The first weekend of the LEC’s 2021 Spring Split has wrapped up, and it was a good one for Misfits Gaming. With a win against Fnatic and MAD Lions (and a loss against Vitality), the team kicks off the year with a 2-1 score and an early third place in the rankings. For Kasper “Kobbe” Kobberup, who stayed on the Misfits roster, the outstanding performances of the debutants on his team were a welcome sight to see.
Kobbe and Misfits Gaming have started the Spring Split off looking strong. (Photo courtesy Riot Games)
At the end of the opening weekend, Kobbe sat down with us for an interview. He walked us through the first three matches from his point of view, and told us how he, as a veteran, has been working with the new additions to his team. Kobbe also pondered on the potential of his lineup and where he can improve to make sure this team flies as high as it can.
Hotspawn: Congrats on the victory, Kobbe! You guys stomped MAD Lions quite hard there—that must have felt good, especially after yesterday’s match.
Kobbe: Yeah, I’m feeling pretty good about it. We kind of stomped both Fnatic and MAD Lions, and overall it’s a great first week, I would say, when you look at the teams we played against. Plus, we’re a team with two rookies. But now that we had such good games, you can’t help but be sad about the loss against Vitality. I mean, we could have won that game too.
Hotspawn: As you said, the opponents you faced—especially Fnatic and MAD Lions—were estimated to be top contenders. Did you feel confident about your chances going into the weekend, though?
Kobbe: Well, we’ve been scrimming for a long time. We started in November already, or December. Around there we started practicing for real. We’ve just been practicing, not really focusing on the teams we would play against, how to counter what they do, or something like that. We just focused on ourselves and how we want to play. I think that was the most important thing for us to do. Get everyone in the right mindset. As I said, we had two rookies. Of course, we’re not playing on the stage, but there will be some nerves going into the games. I think that’s the biggest positive for me: they performed as they did in scrims this weekend. They didn’t play worse, or anything like that.
Hotspawn: You’re a veteran on your team, together with Vander. Razork now also has a full year under his belt. Did you help coach the rookies to get ready for their debut on the LEC stage?
Kobbe: I think you can give some advice to newer players. But, and I think Vander said this as well, I don’t really tell them what to do because it’s up to the individual to decide what works and what doesn’t. Some people like to spam solo queue on the day they’re playing, some people like to chill. There are a lot of different things. The best advice you can give them is to not stress out if we lose, or if you play badly. It’s gonna be fine. Just try to play as you usually do, and don’t think too much about it.
Hotspawn: Vetheo and HiRit both played really well in the opening match, and today they performed well again. Did you have some extra words of encouragement for them?
Kobbe: [Laughs] Yeah, it’s always fun. It means a lot to them. Everyone likes to get praise once in a while, but I think it means more to them than it does to someone like me. I’ve heard it before, and I’ve also been trash-talked before. People have said negative stuff and good stuff about me, so I’m more used to it. But today, I said some nice words to my top laner HiRit because he made a really good Teleport play that set me up for success. I made a mistake in the early game, and while I was still fine, HiRit’s play put me ahead. So I said some good words to him for sure.
Hotspawn: Today you whipped out the Vayne, who you have a good track record with historically. It’s not a champion we’ve seen much of recently, though. Talk me through the pick.
Kobbe: So, I haven’t really practiced it or played it at all. Maybe once or twice. I did play it once in solo queue and I got a pentakill, I think. But for today, I looked at the enemy champions after they banned some AD champions on our side. Like Xayah, for example, who I played against Fnatic. So I just had to come up with something else that I thought would be good in our composition against that of MAD Lions. Vayne is a champion I used to play a lot. I’ve played this game for ten years, and I probably have thousands of games with her, so I did not really care if I had not played it recently. It’s a champion that, if I have good conditions, I feel like I can always win the game. I think I did lose a game once, against a Garen/Yuumi…
Hotspawn: Yes, correct! It was pointed out by several people on Twitter too. Good memory!
Kobbe: [Laughs] Yeah, in 2019. Someone just asked me what the last time was that I played Vayne, and I think it was there. It was my 100% win rate champion, but I don’t have that anymore, sadly.
It’s mainly me who has to get better at that point, so that we can have a better laning phase.
Hotspawn: You mentioned him earlier, but Vander is obviously also a new player for you to play alongside. You two have both played the game for so long already—does playing bot lane together just come naturally, then?
Kobbe: I think so. I think we both have very good knowledge about the game, I would say. For me, it’s annoying there is no duo queue, though. It’s nice to play duo queue when you have a new support player to build synergy, but we haven’t been able to do that much. So we’ve done it mainly through scrims. What I like about Vander is that he played with a lot of good AD Carries before. People like FORG1VEN, Hans sama, Upset, who are all known to be very lane-dominant or aggressive players. I haven’t really been known for that, so he has been able to push me and teach me a few things where I can improve. I think we both need some time to adjust to each other. It’s mainly me who has to get better at that point, so that we can have a better laning phase.
Hotspawn: What strikes me most about Misfits’ opening weekend is potential. We saw Vetheo pop off on Zoe—granted, that’s his best champion, but still. Razork played comfortably. HiRit looked strong too. I imagine that it did really well for your hopes for this team too.
Kobbe: Yeah, definitely. At first, when we were doing some tryouts trying to get the team together, I didn’t have the highest expectations yet. We finished eighth place or something like that last Split. Now we’re bringing in some new players, and it might be a slow start, we’ll need to build up… all that stuff. So yeah, I’m really happy we were able to grab two wins in the first week and that our newer players were performing well. I’m just excited to see where it goes. I think we can be a very good team for sure.
It won’t really satisfy me too much to just get to the Playoffs in Spring.
Hotspawn: Extending on that, then: what are the goals you have set for yourself, and for this roster?
Kobbe: So for us, on Misfits, our common goal is making the Playoffs in Spring and looking at Worlds for Summer. Of course, I’m on board with this as well. But for me, it won’t really satisfy me too much to just get to the Playoffs in Spring. I mean, it’s nice. Especially making Worlds is always really nice, right? But I just want to do as well as possible. I won’t be satisfied with any place unless it’s first place. That’s gonna be hard, but I just try to do as well as possible and win as much as we can. So for me, the goal is for me and the team to get as good as we possibly can and see where that takes us. If it takes us to the first place, against all odds, then that’s perfect. If it doesn’t, then that’s fine, knowing that we did everything we could.
Hotspawn: The Misfits fans have reason to cheer after this weekend. Is there anything you’d like to say to them?
Kobbe: Thank you for your support, especially to those who are still cheering for us after the last Split, which was rough. For me in general as well. I’ve had quite a disaster year in 2020, so I want to really turn things around and get a good year again. During my bad times, I had a lot of support, which means a lot to me. But now, I’m just excited for the future.
