As the fourth and final major region, the LEC has finally kicked off its Spring Split. Ten teams, all with updated lineups, have begun the climb to the top. Unfortunately for MAD Lions, who brought on two new players, the Spring Split kicked off with a loss against reigning champions G2 Esports. All is far from lost though, as MAD Lions showed signs of promise and they still have plenty of time to prove themselves.
With two new players on the team, MAD Lions are still finding their way in the LEC.
After the game against G2, we spoke to MAD Lions mid laner Marek “Humanoid” Brázda, who formed an integral part for his team’s development last year. He told us how he and his teammates prepared for the opening weekend and what the mood was as they headed into the first day. Humanoid also shared his thoughts on the meta, and how he foresees his team develop over the course of the Split.
Hotspawn: Welcome, Humanoid. Unfortunately, you kicked off the Spring Split with a loss against G2. But let’s not focus too much on the result—tell me about MAD Lions’ preparation heading into the super weekend.
Humanoid: I don’t think it differed much from any other week. We just scrimmed and prepared for every single game one by one. There was no special preparation for any team, I think. It’s just the usual stuff. This was our first game together with the new team, but we didn’t really do anything special.
Hotspawn: Both new players on your team seemed very enthusiastic to be on MAD Lions. How was the mood heading into the day?
Humanoid: I think that we have a really good atmosphere overall. No matter what. Before this game it was normal, and normal with our team means that it is a really good atmosphere. Everyone is joking and screaming, and doing some random stuff. [laughs]
You have to play proactively if you want to be a good team.
Hotspawn: Why do I get the feeling that it’s mostly Carzzy? [laughs]
Humanoid: Yeah, well, he’s the one who initiates it, and then the others just join in. I would say that the atmosphere is really good, overall. It’s basically only chaos, to be honest, but yeah.
Hotspawn: Isn’t it hard to find structure and prepare, then? Or do you guys know when to get serious?
Humanoid: I don’t think we really get serious. [laughs] It’s probably our coaches who are serious sometimes. We probably don’t know how to get serious, actually. It’s only chaos, really.
Hotspawn: Despite the chaos, you guys played well in the early game. The aggression we know from last year’s MAD Lions was there again—was it easy to get the new players on your team on board with that playstyle?
Humanoid: I think you have to play proactively if you want to be a good team. Like, especially with our composition, which was kind of good in the early game mostly. We have to make things happen. Every good player should be proactive, I think.
Hotspawn: You played a very interesting pick today: the Tristana mid. It has been played before—ShowMaker played it in the LCK—but what inspired you to play it?
Humanoid: I didn’t even know that ShowMaker played it, to be honest. I kind of tested it myself in a few games and it seemed really strong. The new AD Carry items are really strong, and I feel like items for mages are not that strong. Tristana also has a pretty good matchup into Twisted Fate because he can’t really trade into you, so you can push the lane permanently and do whatever you want. You get a few items, and then you just hit really fast. If Twisted Fate uses his Ult to go somewhere, you can get a lot of armor plates off the turret. It actually happened in our game. Caps Ulted to the top lane and we got basically the whole turret in return.
We are a new team now
Hotspawn: In the other matches this weekend you’re playing Astralis and Misfits. How are you feeling about those games?
Humanoid: Well, I think it’s going to be way easier than today. G2 is probably by far the best team, I think. Everyone else is really far behind. I still think we are a top three team at the very least. So I would think that we’re gonna win the other matches this weekend. Anything can happen, but I think we have the edge in the next matches.
Hotspawn: Last year in the Spring Split, you guys needed a bit of time to get going, and then you popped off. Is that different this year?
Humanoid: I think we will get better throughout the Split for sure. We are a new team now, and that just happens naturally when you have new players. At the same time, I think that G2 basically just has the best players everywhere. There is a pretty big gap between them and the second-best team.
Hotspawn: You put yourself “at least in the top three”. Who is the second-best team, right now?
Humanoid: I think it’s either us, Rogue, or Fnatic. I can’t say which one of those would be number two.
Hotspawn: Tying into your performance is obviously how comfortable you are with the patch as a team. How has that been?
Humanoid: I think it’s going well. We are winning a lot of games in our scrims. It’s going way better at the start than it did last year, that’s for sure. Back then we were losing literally every single game and right now we are winning most of the games. I think it’s going really well. The patch… I don’t know. I don’t really like the preseason patch too much, I feel like the mid lane is worse off than it was before. It’s still fine though. It’s still playable.
Hotspawn: Well you’ve played Tristana now, so perhaps you could do a role swap…
Humanoid: Yeah! Or I could just play AD Carries in the mid lane too, right? [laughs] That’s fine too.
Hotspawn: Do you think there is a lot of room to experiment in this patch?
Humanoid: Probably. In every meta, you can pull out some random picks. I mean, I don’t think Tristana was that random. Some people were playing it already. But anything can happen. I don’t really know what else could be a ‘secret pick’ for me right now. I would have to find out something. But there are probably still a lot of champions you can pick.
Hotspawn: Alright, Humanoid, is there anything you’d like to say to the MAD Lions fans to round up the interview?
Humanoid: Yea, so, thank you guys for supporting us. And next time, we will try to get a win.
