Paranoia: “I came to believe we could win”

Two players from our League of Legends roster gave a short interview following the victory over M19 in the Continental League Spring Split semifinals. Paranoia and SaNTaS talked about their emotions during the match, the team’s performance in the bottom lane, and their expectations from the grand final.

On the game series

Ivan “Paranoia” Tipukhov: Very emotional. It was very difficult. But actually, I played poorly in the first few games. I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to play calmly, since that match meant a lot to me. The players on my team did great. I’m very grateful I have a roster like this now.

Aleksandr “SaNTaS” Lifashin: A year ago, Paranoia and I already faced this team when we were playing in the finals for Empire. However, they had a different AD carry back then. They beat us 3-1 in the final, and Likkrit said it had been a bit “EZ”. But I’m not like that. That best-of-5 was way too tough. It was a 3-2, very close, and I'm glad that we played well, did a great job and made it happen.

On the bottom lane

SaNTaS: In fact, both of our bot laners have prepared for the new meta well. The patch that was released at the very end of the regular season, changed the bot lane meta completely. We had a certain advantage, due to the fact that the opponent’s support does not play “utility” supports. That allowed us to win the drafting phase, decreasing the number of bans and opponent comps to consider.

On the team morale component

Paranoia: It was very difficult for me. I thought about my play for a long time, as I’d been playing horribly. [M19] were putting a lot of pressure on me, especially PvPStejos. They were punishing us very hard in the first game when I didn’t have vision. But I was able to recover; I came to believe we could win. It’s important to believe in that.

On expectations from the grand final

Paranoia: Our defeat at the hands of Vaevictis Esports was actually very frustrating and unpleasant. I want to prove that we’re able to beat them, and we must beat them. I think it will be a very close match, but it will most likely go 3-1 in whosever favor it goes.

SaNTaS: Game one will make everything clear, for me at least. If Vaevictis don’t put quality pressure in the first game, we may end up with three games’ worth of stomping. But if they play as they did against Vega Squadron, it will be a close best-of-5, probably a 3-2.