RED Canids Grevthar: “It’s nice to play here among the best and that’s every pro player’s dream. I think if you don’t have this dream, you shouldn’t be playing League at all you know?”

The RED Canids and mid laner Daniel "Grevthar" Xavier have had a sensational performance at MSI 2022 so far. But even with a perfect game against PSG Talon, two wins over Istanbul Wildcats, and an entire set of matches to be replayed, they might not continue.

We talked to Grevthar after the victory against Istanbul Wildcats on May 13th. The mid laner spoke to use about playing Zoe competitively for just the second time ever, facing RNG, and his boundless ambition.

First of all, congratulations on your win today. You're now in a good position to advance the rumble stage. Do you think we can look forward to seeing the RED Canids’ in next week's games?

Grevthar: We will try our best. We need just to win against RNG.

Yeah, that's a that's a tough one. But I really hope you get there. Today with the last game that you played against Istanbul Wildcats that was a very dominant performance. Did you scout-out all their weaknesses? Or do you think it was just a skill gap?

Grevthar: Not only a skill gap. We just played our game, you know, like we played against PSG, the game one. We were just focusing yesterday and today just to keep bringing our practice back to like, don't miss the opportunities and the windows that we have to do plays and to punish them. And I think we did well today.

You picked Zoe in both games day I believe. You look pretty comfortable on that. Is it a comfort pick for you? And what made you pick it today?

Grevthar: I think this was the first time I played Zoe actually.

Oh wow, really?

Grevthar: Yeah. Actually, I played her one time at CBLoL, at playoffs. And that's the only time I think. I thought that Zoe was a really strong pick in the meta. I thought that with the buffs that she had, she was quite strong. And like, kept practising her, thought that she was a good, strong pick. And I said “Huh? Whatever you want me to pick, I will.” And that's it.

That's brilliant. RED Canids are one of the teams that's going to have to have a replay match against RNG? Are you looking forward to having another chance against them? I mean, obviously, you do need to win that one to keep going.

Grevthar: For sure. We can win the [MSI] Championship with the mentality that we can win against everyone. If you don't have this, you shouldn't be playing here at all. For me, [RNG] are humans like us, even though they are pretty good. We need to admit it. But I don't know. When there are best-of-ones, you know, everything can happen. And they can have a bad day. So if I have one shot, one opportunity, I can take it.

Obviously, the reason for the rematch is to do with a ping issue. Have you had issues with the ping at MSI yourself? Was it a surprise to you to hear that these replays were going to happen?

Grevthar: No, it wasn't a surprise. I mean, the rematch was kind of surprising. But we knew that it was quite laggy, there was lagging at the championship overall. You can hear that from not only us, but a lot of players as well. So Riot checks it out. I think and they found out that was a bad situation. I don't know. That's something I don't know. But I mean, that's surprising. I didn’t expect the re-plays. 

What's the ping like on the Brazilian server normally? What do you usually play at?

Grevthar: Normally we play with like 10 ping, I think

So a pretty big difference. Still, on day one, you had a perfect game versus PSG Talon. And then today, they almost had a perfect game against you. They were both 28-minute games. Do you think you're the most evenly matched teams in the tournament?

Grevthar: I mean, it's nice to beat a really strong team. Like we knew that PSG was a strong team. In the first game we thought that they.. I don't know mainly, it just was us playing our game, you know.

Today in the early game as well, we played really good but unfortunately they abused some miscommunications we had, I think. Some misplayed things that we had in draft as well. Because they had a really strong engage composition I guess, and ours was a poke composition. So it was kind of easy for them to play this way. 

But I mean, I think if we have a rematch game-if we win against RNG-and we have a rematch, I think we can pass through them you know. I think even though they are a really strong team. I'm quite confident about me and my teammates. The game we played against them and the game today against Wildcats show that we’re at the right level, you know? We can win these games, even though it's hard to keep this consistency. We can be ready and we can win.

Regardless of how the rest of the games go, do you think the experience you've gained at MSI is going to help you secure the next CBLoL split? Do you think that we’re going see you at Worlds hopefully?

Grevthar: My main goal is to win every single CBLoL game I can. So for sure if this experience is helping a lot you know. Playing Korean solo-queue, playing with the strongest teams in the world helps you a lot because it changes you a little bit and the way you think the way you play. So it's nice to play here among the best and that's every pro player’s dream. I think if you don't have this dream, you shouldn't be playing League at all you know? You want to be among the best,  to play among the best, to beat them and say “Man, I can do it like you. I can do even better than you!” you know? 

So I mean yeah, I want win CBLoL next split. But even better, I want to pass through the group stage at Worlds next split as well. I don’t want to just keep going in, and going straight back.

Yeah, that's a fantastic ambition. And I hope I do see you at Worlds! Thank you very much for your interview today. That's all the questions I have for you and good luck for the rest of your games. 

It was my pleasure. Thank you very much.

RED Canids and Grevthar's next match will be against Royal Never Give Up on May 14th. With a win, they’ll cling onto their chances at a trip to the rumble stages. Tune in tomorrow on Riot Games’ official Twitch channel.