G2 BrokenBlade: “Worlds was the smoothest event in terms of attitude and effort.”

The hopes didn’t last long for EU. After qualifying to the quarterfinals for the first time after three, G2 Esports have been eliminated by Top Esports and will finish with a top 8 finish. After the series, we spoke with G2 BrokenBlade on what went wrong in the series, his feelings about this Worlds, and who he thinks will win the championship this year.

Davide: First of all, I’m sorry that you guys weren’t able to take the win. How did you guys prepare for this match, considering you’ve already played against them once in the Swiss stage.

Did anything change? Did you look up something in particular?

BrokenBlade: We looked at how they play. I think they are one of the most aggressive teams in the tournament. For us, it was kind of similar to how Fnatic plays, but just a lot better in a way. So we wanted to see what we can do, what we have to do in order to be ready for the place.

Davide: What did you think was one of the things that you guys had to specifically work on in terms of gameplay? Caps in a previous interview mentioned that you had some concepts to catch up on.

Can you walk me through what were those elements?

BrokenBlade: I mean, we were just looking at a lot of things like contesting the waves: I think it’s very, very important. I think the Asian teams, they do that very, very well. And we were a bit behind when we entered the tournament. I think we [have] gotten a lot better at it, to be honest, throughout the tournament. But yeah, I mean, in the end it was sadly not enough.

What was kind of the key decider of the series? Was it like the team fight execution or was it like macro related?

BrokenBlade: I think it was mostly the decisions we made around objectives. I think we were too hesitant to give it up, but then we also didn’t fight when we had to fight. So I think we wasted a lot of resources watching them do the objective multiple times in the series and that just hurt us very bad. And both in tempo, resources, gold, everything… We just got really far behind very quick.

Davide: How does that happen? Is it usually just you guys realize that you can really contest it and then you just ditch the plan? Or is it you guys trying but Top Esports is so oppressive at maintaining the control of the area that [you can’t contest]?

BrokenBlade: There’s definitely games where it’s harder and easier, I mean, depending on the game. I think for example, Game 3, they had really good champions to have control. And I think theoretically we played the game wrong against that five champions. I think if you were to play the game again, I would highly look to go to the other side when there’s an objective because they are just very oppressive because they just keep poking us. And I think we really wanted to win the fights… I feel a bit too hard. And then we ended up looking at them and then they  [kept] poking us. Then we realized, ‘Oh, it’s actually not possible’. So once we are there, it’s already too late… And I think that was one of our biggest mistakes today.

Davide: I wanted to talk about game 3 specifically because we saw the ivern jungle you guys already played out, but also the thresh support.

Was that a prepared comp?

BrokenBlade: I think we didn’t answer well in that particular draft because we were lacking engage obviously for my Renekton, who doesn’t have that much engage as well. So we needed to find creative angles. That is why we opted into Sylas because he can find creative angles. In the end, though, it’s too far ahead too early, so it’s hard to find a good angle, you know?

Davide: I also wanted to ask you about game 4 because we’ve seen you guys draft a lot towards the red side for the counter angles.

Why did you decide to then switch back to the blue side for Game 4?

BrokenBlade: Because a lot of the champions that we banned, we wanted to look to pick them. So we wanted to just pick Sion or Yunara and they ended up banning both as well on the red side. I think they are one of the strongest champions in the tournament… So we opted into blue side on Game 4 because we thought that was the best plan.

Davide: I interviewed you back during the Esports World Cup and we were talking about gap between Western and Eastern regions.

Do you think that this world and just overall the western team’s performance proved that the gap has been shrinking once again, or do you think there’s still a gap that you need to fill out?

BrokenBlade: I mean, I think the whole West probably didn’t do that great. We only had one Western team in the top 8. We did better at least, so that is a plus for G2’s side. Top 8 is something that I have never achieved personally before. So by that logic, the gap closed for G2. But we still want it to be obviously better next year.

Davide: The next one is a little bit about yourself. You’ve been playing professionally since 2016.

What’s the thing that drives you forward to like playing competitively every day after a decade?

BrokenBlade: I mean, it’s winning, you know, like lifting the trophy. It feels like a reward you get for all the work you put in as a player. And I also just have the feeling of being better than my opponent… So I think those two things, they drive me very hard-

Davide: I feel like that’s one thing that top laners all do, just wanting to destroy their opponent.

Was there any highlight moment that you would like to maintain or cherish that from this Worlds?

BrokenBlade: Yeah, I mean, I think it’s a journey we’ve had with my team. I think we went through a lot of struggles throughout the year and I think Worlds in particular was probably the smoothest event we’ve been to in terms of attitude, effort. Everything I feel like went good.

You know, a lot of teams struggle mentally at Worlds because there’s a lot of pressure. And for me, I’m very proud of my team, of how we handle Worlds based on how the mood was and everything. This was probably the best Worlds I’ve played, so.

We have T1-AL next. I need a prediction on that. And then, if you can, name a team that you think will win it all.

BrokenBlade: I mean, T1, you can never count out T1 if you like, even if AL is looking strong. So I’m going to have to go with T1 here.

Davide: Can you give me a score?

BrokenBlade: I think it’s going to be dirty and it’s going to be like a 3-2. I’m positive of that. As for who wins the tournament, I think it’s probably time for Gen-G to finally win it. I think they’ve been so good throughout the year. I think if they wouldn’t win it, that would be an upset, to be honest, with how good they have been playing throughout the year.

What do you think about KT?

BrokenBlade: I think KT is good. Obviously I don’t think they are better than like TES Gen.G T1. I do think they’re good though. So they might be able to take a crazy upset on the team. But we will see, I’m excited to watch the game.

Davide: Now you’re going to the off-season break. G2 usually works with bi yearly rosters. Is your mind already thinking about how you guys can make it better for the next year? Are you still trying to process what happened in this series?

BrokenBlade: Obviously I’m going to go home and rest for now and reflect on what happened here, what I can do better and things like this. I’m not thinking about the future at all, to be honest.

Davide: Okay, we’re rounding off the interview.

Do you have any last message for the fans?

BrokenBlade: Thank you guys for supporting us as well. It’s been a joy to play this year in China and hopefully we will see you next year again.