BDS Striker: “There will be a sequel, and it will be better”

BDS got unsurprisingly eliminated by GIANTX in the cross-play decider of the LEC Summer playoffs (0-3), putting an end to their 2025 season. We had the opportunity to discuss with the head coach, Yanis “Striker” Kella, one last time about the summer changes not paying off, Parus’ disappointment, the reasons behind the three changes at the end of 2024, and his biggest learnings.

How do you feel and how does the team feel? Were you able to talk with them a little?

Striker: Not really, we just came out of the match, we are a few minutes after the end. Obviously disappointed, disgusted, a lot of things [are] obviously getting mixed up, end of season. It’s not what we hoped for, it’s not what we wanted. We had ten days to prepare for this BO, and they were just better.

Ethan: I imagine that this defeat was predictable given the level shown by BDS and GX in the regular season. I’ll be honest, before the split started, I expected you to be the most capable team to upset the top 4 based on the names that joined the roster. I think there are quite a few people who shared my thoughts, and you were probably the first to do so.

How do you explain that you started the season at such a low level and that the team never found itself, especially collectively speaking?

Striker: I think the first point is obvious, it is that when you have two changes, you have a foundation on which you have to rebuild. While most teams know each other, both in terms of interaction between players and in terms of gameplay, I think that’s the first thing. That said, it also allows you to have a potential in terms of development that is greater than other teams because you bring in new players and normally, you are supposed to fix some of your problems with these arrivals. I think we haven’t always been on the same page on how to approach the games. There were a lot of moments where we just weren’t on the same wavelength on how to play, and it showed. GX, for example, is a team that is much more synchronized, that has more of an idea of how to play.

And then we had, a start of preparation for the split — knowing that we had new players who were not easy, with some personal problems on the side of some — who made the productivity of the scrims not at the maximum. But we were starting to see what should look like our final form only on this week of scrims.

If we wanted to compete for Worlds, we should have started at this level much earlier, and we fell too far behind on that.

Ethan: I know you were quite confident before the start of the split. You talked, for example, that the ambition was to qualify for Worlds, etc.

Did you have material and concrete reasons to be that confident or was it really just a question of ambition, given the names that were coming into the team?

Striker: The goal at the beginning of the year was to do the Worlds again after 2023; we wanted to go back. From the moment we haven’t done it, when we make changes, it’s to get closer to it again. So, from that point of view, we have to have an expectation of ourselves that is uncorrelated with previous results, because we consider that the results we have brought were not sufficient. I think that it would not have helped us to set objectives that would have been lower. On the contrary, I think it would have meant that we pushed ourselves less in training, that we put less pressure on ourselves in a bad way, which was already a concern for us. It was important to have a high goal to be able to aim for a minimum of intensity and faster progression. But as it stands, it’s true that after the Spring — without changes — we’re not supposed to make Worlds. And that’s why we did two.

Ethan: I also wanted to come back with you on the year of someone who didn’t move: Parus. We are talking about a player who, as a reminder, last year was MVP of the Spring in the LFL and then won the Summer and the EU Masters. Many, including me, were expecting him to be on the same level as a Caliste or a Skewmond. He has also already won the EUM in 2024 with a Korean ADC (Bao), so I also thought that the adaptation with Ice would not be too complicated. We’re not going to hide the fact that his season overall is bad and that he’s one of the biggest disappointments of 2025.

Il est le MVP de LFL Spring 2024, @Paruslol

👏 pic.twitter.com/rNPWqvSurW

— OTP LoL (@OTP_LoL) April 5, 2024

How do you explain that Parus didn’t manage to meet the expectations placed in him at the start of the year?

Striker: I think you have some players who get used to the LEC faster than others. There are roles where it’s easier too. In support, it’s more complicated than in other roles.

He has talent, that’s undeniable. In my opinion, there was more natural chemistry in his previous teams with some of his teammates, which for sure helped him in terms of confidence. I don’t think he was confident for a big part of this season.

I think he can be a very good player; he’s shown it in the last two years and we can’t take that away from him. I may not have done what was necessary to put him in his comfort zone as much as possible so that he could perform in his first year of LEC. He’s someone with whom we’ve worked a lot individually with the coaches to try to give him the keys that some more experienced people have in terms of understanding, macro, vision, etc. But it was probably not enough. I also think that he maybe could have performed better by joining another project. I don’t know if he went to G2, how he would have looked. So I think that the responsibility is shared in quotation marks. I hope for him that we will have a new year of Parus in the LEC. Because when you do what he has done in the ERLs, it would be a shame to have only one shot.

Ethan: When you look at the trajectory of the three veterans that BDS parted ways with, Adam managed to shine in a clearly dysfunctional team, Sheo had a very good year, he was probably even the driving force behind Heretics, Labrov is revealing himself little by little and shattering his glass ceiling at G2. In short, I’m going to ask you the question very simply:

Do you have any regrets about the offseason moves you made with the staff at the end of last year?

Striker: No, it’s not possible from the moment that,

among the players who left, especially at the French-speaking level, there was a very clearly expressed desire not to play together anymore. There were some of them who didn’t want to play together anymore, who never wanted to play together again.

It’s obviously the game of socials; if you want to find a villain, you’ll find him. But the truth is that it was just impossible; the players would even have refused. So there you have it, there’s communication and what’s real. So from there, we knew that the group had to evolve. And from this point of view, there were several avenues to explore in different positions. And we arrived at the three departures. I think that Parus, given what he had shown — and the seniority of Labrov — we had this desire to secure him. We also knew that G2 was on Parus to get him back with Skewmond. To give them the pair like that was complicated. And then, for the topside, as I said, there was a clear desire in the interviews that were held not to continue together. Especially on some duos, so we couldn’t just force people. They wouldn’t have signed anyway. In retrospect, we can say that we blew it up and that it was wonderful, but the truth is that we all agreed that a change was needed.

Ethan: Even if I imagine that the year overall is a big failure for you and BDS, if there is one thing on which I think it has been rich is in learnings.

What did you learn the most this year and what will you take away from this project?

Striker: I think the biggest lessons on my side are on the “outside of the game” parts. In the sense that I could see that different managements could impact different groups. We worked with two different groups, with two different players, so it’s almost as if we had two years in one, with a little year in summer. So I saw a lot of differences in the team dynamics between the players. From that point of view, a lot of learning. I would say on the dynamic part of the team. And then, always, the management of the staff, because we have a staff that is numerous, we have to try to have everyone find their place on the team. So there too, I think I’ve had some learnings.

Ethan: You were talking about the network game, and we can agree that the fans have not been very soft with you this year.

If you have a final word for them, or anything you’d like to say before wrapping up 2025, the mic is yours.

Striker: Thank you to the people who supported us, who believed in us. We try to focus on the positive. For the rest, it’s part of the job, it’s part of the game. Especially when you have a big mouth like mine, you can’t be surprised afterwards. Many people will celebrate this result, not because of BDS, but because of me in particular. Again, it’s part of the contract. There will be a sequel, and it will be better. For now, they can enjoy this one.

Fin de split pour nous. Résultat décevant. Je n'ai pas réussit à nous amener à un niveau qui se rapproche de mes ambitions. Un grand merci aux personnes qui nous ont soutenu tout le long
Beaucoup d'apprentissages pour la suite, BDS est encore une fois libre de casser le contrat

— BDS Striker (@StrikerLoLcoach) September 6, 2025