As the LEC 2024 Winter Season was about to begin, people made a lot of predictions and tier lists, most of which forecasted a bad entrance for the new MAD Lions KOI roster. Built around former MVP LEC jungler Javier “Elyoya” Prades Batalla and 4 promising rookies, the roster was doomed before the start according to many analysts.
Game by game, victory by victory, they proved those analysts wrong as they finished 4th in the regular season and eliminated GIANTX and Team Vitality from the LEC Winter Playoffs. We spoke with the top laner of MDK, Alex “Myrwn” Pastor Villarejo, about the playoffs, Elyoya’s captainship and proving their mettle in the LEC.
Aykut Sapaz, BLIX.GG: Hello, Myrwn, thank you so much for being here with me today. Now, before we get to the series that you just won against Vitality, let’s talk a bit about how playing in best of threes has been compared to best of ones. How hard was it to adjust to the format change?
Alex “Myrwn” Pastor Villarejo: For now, I would say pretty easy, the change from the Bo1 format to Bo3s. I think all the team is already used to long series from ERLs, so I think the change is not super hard, you know?
BLIX: Do you feel the same way that you felt in ERL best-of-threes as you do now in LEC best-of-threes?
Myrwn: I mean, I would say there’s more pressure here. But it’s fine, we can deal with it.
BLIX: That’s one of the qualities of being an LEC caliber player, that and winning your games. And you guys won your series against Vitality today. What did you think about the series overall?
Myrwn: In the first game, I think we didn’t play as a team completely as we did against GIANTX. But it was still fine, we are just not super happy with the game. The second game was also a bit shaky. Maybe we felt a bit lost. And after the chronobreak, we maybe disconnected a bit. But it was fine in the end.
BLIX: I’m glad you mentioned the chronobreak because it’s been mentioned on stream that the pressure builds up for the players as you wait for the chronobreak to happen. Was that actually true to what happened there?
Myrwn: Maybe we did disconnect a little bit. I wouldn’t say it’s pressure, but it’s my first time experiencing a chronobreak, so it was really weird, you know? I already teleported to bot, I already killed Rakan, and then when we come back, I am in top lane without having based. It felt so weird.
The wisdom of age
BLIX: Yeah, I can’t imagine it, at that point, especially when you’re ahead. How were the comms during that moment within the team?
Myrwn: Elyoya said, “Take a deep breath, everyone. We refocus. We just get control and on whoever side that we’re playing and they cannot play into us, basically.” and we did that. I defended top. We got some bot control and we finished the game.
BLIX: It must be very helpful to have someone like Elyoya during those moments, when you’re experiencing something new. Do you think his experience contributes a lot to the overall game plan of MDK?
Myrwn: Yeah, I mean, he’s the main shot-caller, so’¦ I wouldn’t say he tells us everything, like, we all think individually, of course. We are not NPCs. But yeah, he leads the team, basically, together with Supa as the second shot-caller.
Elyoya is the captain of the newly formed MDK roster. Image by Wojciech Wandzel/Riot Games.BLIX: Yeah, I see that. Was there anything interesting in the draft of those two games that you guys didn’t think they would play or some unexpected surprise?
Myrwn: Maybe the Akshan, but I understand they are 0-1, one more game and they’re out. So, they had to pull out something. I kind of forgot about Akshan, even though he’s Photon and he’s kind of known for it. So, I was a bit surprised, but it was so obvious at the same time.
BLIX: The Akshan, yeah, they played for the top side a lot. How did that feel for you during that moment?
Myrwn: I mean, I just said, “Don’t try to recover top. I will be fine. Just chill. At some point, I will scale and just keep poking, so it’s fine.’ And it worked, so I’m happy with that.
BLIX: That’s very great to see because in Solo Queue, people get camped, people lose mental advantage. But in pro games, you can’t lose the mental game in that situation.
Myrwn: Yeah, I was so chill at every moment. I always knew I could come back, I just needed to wait for his mistake and it happened.
New rivalries
BLIX: You guys played well, and then you guys won. Congratulations on that once again. And now you’re moving up, and you might face either Fnatic or SK, depending on the situation. Who would be better for you to face against, in your opinion?
Myrwn: I think I want to face Fnatic, not because they’re better or worse, but I think there’s more rivalry. I want to play into Oscar again, and they 2-0’d us, so we want to take revenge.
BLIX: Oh, revenge is a very good ambition, especially in League of Legends. Since you guys faced them earlier in the playoff, do you think you will have an advantage against Fnatic?
Myrwn: I think it’s whatever. I think it’s not because they’re Fnatic, but the loss really helped us to prepare for the Bo3s and how to approach them and stuff. It was like a wake-up call.
The MDK roster and coaches before the big game.Image by Wojciech Wandzel/Riot Games.BLIX: I see. Many people, during the start of the season, expected you guys to not advance that far. You proved them wrong in the regular season and now you’re proving them wrong in the playoffs. Has that tune changed for many people in your opinion?
Myrwn: I think people at the end didn’t really believe in us. Our expectations didn’t change from the start to now, we still want to win. Since the first day we said that we want to win, and I think people, the viewers, believe more in us now that we can actually win. But yeah, they needed proof, you know? They didn’t believe in us. So here we are now.
BLIX: That’s great to see, and I hope you guys do better in the future matches to come. Is there a final message to those who may still need proof of your success and who are still following you as fans?
Myrwn: Thanks to the guys that are supporting us every day. Like, all the messages help us a lot. To the people that still don’t believe in us, just keep waiting. We’ll prove everyone wrong.
BLIX: That’s very good. Thank you so much, and good luck.
Myrwn: Thank you too.
