G2 BrokenBlade, “I do hope [lane swapping] gets removed”

G2's top laner, Sergen "BrokenBlade" Çelik, took the time to talk about his loss to T1, the lane swap meta they started, and his goals for the rest of the year.

League of Legends European Championship first seed G2 Esports fell to League of Legends Champions Korea second seed T1 in a swift 3-0 today. The team's top laner sat down after the match to express his disappointment in the loss, his thanks for fans, and why he's hoping the meta his team brought back will go away soon.

It's not the result you wanted, but how are you feeling about today's series?

Sergen "BrokenBlade" Çelik: "I’m obviously very gutted, we lost to [T1], we didn’t come into today thinking we’re going to get 3-0’d. So, I’m very unhappy. Obviously they performed very well, they came up with a pretty good strategy, I think, dealing with some greater swaps. And, yeah, they were just very clutch in certain situations and we were not. Those were the game-deciding factors. "

Mentioning T1's strength today, and their lane swaps, what do you think changed? We've seen them struggle in other series, but they looked far better today. What changes did it feel like T1 made to be this decisive?

"I mean, they obviously made some changes to how they draft for [pick] 5. How they handled it today was pretty, pretty good. I feel like I always ended up in the worse scenario, which is also on me. They were just playing very decisively, I feel like they knew their champions very well." 

Given that you felt disadvantaged by lane swaps, how are you feeling about the lane swap meta now that you've finished your tournament run? G2 started it all in Europe and now it's taken over. It seems like top laners often get the short end of the stick when it comes to lane swapping.

"Obviously, lane swaps, they’re not supposed to be in the game. They specifically tried to remove this from the game a couple of years back. But people have obviously found ways to get advantages from this, if you can get advantages through a certain strategy then you need to be willing to do so. If that means you’re the one being set behind, then that’s just the game.

"I think there are top laners who are accepting that, and top laners who don’t accept that. If you don’t, the games will always feel very weird because now the enemy team can just lane swap on you. It’s like a new patch is dropping and suddenly Teemo is OP and you need to play it because it’s meta. I feel like it’s a very similar thing.

"I do hope it gets removed because I don’t think it’s very enjoyable or entertaining to watch as a viewer, probably. Because there’s not much happening, usually. It really defeats the purpose of matchups, and how drafting champions works. Obviously, if it remains, then we will do our best in optimizing this strategy. "

G2 has had some of the more interesting and unique picks we've seen, probably because of the lane swap meta you're discussing. What's the process of picking out things like Rek'Sai, Ivern, or today's Jax picks at a tournament like this?

"Us, at G2, we always try to find creative ideas on how to break drafting scenarios. I feel like you can get a lot of advantages drafting good champions, or better champions, or champions that counter the enemy champions. In the beginning of the lane swap meta, people just started picking tanks on both sides and then you just lane swap on each other. But it’s changed as people noticed that it’s the one top laner’s just getting dove and the other top laner is not getting dove. It’s just a very weird game.

"We played Ivern back in Europe, we played Jax back in Europe as well, and in this series [Jax] just looked good to me, to blind pick that. They removed K’Sante and Zach as primary, front-line fighters and I was looking for an option with Ivern, I thought Jax was a good option there. "

What do you think of the three teams left in the tournament (T1, BLG, Gen.G), and who do you think will be walking away with the trophy?

"I honestly believe that every team is very, very equal in strength. And, after playing them for a long time now, I think T1’s the team that defeated us the most in practice. So, I would probably have to give it to T1, as of now. They were looking maybe a bit shaky in the other series, but I feel like today they showed up very big. It felt challenging to do anything against them at any point in the game, and that’s something we can reflect on. So far I think T1 is very strong, but I wouldn’t be surprised if any other team takes it." 

Looking forwards to the rest of the domestic season in EU, what are your goals?

"The goal is obviously to dominate Europe, we want to go there and collect the two remaining trophies that are possible to get. That’s Summer Split and the LEC Season Finals. We have our eyes on that before we are even remotely thinking about an international tournament again. After this MSI, we have proof that we are able to beat Asian teams, LCK and LPL.

"We’re going to go in with a lot of motivation, at least I’m very motivated to do better, come back, and beat these guys next time. We got very close, and, if you look at the bigger picture, it is a success for Europe, because we made it much further than people expected us to. But, for us, it’s still obviously a disappointment because we believed that we could actually win it.

"So, we’re going to have to reflect, go back to Europe, think about what we can do better, what we can optimize to beat these guys. I’m just excited, I’m excited to go back home and make it back to internationals to beat them. "

Any final words for the fans at home who have been cheering you on this MSI?

"I hope you guys have had a great journey as G2 fans, European fans, my fans. I hope you guys have enjoyed what we’ve showed you. We are deeply disappointed in the loss today and I hope you guys are as well, because we had a chance to really win it. Now it’s go back to Europe, dominate Europe, and come back stronger. [Next time], we want to win."

MSI continues tomorrow with T1 against BLG, competing for the last spot in the grand finals. For more MSI content, check out our interview with Team Liquid's head coach.