After BDS’ victory against SK Gaming in Week 2 of the LEC Spring Split, I sat down to discuss with the head coach Yanis “Striker” Kella. We talked about the adaptation of the newcomers, Adam and Sheo’s departure and his feelings after KC’s victory in Winter.

Ethan: So far you won two games against teams that are considered to be at the bottom of the table. You lost yesterday to KC.

Are you generally satisfied with the progress that you have been able to show since Winter?

Striker: I think we’re starting a little slower than we should have in Spring. I think the last two weeks of scrim were not the best on our side. There are a few changes that need to be made to ensure that we can use training more. But I think that the results are logical, we dominated SK, we had a a little more trouble against Rogue which I think, this spring, are not bad at all. We saw them having a very good BO yesterday against Vitality if I’m not saying nonsense. And we had a loss to KC that I would say logical for now. The goal is to scale on this spring split and to be able to play them again on BO5s. But confident for the future.

Ethan: However you came close this Winter against Fnatic which is another big fish this season. I remember you didn’t succeed to convert your lead in game 3. I have the impression that this is a problem which is perhaps a little recurring in this team. You have shown it again with KC yesterday in game 2, it seems.

Can I get your point of view on why you struggle so much to convert your leads into victories, and how do you explain it?

Striker: I think it’s a real problem that we have. It manifests itself in several ways.

In my opinion, there are two works that need to be done. The first one will be on the vision setup around objectives. And the second, on the execution of teamfights. I think we have issues on both.

It cost us as much yesterday (against KC) as it did in our BO against Fnatic. But from my point of view, these are not things that are limiting for our roster. I think these are things that the guys can apply. Even today, since we had a little bit of more space and we were ahead early, we had the opportunity to practice this on stage with a certain discipline. And that’s good to gain confidence, to be able to do the same thing against the best teams. And then we miss a little calmness in these game situations too.

Ethan: That’s funny that you tell me that because I had the feeling that last year was all the opposite, that you were the team which came closest to the Korean style in the LEC. You may have had early games that were a little slow, but as soon as there was a teamfight or that you had to build a set-up around an objective, you were very clean.

How do you explain this setup and teamfight dynamic changed in the game of BDS?

Striker: I don’t think it’s the meta. It’s true that we had a certain comfort around neutral objectives last year, but it was the work of two years, with four of the same players, a staff that hasn’t moved much either… There were automatisms that were put in place slowly. And if we look back in 2023, before April 2023, we were not a team known for our shiny macro or our objective setups. On the opposite, people were meming us on this. And then we improved.

We made choices during the off-season to bring in players who have individual skills that would allow us, in our opinion, to finally smash our glass ceiling

And of course when you have players who are a little more instinctive, who have a certain proactivity, it’s not going to be so automatic for them, these kind of setup. But the objective, and the belief I have is that they can adapt to the system that we have at BDS, and they can, by their initial characteristics, bring the best of the two worlds. So to have this instinctive side, this clutch factor, but also to be able to work on setups, master them in the mid/late game, and not force talent when you don’t need it. The second point is missing for the moment. It’s something we’re working on every day. But I think the moment when we manage to get people to click on all that, we’ll be a very good team.

Ethan: I think the second point you made also applies a lot to 113, right? He has a lot of responsibilities in the game of this team, I have the impression.

BDS 113
Photo Credit: Wojciech Wandzel/Riot Games

How do you limit a player such as 113 who, naturally, has always this instinct to go forward and perhaps to overplay sometimes?

Striker: We are talking about a habit. A habit that is both his strength and sometimes his weakness. The goal is to help him understand which window to use to have this kind of play and on which it is not necessary or on the contrary bad. And I think he’s learning. I think he is already doing better than on Winter. I think that today in the BO he was more accurate. In training he is more and more. And there you have it, it’s just a question to find a pattern, to explain to him, here you should be yourself, and here you have to hold back. Why you need to hold back ? That’s because that’s the role of your teammate, it’s up to him to engage. Because he has such and such a champion, your role is rather to do that. And that’s it, it’s just a matter of exploring scenarios, he’s a guy who is very intelligent, so he is adapting. And I think when he gets to control that completely, we will have a playstyle that will be better rounded. But I don’t think so whether it’s just a 113 affair. I think the three players we have hired are players as I described them. Irrelevant, it’s more we’re going to say about his laning phase – that he’s like that. But I think that the three of them, they need frameworks that they did not necessarily had before, in their previous team. They played a lot on instinct, and you see it when you review, etc. They don’t have the same reflexes as their elders, and that’s normal.

But on the other hand, they have these individual characteristics, and a ceiling that is very high. And if we get there to integrate them into the system that we had… Once again for me the potential is there.

Ethan: OK. Speaking about the elders.

Was the choice to seperate from Adam and Sheo purely a sport issue? Or the disagreements and clashes that you may have had behind the scenes, have also pushed them a little towards the exit?

Striker: Only a sport issue. In terms of disagreements with the two, there was one in the year that we have solved. And then, it didn’t stop us from working together with Adam. No, the reason why we made changes is that we knew that we needed a renewal. There have also been one-one that were made with the players. There were some players who did not necessarily see themselves working together again for different reasons. And so we had to make choices, and we have done more than one. A lot of thought has gone into each of these choices, but they have all been made with the notion in mind that it had to be choices that would take us to challenge the top spots of LEC. And again, for now, on this beginning of the year, you can’t see it. But the goal is that the bet eventually prove to be winning. And besides that, whether it is Sheo or Adam, I wish them as much success as possible. I am especially very happy with what happened to Adam (after his win against Vitality). He’s in a bottom team, the truth must be said. He pulls more than his weight, and I know that the winter has affected him. He went to Korea, he did what he had to do, He worked on himself.

While Adam could have been like, “well I don’t have a team anyway, there’s no point in me tryharding.” He was already smurfing in the games, no one was going to blame him. But he is in the process of redouble the effort, and he pulls once again more than his weight. It is admirable.

RGE Adam
Photo Credit: Wojciech Wandzel/Riot Games

Ethan: You talk about Adam and you both met in KC. This is a slightly more personal question for you. I wanted to know a little about your feeling about the KC victory in Winter. I imagine that it must be a little ambivalent given your history with the org but also of the number of times you came close to do it with BDS.

What is your personal feeling on KC’s victory this Winter?

Striker: I think everyone has their moments in life. And I’m not saying that to say that it was random or whatever, they completely deserved it. They were the best team in the playoffs. And I’m happy for them. For my part, it will come. It will come when it has to come. I hope it will come this spring or this summer. Why not both? Let’s be greedy. But no, I am happy for them. And then, I think we can’t always win in competition. Sometimes, it takes longer for some. And sometimes, it comes quickly. There are pros and cons to both. You can sometimes, when you win too fast, not understand exactly how. When you lose several times, you can learn, improve.

WHO’S?

Who’s the best player in the world at the moment? Maybe Zeus.

Who’s the GOAT besides Faker? I think Mata, but it’s biased, also because of the influence he had as a coach… What he did when he arrived was very big though.

Who’s your favorite champion? It’s well-known, Cassiopeia.

Who’s the favorite player you ever coached besides your actual roster? It may come as a surprise, but I’ll say xMatty (in 2021). For the human side, it was a very nice guy. It is also a huge professional, like few others in the industry.

Who’s the most broken champion right now? It depends with which player you draft… I won’t answer this one, I could give too much information.