One of the most revered teams in the League of Legends scene, fnatic are fighting for the chance to show themselves to the world as the European team to watch out for. But before they get to prove that, they’ll have to take down the other teams in the LEC. With Rekkles coming back again and Rhuckz, their former substitute who is now in the main team, this roster of fnatic are looking to score some points on regional and international fronts.
We spoke with their mid laner Marek ‘Humanoid’ Brázda about their win against Excel, the stagnation of the current meta, the morale of the roster and much more.
Aykut Sapaz, BLIX.GG: Hello Humanoid, thank you so much for your time and for coming here for the interview and congratulations! You guys just came out of a game that gave fnatic fans multiple heart attacks but it was a win regardless. Before I even get into the game, before we talk about the game, was there any point… what was the point where you thought ‘Yes, we are going to win this.’?
Marek ‘Humanoid’ Brázda: Well, after the last team fight basically. Before that, it was still anyone’s game. So yeah, just after we killed them all basically.
BLIX: Because there was like one more fight where you didn’t die, and it equaled the game. But then that last fight’¦ What went wrong in that last fight for Excel? Like, how did that situation happen?
Humanoid: I mean, I think they just didn’t manage to kill me in time, and with Kassadin, if you can get three ults in a team fight then he’s just going to one-shot the ADC. And yeah, that’s basically it, I think. It is just about if I killed Lucian first or if they killed me first.
Image: Riot Games/Michal Konkol
BLIX: Yeah, and kill the Lucian you did, under the tower even. Wow. Was there anything in the draft that you guys didn’t expect from the other team or any spontaneous decisions you made?
Humanoid: I think they drafted basically what we would expect them to draft. So, I wouldn’t say there were any surprises.
The 2-year meta –
BLIX: Yeah, it looks like a pretty standard draft for this meta. It has been a while. What do you think about the meta that developed over time in this patch?
Humanoid: I mean, I think the meta is absolutely garbage, to be honest, it’s basically the same as it was for the last two years. And yeah, Riot just didn’t do anything in the pre-season then they saved the two biggest patches for when the season has already started but now, we are stuck playing on an old patch which doesn’t really feel good, and yeah, Lucian-Nami, Yuumi-Zeri’¦
I don’t understand how it’s even in the game and it’s been overpowered for a long time, but I guess now they are finally changing it. A little bit too late, but yeah’¦ I don’t even know when this patch is gonna be in LEC, it’s probably gonna be like after the group stage, so it’s gonna be really late as well. Because I know the BO3s are not on the patch that’s changing the supports yet. So, it’s still gonna be kind of a bad meta. Yeah, that’s it.
BLIX: Yeah, it’s gonna be a rough two weeks then. We’re not seeing the usual adaptability in the LEC I think. Because we’re seeing very different things out in the foreign leagues. But here, I don’t think teams are trying that many things, I think that’s the problem. I’m not sure if that’s the problem because you’re the player you see it more frequently than I do.
Humanoid: I think there are some teams in the LCK that play creative support picks, but I think that’s just on the support players to decide. I think Keria is playing, I think it was Keria, he was playing Kalista support or something like that and Caitlyn support also, I think it’s just him being really insane mechanically and deciding that it’s good. Because in this meta, those champions are instantly stronger at levels one to five. And that is very important on bot lane right now.
BLIX: But we’re not in LCK, we’re in LEC where you guys just crawled out of the elimination pit. You’re now in a stronger ground with a 2-3 score. You’ve had a rough first week but now you’re coming back. How is the team morale, currently?
Humanoid: Yeah, I think it’s fine so far. No one is really tilted even though we lost two in the first week. We were winning one and then we just threw, and we just lost the game at level three, so it wasn’t actually that bad. So, I don’t think anyone is tilted right now and I think the mood is fine.
Image: Riot Games/Michal Konkol
BLIX: I’m glad to hear morale is up at Fnatic. How do you think you’re prepared for the BO3s and BO5s? Because that’s where Fnatic is usually stronger due to on-stage experience and stuff.
Humanoid: Well, we are not preparing for that yet at all because we still need to get there. But it’s also on a different patch, so we are probably just gonna start preparing after the BO1 stage is finished.
Who will say goodbye?
BLIX: Who do you think, when the BO1 stage is finished, who do you think will be eliminated from the league?
Humanoid: I guess so far it’s looking like Astralis, if I’m not wrong, they are 0-5 unless they won today?
BLIX: No, they didn’t win today, they are 0-5.
Humanoid: So, it’s looking kind of rough for them. And the next one, I have no idea, to be honest, could be us because we only have two wins. Could be anyone, well, not anyone I guess but it could be a lot of teams.
BLIX: We’ll see who it is. You guys took a huge step towards not being that team, that is very helpful. How is the atmosphere currently in the LEC studio?
Humanoid: I mean, it’s the same as it always was, you know. There are people, they are cheering, so I enjoy it. It’s not that many people because the studio is not that big but it’s fun. Yeah, I’m really happy that it’s not COVID anymore and I’m not playing in front of empty chairs anymore.
BLIX: Yeah, that is definitely an upgrade. You have a match against Heretics tomorrow, how do you think the matchup will go? Do you think you can beat them faster than G2?
Humanoid: I don’t think so. Because for that, to win the game this fast, you probably need to draft a very strong early game which we are not really doing right now, we are drafting more toward the late game. But we are also probably just worse than G2, so it could be harder to finish faster than them. But yeah, I think we can definitely win but it’s not gonna be easy.
BLIX: We’ll see. Thank you so much for your time and for coming here after what I assume is a very tense and very tiring game. Do you have any last messages for the fans who had their hearts in their mouths for you today?
Humanoid: Yeah, I mean, thank you all for supporting us even though we didn’t look that great yet. I think we can still be good next time.
