NAVI Adam: “I don’t think [finishing 10th twice] stopped me from showing once again that I was one of the best toplaners in Europe”
Ethan Cohen
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Not the best way to enter the league. Last Saturday, NAVI made their debut in the LEC Summer after officially taking over Rogue’s slot. They received the pleasant welcome gift of facing Karmine Corp for their opening match… with the series ending up being the fastest loss of the year so far. Adam “Adam” Maanane discussed the stunning defeat, the new dynamics within the team, his individual growth, and his expectations for the future.
How do you feel after today?
Adam: In a way, I can’t say that I’m not surprised. We didn’t scrim KC, so we had no idea how to approach them. In general, our scrims are going really well, so we were pretty confident. But hey, we just got outclassed. I think they are one of the best teams in Europe. We legit couldn’t do anything in both games. I’m not disappointed in a certain way because it was kind of expected. It’s a bit annoying to see the level gap.
Ethan: Well, today’s two games are still not reassuring overall, in the sense that it was two stomps.
Would you say that you just didn’t show up on stage? Or is it just that the difference in level was too huge?
Adam: No, I think the difference in level was too huge, honestly. There was nothing to do. From the draft to the individual player to the laning phase, we had no tools.
Ethan: It was the first time on the LEC stage for Thayger and Hans SamD…
Do you think the stage played a role in the way you lost today?
Adam: It is possible that the stage played a little bit, that people were scared or that they wanted to overplay too much sometimes. In my opinion, there’s the pressure of being a new team and everything. The format is not easy, though. We don’t even play next week, so now we have a two-week break, it’s giga long. We still have 3 more games. We’ll focus on those. In three weeks, it’s over; we either go to playoffs or finish last. The regular season goes pretty fast.
Ethan: As you said, the format is super punishing. You have no more than 3 matches to qualify.
For you, is the loss today not that alarming?
Adam: No, it’s not alarming because… In fact, with these two games, I can’t even determine our level on stage, you know. We’re still in the unknown basically, so we still don’t know. Anyway, we weren’t going to qualify for playoffs by beating KC. We have MKOI, VIT and GX, and they’re the ones we want to beat, not KC.
Ethan: So would you say that KC is way above MKOI, then?
Adam: MKOI, I don’t know, I haven’t seen them yet. We’ll see during KC-MKOI, I guess. For the moment, our targets are VIT and GX. There’s not much else on that. If we managed to take a game on KC, it was a bonus. If we managed to win the BO, it was even more of a bonus, like the ultimate reward. But it wasn’t really our primary goal to win against KC today.
Ethan: I think a lot of people weren’t sure what to expect from you guys.
How would you say the team evolved with the arrival of NAVI and the new players?
You have the org that also pushes us, that is behind us. Unlike Rogue who didn’t really care, you know.
So it’s different with NAVI. We have a fanbase, we have fans who support us, and the org is quite huge. So yes, there’s a different feeling. It’s always nice, and as I told you, our training sessions are going pretty well. We have convincing results, and we show good gameplay. So it bothers me that we couldn’t show anything because we got torn apart.
Ethan: I wanted to talk a little about you individually. I feel like your playstyle has evolved a lot. A bit in the continuity of 2024 when you almost didn’t play your pocket picks at all. You’re much more oriented to the meta now.
Can you explain how you made the transition from the GODS to the meta picks, and why?
Adam: I’ve stopped playing my GODS a little bit because it’s been a lane swap meta for a year, so it’s not crazy. My champs have to be played without TP, and at a high level like that, when you play without TP, it’s very complicated. First, I need to have full confidence in my teammates, and second, make sure that they know how to play with my picks. Because it’s literally a completely different gameplay than the traditional League of Legends, you know.
I could do it with BDS because I got along very well with them. Here, it’s quite complicated.
I really need to have crazy angles to be able to pick them. But yes, it’s like you said, we adapt. I’m a pro player, so I have to be able to play everything at any time. I improved a lot on that in early 2024 with BDS, especially when Ice arrived. I keep going in that direction.
Ethan: Do you think the GODS are impossible to pull off with the lane swaps at the moment, or are there still some angles?
Adam: It’s very complicated. As I told you, the stars must be aligned.
Ethan: We know that it was quite complicated for you to find a team at the beginning of the year. So you had an opportunity, and you went straight for it.
Did you anticipate that this year could go the way it’s going so far? And aren’t you afraid that it could tarnish the rest of your career if it continues as it has started?
Photo Credit: Wojciech Wandzel/Riot Games
Adam: Listen, as long as I continue to perform individually in the way I want… Like, for example, today individually, I’m not completely satisfied, but I think I played fine, taking into account the conditions of the games, you know. I did what I could to help my team. I had to drop a lot of stuff to try to solve games and find winning situations. So it was quite complicated anyway because in fact, since my team was losing…
When you’re a toplaner [and your team is losing], you’re kind of cannon fodder, you have to drop some stuff for your ADC so that he can get back into the game and all that.
So yes, the conditions today for me weren’t the best. From the draft, too, I think we could have had better drafts. But we’re going to review all of this; we still need to find our meta, to know what we really want to play.
Ethan: So you’d say that you’re not afraid of the future of your career if it continues to take this direction? As long as you individually are going well, it’s okay?
Adam: Yes, that’s right. When you look at Rogue in Winter/Spring, I think I did some really good performances, you know.
We finished last twice but I don’t think that stopped me from showing once again that I was one of the best top in Europe.
I still intend to continue this summer with NAVI. Then, if I get another place in the LEC next year or if I have to continue with NAVI… I don’t know what will happen to me, right? I live day by day, and I try to do my best on a daily basis.
Ethan: To close the interview,
Do you have a reassuring word for your new fans? But also for the others, who perhaps expected a little more from NAVI’s entry into the League?
Adam: I think I also kind of hyped it up on socials… Honestly, the scrims are going well. So it’s a bit unlucky what happened today. We’ll try to forget this quickly.
In my opinion, no one is too tilted about today’s defeat. When you get torn apart like that, you don’t have to be tilted.
Since we couldn’t do anything, there are no regrets. That’s what’s simple with this kind of mentality. So we’re just going to try to focus on week 3. We will have two BO3s in the week, so it will be a very, very important one that can already be decisive for our regular season. We’re going to try to get two victories, and I think VIT and GX are much more reachable than KC was today.
Premier match du summer vs KC
Apparemment personne a dit à Canna que c'était mieux pour lui qu'il reste en corée pour ne pas révéler au grand monde son niveau franduleux.
La frappe de Roubaix va donc s'en charger, j'ai déjà de la peine pour ce que j'vais lui faire…
Ethan is an esports fanatic — not a Fnatic fan, don’t get him wrong. He previously worked for a French media outlet called Eclypsia, as well as Sheep Esports, for whom he covered a variety of scenes: from FC 24, R6, and RL to CS:GO, VAL, and more. But the main reason Ethan started writing in esports was to have the opportunity to work fully on his one true love: League of Legends. And that’s precisely what he is doing at Hotspawn. Be warned, his articles can sometimes ooze a little too much of his lack of objectivity towards the French scene and players…
