Paranoia: “It’s too early to relax”

Ahead of the grand final of the Continental League spring split, we had an extended interview with two players from our League of Legends roster and the squad’s coach.

Paranoia, SaNTaS and Moo answered our questions about the semifinal against M19, preparations for the match against Vaevictis Esports, and the morale component of playing competitively.

Aleksandr “SaNTaS” Lifashin

The semifinal against M19 saw a clash between bot laners, but a lot of what happens in the match is less obvious to the audience. What would you say made you stronger than the defending champions?

Correct lane positioning and a highly specialized support champion gave us the advantage in the 2v2 play.

At the MSI, either you or Vaevictis will be representing our region, rather than M19. Is that a positive factor for the scene?

I think it is a positive factor for our scene that Vaevictis or we will be representing our region in the League of Legends. Now the experience of playing abroad won’t go to just M19 (formerly known as ANOX and Hard Random), but also to one of the grand finalists.

A showing at the MSI is an experience that can influence the development of our region in the future.

Who among your teammates would you particularly note in the semifinal match, and why?

The synergy between Paranoia and Kreox was the key factor in our semifinal victory. Ключевым фактором победы в полуфинале стала синергия Paranoia и Kreox. Their coordinated actions allowed us to develop the game the way we had planned.

Ivan “Paranoia” Tipukhov

What’s changed since you’ve been in charge of coordination?

A lot has changed regarding my attitude towards games and teamfights, as well as towards rotations. I’m still a long way from being a very good coordinator. I need time for that, lots of it. I’m trying to speed up that process somehow. Everything comes with experience, you need time. Some of my decisions proved very effective, such as the Nashor attempt in game two.

The thing that’s changed about my playing is that I feel responsible for our team’s actions, and it’s a great burden. When your team trusts you even after you’ve made mistakes, when they don’t get hung up about those mistakes, it helps you make the right decisions.

The last three semifinal games were markedly different from what we’d seen before. Was that something you’d been preparing, or the result of the players’ joint effort?

It was the result of our work and our preparations for that semifinal. The fact that we’d already won a game was also a strong influence. We knew we could win, and it helped us focus on how we were going to achieve that victory as a team. I wouldn’t say our games were particularly different from the first few ones. We simply picked up the pace and stopped throwing games. That was all that changed.

Team morale is very important, especially when a game gets out of hand. During the match against Vaevictis, you’d lost the initiative several times, but the semifinal demonstrated that you’d been working on that since. What specifically helped you keep a cold head while facing M19?

I wouldn’t say we lost our morale in the match against Vaevictis. Our defeat in that game was due to stupid mistakes on our part, not them playing very well.

With M19, we knew we could beat them. That helped us. Whenever one of us made a great move or kill, it would raise the team’s morale, but without getting us too excited; on the contrary, it was rather calming. Nevertheless, emotions ran high, as you could notice after we won.

How did you celebrate your semifinal victory?

We went to a restaurant and spent time with the team and other guys there. It was nice and cozy, but we didn’t stay up too late. We haven’t won the split yet, so it’s too early to relax. Everything’s still ahead of us

What are your general thoughts about this spring split?

I like this spring split. Finally, I’ve found a team where I can contribute. It’s helped me develop as a person and a team captain. I’m pleased with our results and with every member of our team in general. I’d also like to note that our coaching staff is the best in the LCL league.

Dmitry “Moo” Sukhanov

What was preparing for Vaevictis Esports like? How was it different from practicing before the semifinal?

Our schedule gave us a week less time to prepare for the final than we’d had before the semifinal. The preparation itself wasn’t particularly different from the semifinal one. The only thing was that, since the patch was the same, we could direct less of our attention towards analyzing the meta.

Who was more difficult for you to prepare for: M19, who were the favorites in the semifinal, or Vaevictis, who we could call a dark horse?

M19 was more difficult, both psychologically and game-wise. What with them being the strongest team in the region that had already played at a world championship.

How has the new meta influence the practicing process and the team in general? Would you say it’s close to your style, or is it something new that must be studied?

The meta has no impact on the practicing process or the team. It’s simply about looking at the most popular strategies and the set of champions that, theoretically, prevents you from losing the game at the drafting stage and insures you against negativity from analysts. The current meta has its pleasant sides, which our team likes, as well as some less than pleasant ones.

In the deciding battle of the Continental League spring split, Virtus.pro will face off against Vaevictis Esports. The match begins at 15:00 CET on April 9. We wish our team good luck in the grand final!

You can watch the game on LCL’s official channel. A link to the livestream will be available on our social network pages before the start of the match.