The player of Hard Random Alexey «LeX» Kitsak told about preparations of the team for a tournament in Latin America and shared his opinion on how to make a strong league in CIS.
The final match of SLTV in Moscow was very intense. Was there a feeling that victory was about to slip out of your hands?
Indeed, in comparison with previous LANs where we were dominating over our opponents, this time it was pretty hard. We were still the favorites (which is obvious), and that is always hard, because everyone is expecting only victories from you. But as an answer to our self-confidence, the “Dolphins” showed us everything they got, which resulted in, probably, the most difficult Bo5 in my career. But that also made the victory more sweet. Now we have a chance to qualify for Season Finals, and that is exactly what every professional LoL player is dreaming about.
Most analytics and casters say that Russian teams are less skilled than European and Turkish teams. Do you agree with them?
When it comes to personal skill – I don't. The are many great Russian players playing at the European level. But speaking about teamplay – it's totally different. It's hard to find a reason for that, but Russian teams are inferior in some points in 5x5 matches. Most probably this is due to lack of strong enough teams in CIS as compared to Europe or Turkey. Honestly saying, I don't think that there are Turkish teams that we couldn't fight on equal terms.
What is needed to be done to raise the competition between CIS teams?
To provide such conditions that more players would want to become professional gamers. To attract more organizations, improve the community, host more tournaments, etc. And also I think that we should have an official league by “Riot”, a Russian LCS of some sort, just as there are in Turkey, Brazil and other Wild Card regions. That would raise the level of CIS professional scene greatly. So far StarLadder is doing a great job, which we all are grateful for, but an official league is still essential.
If I understand it right, a specific structure is needed to be created, where one would understand what the final goal is? On the World Championship, for example.
The conditions should be so that every player could play the game and understand that he doesn't need to do anything else: studying or working. In other words, he must be able to dedicate all of his time to the game, and it will pay off. By that I mean suitable salaries and regular LAN tournaments.
If Riot Games will apply the same rules in Russia as they have in LCS concerning transfers, will the teams be more responsible about tournaments and roster changes?
Of course, and the most important thing is that much more stable and strong teams will appear. And that's when the previously mentioned competition between CIS teams will appear.
In LBA you seem to be the strongest CIS team. However you have already played your match against mousesports. What can you say about playing against a European team? What is the chance that the viewers can witness such intense games as we saw on SLTV?
I think that SLTV has showed that we are indeed the strongest CIS team right now. The first game against mouz.LoL was pretty hard, but we and Smurf had some great team fights after a not very successful mid-game. In second game we were totally in control and we won it pretty easily. Unfortunately, LBA finals will be hosted online, and not at LAN, therefore we might not be able to see such epic matches as on SLTV, but it will still be pretty intense.
Did you prepare for you match against them?
No, we didn't have enough time, as we have just arrived from SLTV finals and wanted to rest a little. We have banned their strong picks.
Who is making the key decisions in your team?
Draft phase is conducted by Kira, and in-game decisions come from the whole team. We don't have any player that just presses buttons in total silence.
How are you preparing for games in Latin America? Do you watch previous games of your opponents, or maybe you watch their games on livestreams?
We don't know yet who will be our opponents at IWCI, but we will definitely watch the finals of Brazil and LAT. Right after we will know who we will be facing, we will study their game and prepare for each opponent individually.
What are the most frequent mistakes of new and young teams, who have just started to play in leagues, in your opinion?
CIS teams have one bad habit: they play until first loss. That is often due to hot blood of Russian players and inability to listen and receive criticism. After CIS teams learn how to draft stable and long-lasting rosters, everything will be fine.
Big thanks to LBA for this tournament, thanks for the interview, and also big thanks to HR organization and our sponsor Cougar.
