Crownie on getting caught before Baron: “If I don’t die there, the game is much easier. So it puts most of the blame on me.” – LEC Versus Week 4 Interview

Los Ratones are officially out of the LEC Versus. After a turbulent regular season in which they finished with a 5–6 record, five wins weren’t enough to qualify for the top 8. Their last loss against Team Vitality proved to be fatal as it put them with the same score as Fnatic, who, however, had won the head-to-head series early in the tournament and therefore locked eighth place. After the series, the team’s AD carry, Juš ‘Crownie‘ Marušič, saw down with us to chat about the series, at a time when qualification was still possible depending on the results of the remaining games that evening.

You needed a win to secure playoffs without relying on other results. Unfortunately, you couldn’t find your way to the Nexus against a dominant Vitality. Can you tell us a bit more about this best-of?

Crownie: The game was in our hands. We were in a really good spot, but I think we got caught too much. I got caught before Baron, and after that it felt like they outscaled us. Then we overpushed after getting solo killed mid lane. We just pushed for no reason or went too deep. Obviously it feels disgusting, but we’ll see what happens with the results.

Other scenarios that would qualify you are still quite plausible, with either NAVI or Fnatic winning, or Shifters and KC winning. Who are you counting on the most?

Crownie: I would say NAVI looks the best out of those teams, maybe. MKOI looks a bit shaky. But in the end, we can’t really control it.

During the draft, Vitality left Simon ‘Baus’ Hofverberg’s Sion open. Were you surprised they neither banned it nor first-picked it?

Crownie: I think they had a good idea. We should have adapted in certain ways, but the game was still very winnable. We just misplayed. What they did was interesting.

Do you think Los Ratones shouldn’t have picked Sion?

Crownie: Their Mundo answer was good, because eventually he just outscaled. We had a lot of AD damage in our draft, so he could just build Tabis and run around. At one point, their Mundo, Varus and Azir were just very strong in 5v5, especially after I got caught and gave Nashor. That was pretty bad.

You’ve only played three champions across the 11 regular season games: Yunara, Corki and Caitlyn. That makes you the ADC with one of the smallest champion pools played during the regular season, similar to Martin “Rekkles” Larsson in the support role. Why did you choose to stick to such a small number of champions?

Crownie: We are picking my champion during the first rotation or first pick almost every game, so the options are obviously limited. I’ll be able to show more champions later in Fearless.

In a recent interview, you said you’re good enough to play in the LEC, and you’ve shown it during this regular season. With Rekkles and Yamato both saying that Los Ratones might be their last project, is staying in the LEC this year or even in 2027 something you personally want?

Crownie: I don’t really focus my mind on that. I just try to do as well as I can. Wherever life takes me, that’s what happens. I just want to go to playoffs and do well there. I hope we qualify now. I don’t really think a year into the future.

Whether this ends up being your last match or you go on to playoffs, your time with Los Ratones has been really impactful. Do you have any regrets about this journey, maybe related to this split or last year?

Crownie: I regret getting caught this game and losing Baron. Maybe in first week, I feel like I should have played better and we should have won at least one game. Then we wouldn’t rely on other teams. But we can’t really change the past.

You’ve mentioned this Baron play several times. Do you think it’s the only factor that made the game harder, or do you see other major errors?

Crownie: I think it was one of the only factors. If I don’t die there, the game is much easier. So it puts most of the blame on me, sadly.

You mentioned week one earlier. At the start of the split, you struggled with four straight losses, then bounced back with four consecutive wins. How did you personally experience that difficult period, and how did you bounce back?

Crownie: I don’t know. We just kept scrimming and we knew we were in good spots in the games. We saw that the enemy didn’t really do anything crazy. Then we won some harder games, and we kind of regained confidence.

About your bot lane duo with Rekkles, which bot lanes in the LEC gave you the most trouble? And which ones were the most fun to face?

Crownie: We actually did well today. We got a 2v2 kill. I’d say the best bot lanes are probably NAVI’s bot lane, Parus (Polat Furkan Çiçek) and SamD (Lee Jae-hoon). G2 is always good. I’d also say KC. Maybe those three.