The LEC has returned with its Summer Split and Rogue is back to hunt for the trophy. In the opening weekend, the team defeated Excel Esports with ease and overcame Vitality with dominant teamfights. It’s far too early for Rogue to celebrate, however, as the team was reminded of their mortality by Fnatic on the final day of the weekend.
Besides reflecting on his Spring Split, Trymbi consumed a lot of basketball content in the offseason.
After Rogue’s second victory of the weekend, support player Adrian “Trymbi” Trybus joined for an interview. He reflected on his offseason and how he processed his and his team’s performance in his rookie Spring Split, from quickly becoming favorites to narrowly losing the finals against MAD Lions. Trymbi also spoke at length about seeking ways to improve his mentality during the offseason, drawing inspiration from basketball legends Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant.
Hotspawn: Welcome, Trymbi! As of recording this interview, you’re 2-0 up, things are looking great. How does it feel to be back ‘on stage’, after the break?
Trymbi: It feels really good to play the games. I was really hungry to play competitive games, especially after the last Split and how that went. The fact that there was MSI as well… everything was still about League in my life anyway. It’s for sure good to be back, even though I’m not too confident right now. It’s the start of the Split, so you’re not sure about anything, like how you’re gonna play as a team during the official games again. But it’s for sure nice to be back.
Hotspawn: You mention the end of the Spring Split: over the course of the break, how did you process everything that happened during your rookie Split, and how it ended?
Trymbi: Looking at the final results, I was definitely happy about how we managed to get everything going and the fact that we were really close to getting to what we wanted. But still, there are opportunities to get better. During the offseason, I was trying to think about that. Trying to be aware that, even though we kind of looked like the best team towards the end of the Playoffs, there is still a lot to improve on. From my side, I always try to look for options to get better and better. Even though in the offseason I wanted to get a little bit of a break from everything because of what happened, I still tried to maximize the information that I got from the Playoffs and maximize the outcome of it.
Hotspawn: What points of improvement stood out to you, then?
Trymbi: Well, for sure the fact that we were not the best-performing team in terms of how we played in the mid-game. That is something we have to work on now and see how we’ll get through it. Individually, I would say that I was not expecting things to look the way they looked towards the end of the Playoffs.
I have Hans sama as an AD carry and this guy is just a pleasure to play with. I was able to get through everything with him that I didn’t feel comfortable about and actually perform well. I still don’t think that I performed insanely well, but he gave me so much confidence in myself. With all that confidence he gave me, it was so easy to perform with him, that right now it’s just nice to understand that and make use of it as much as I can.
Hotspawn: I want to talk a bit more about your break. You have two months of time before the LEC returns. Even though you said you still thought about League: what did you do to unwind as much as possible?
Trymbi: Basically, after the finals, I was still playing a lot of League of Legends. I felt like that couldn’t be the end of it, just like that, so I had to play some League. But overall, I was trying to unwind in a way that I don’t think much about League anymore, even though I still want to try hard every time I have an offseason. So it was hard for me to get in the mindset of ‘Yeah, right now is the time that I don’t need to play League.’ Of course, it’s nice to play League of Legends in the offseason if you have a good mentality and if you have goals, but I just wanted to try to get League a little bit out of the way. I didn’t want to think about it every single day.
I tried to do some stuff with my performance coach. I tried to do a lot of stuff in real life. Even though corona is still there, I still did some stuff.
Hotspawn: Things like riding a bike, going on walks, exercising et cetera?
Trymbi: Basically. Riding bikes, which is something I did every single day back in the day, even when I was playing League. It was kind of going back to the roots. It was really nice to do things that I used to do. I can still do them, but I’m not doing it just because I am thinking about League all the time.
I did other things in real life too. I’m not the kind of guy that watches many movies and series, but I tried to keep up with it and do something with it as well. I hung out with people that I could hang out with. I spent the time well, even though I still, right now, feel a little bit of regret that I didn’t play as much League as I could. [Laughs] Maybe if I had played a little bit more I could be more prepared right now, but I just have to embrace it and deal with it.
Hotspawn: So you don’t like watching series and movies, but you forced yourself to do it just to get your mind off League?
Trymbi: Yeah, kind of. I’m not the type of guy who likes to spend time on movies or series that don’t give me much outside of just watching it and having pure entertainment. I tried to ask some people about books, movies, or series that can help. Not necessarily help with things in real life, but more about the mindset for the game. Books or series that help your mentality, that help you understand what’s happening in your life.
Sometimes you just feel like you want to give up or try a little bit less hard, but you just have to keep going.
Hotspawn: The ‘self-help’ type of content.
Trymbi: Yes, just being able to understand yourself more and more. I’m twenty years old, but I wouldn’t say I know myself that much. [Laughs] It was for sure a good practice to understand a little more about myself. It was definitely worth it.
Hotspawn: Which movies, series, or books did you watch or read?
Trymbi: I think the Kobe Bryant book, Mamba Mentality, was really good for me. I think I’ve read it three times already. I read it once before the season started, and then I read it twice this offseason. As for series, I watched The Last Dance and Last Chance U, the basketball one. For me, it motivates me really hard to keep going just because I can see other people’s perspectives. I can see how they are dealing with things and I can implement it in my lifestyle. There is a lot of stuff like that out there, but I’m just not aware of it. So I’m trying to find out where I can get that.
Hotspawn: You mention three basketball-related pieces of content. Does that game interest you particularly?
Trymbi: I feel like it inspired me because I didn’t really watch much basketball, weirdly enough. I didn’t really watch much basketball. I wasn’t really interested in it. I was always pretty good at it because I’m a tall guy, so I was doing well back in the day, when I was in school. I would play a little bit, even though I was not that motivated to do stuff like that. Now, when I watched the series, I was just amazed. The way it looked, how it all happened, and just the fact that I could actually get to know this history. I feel like everyone should know about this. It’s just so amazing, and I did not know about it. I realized I knew nothing and it was such a pity that I didn’t know anything before. There is so much to learn from it.
Hotspawn: There’s a lot to learn from Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan, obviously, but is there any standout lesson that you try to stay aware of more actively now?
Trymbi: Pushing yourself to the limit. For these guys, the most important thing is just to win. Of course, it’s nice when everything goes as you planned. But it didn’t always go as planned, and these guys still were able to get back on the top. They always tried to be the best version of themselves. They were trying to do it actively every single day. That’s something I’m trying to work on. Sometimes you just feel like you want to give up or try a little bit less hard, but you just have to keep going. That’s something that motivates me to go. I just want to keep going and get better and better. That’s why, for example, I felt a little bad about ‘wasting’ my offseason by not doing anything. But right now I have time to improve, and that’s what I’m going to do now.
Rogue play their next game in the LEC against Misfits Gaming on Friday, June 18th, at 8 PM CEST. You can watch the games on the official LoL Esports site.
