kick off, what were your thoughts on the game against KOI and what did you think could have potentially gone wrong because you almost allowed a comeback?
Adam: Before the game, we were coming in with a lot of confidence against KOI. We know they are not in the perfect spot right now, but we are super confident. We knew that our confidence would give us the edge during the game.
We knew that the matchup would be a bit volatile from the bottom lane because it was Zeri & Nautilus versus Varus & Ashe. However, we had some practice against it, and we knew how to play against it, so we felt comfortable letting them play that.
I think we did well in the early game until the backdoor, which was by the way I decided to call it. I think if we had managed to execute it well, the game could have ended, but there was some miss execution.
BLIX: Did you actually see the minions? They were stuck on one of the towers and nuc couldn’t hit the other one because he was taking damage.
Adam: Yes, but do you know why? It’s because nuc ulted the wave and our minions went with KOI’s minions, so he trolled a little bit this backdoor and we couldn’t finish. In the end, it didn't matter because it would delay the game by three minutes with them picking the Baron. We just had to wait for it to run out and then end the game.
BLIX: What about the game against Vitality? It looked like a certain loss but you came back out of nowhere. What did you think about that game?
Adam: I would say we had the game under control from the start. It was completely unwinnable for Vitality. It should have been a free win from our side, but we managed to throw the game during our first Baron. I think we were too panicked about ending the game too quickly, so we gave them a free Baron and they snowballed. This made the game a little bit harder for us.
Even though we were 11k gold behind, we still managed to win. At some point, I told my teammates: “Okay guys, we might be a lot of gold behind, but just focus and we will win”.
BLIX: You seem to be “enjoying” being on Malphite duty recently. So tell me, what are your thoughts on the champion, because to me it seems broken.
Adam: This champion is just broken. You pick it, you ult someone and he is dead. Even if you don’t hit everyone, one person is enough. Nothing can touch you, it's a free win (laughs).
Photo by Michal Konkol/Riot GamesBLIX: Do you expect to see him getting banned soon?
Adam: Probably yes, but I think it’s also easy to counter him in the draft so you need to be smart when you draft him. It’s hard to blind-pick him as well, at least you can’t do that against me, but I don’t know how it is for the other top laners.
BLIX: Team BDS have transformed into one of the best teams in the league. You are first in the league so you are the best team right now. How did this version of BDS transform from a last-placed team to a first-place team?
Adam: Last year I was there in Spring when we ended 9th. During the Summer split, I was not there when they finished in last place. This year, it’s a brand new BDS. Everything has changed. There is a new coaching staff, core players, dynamics and management. Everything was changed to offer the players the best environment there can be. Besides that, I think that the team was established perfectly. Everyone enjoys each other's company and is willing to play together. Also, we knew each other before the season and this was already a big advantage over some other teams. Our result in Winter 2023 was a bit disappointing because we could have finished inside the top four easily. We “choked” against Astralis but we’ll make sure that this time it won’t happen again because we can go really far.
BLIX: This split is similar to the previous one. You have a better record but what do you need to do this time to advance further?
Adam: To be honest, I don’t think we need to change much. We need to play our game. No joke, it’s as simple as that. We’ll win if we don’t panic, I am sure.
Photo by Michal Konkol/Riot GamesBLIX: Team BDS’ roster is the same as the Winter split, but what would you say is different if you compare this and the previous split?
Adam: Probably the stage experience. The way we can handle stage stress more and transfer it to positive stress is great. Also, we have more experience together as a team on stage and our synergy improves naturally.
BLIX: What about your personal level? We’ve seen you grow throughout this year as a player and you are in the discussion for the best top laners. What contributed to this development this year?
Adam: I’ve always been the same player. Compared to last year, I’ve grown a lot and learned a lot due to the experience I was able to get. Also, I learned how to play and behave as a teammate, so I could make the team progress. I improved a lot in my laning phases, but overall, I improved in my aggressiveness. I’ve stayed the same fundamentally, but I’ve changed in some scenarios where I became better and more mature.
BLIX: You’ve already secured a playoff spot, so what should we expect from Team BDS in the Playoffs?
Adam: I think you can expect anything from Team BDS at this point (laughs). We are no longer the last-placed team from last year, people will start respecting us at some point. We need to behave like a top-one team and show that exact confidence. Look at G2, they behave like this and we need to behave like this as well. We shouldn’t think that we don’t deserve what we achieved because we do deserve it. It’s time to prove it now, prove it to the people.
