The 2021 LCS Summer Split is now done with its first week and Immortals are off to a fiery start. I sit down with IMT Insanity to speak on it.
The 2021 LCS Summer Split is now done with its first week and Immortals are off to a fiery start. The international lineup are 3-0 after the first week of Summer Split, bringing their entire record to 10-11, now tied with sixth place Evil Geniuses.
Hey Insanity, it's been a couple of years, I just want to say congratulations on being promoted to LCS this year and becoming the longest tenured player. What is this whole experience as an LCS pro like and being the Immortals midlaner?
IMT Insanity: Honestly, it is really different. When I joined the LCS lineup for Immortals, all of it was online so there was not as much stress accompanied with it. It did not feel right at the start if I am being honest, but I am still learning everything. It feels better to be back on stage for sure though. I remember being on the stage in the Academy and the environment would feel amazing. It feels great just to be here.
You guys look great and I think this win ties Immortals with Evil Geniuses.
IMT Insanity: Yeah, technically we are ahead of Evil Geniuses now because we have the head-to-head record against them.
When you look at Evil Geniuses, what do you feel is happening and why do you feel like you guys are starting to move past them?
IMT Insanity: Honestly, I feel like they lost their identity from the beginning of the season or even the one they had last year. I feel as if they are all over the place now and especially with the roster change, things are very new now. They have a new player Danny and I think he is actually really good. Still, I don’t think they mesh together very well already. They make a lot of mistakes mid to late game and it is really easy to punish. Any team that is kind of playing well together will be able to punish them.
Speaking of teams playing good, what was the offseason preparation like for Immortals?
IMT Insanity: We actually started scrimming six weeks ago. Honestly, we spent a lot of time making up for what we missed out on for Visa issues leading up to spring. Since we are all down for it and we have a shared goal of winning, things are starting to come together. It is going to continue this trajectory if we just keep putting in the work?
What were you able to figure out as a team during this offseason. Was it getting to know them as people, how they play? What did you guys learn?
IMT Insanity: We just figured out how to fix our weaknesses which usually come in the early game. Whenever we would lose the early game, it honestly felt like there was no way of winning the game, which is not good. Usually, the games were doomed on stage and the ones we were losing are because of the early game start.
Once we really spent time improving these early minutes on the rift we were able to have more opportunities to fix our mid to late game. As a result, we are making it better and creating a system that we can use for improvement. Every time we are ahead of the game, I feel like we will always win now. I just have a lot more confidence now with the preparation we took.
Seems like this preparation and practice gave you a lot more confidence. In turn, it made your gameplay better.
IMT Insanity: Yeah, absolutely, I definitely agree with that. Confidence is really huge for me and the team. Now that we really believe in each other and play as a unit, there really is no stopping us. The only people who can stop us from succeeding are ourselves.
For someone relatively new to LCS that is awesome. In moments when you would go through slumps, how would you find confidence?
IMT Insanity: I never really had a consistent thing to reset my mental. I think it is really random at times, but a lot of it is talking to myself. After a bad game, I will tell myself that it is not because I am a bad player, bad games just happen. THat is the one thing I always remember.
Do you feel like playing in 2020 summer and them keeping you in 2021 instilled more confidence in your abilities?
IMT Insanity: It definitely did instil confidence, but I think I am always a confident player in the first place. Honestly, if I was not a confident player, I would not even be here. I think my confidence played a big role in me getting to the LCS and even academy in the first place.
Seems like only yesterday you were a 15 year old kid playing with Imaqtpie on stage.
IMT Insanity: Yeah man, it is honestly something that has been a long time coming. It’s surreal.
Out of curiosity, what would you say your role in the Immortals team structure is? Are you vocal during the game? What do you feel like you excel at in this structure?
IMT Insanity: It is a little bit of everything. I don’t think that I play too much of a role in communication. I would say my biggest strength that I bring to Immortals is my flexibility in draft. It helps us go a long way game to game. There is always going to be a game where I take a bad matchup or counter pick really well and set someone up for success.
I feel like I am a good glue piece and very adaptable to different scenarios for the team. I think that is true for everybody though. We just all have a really good mindset and environment with Immortals to succeed as a team.
We are not a 10th place team that people may view us as. As the weeks go on, it will become more clear that we are one of the best teams in the LCS. I cannot wait to showcase that with this team.
Stay tuned on Esports.gg for the latest LCS, LEC, and all League of Legends news and updates.