TL Spawn: “Players’ mental health is at the forefront of every second of my day”

We spoke with Jake "Spawn" Tiberi, the coach of Team Liquid's LCS roster, about his team's continued success and how Spawn balances the pressures of competition.

Team Liquid is on fire this split, in only the best ways. And it's in no small part thanks to Spawn. The team has soared to be the only 6-0 team in the Spring split, with one week to go and the next two strongest teams out of the way. Now, the assumed favorites to reclaim their domestic title, Team Liquid stands on the precipice of Playoffs and Worlds after a contextually successful Mid-Season Invitational. We sat down with Spawn to chat about everything from macro to mental health after the series.

Esports.gg: Firstly, congratulations on the win and being the only undefeated LCS team. How are you feeling about the series? We got a peek backstage during a particularly unfortunate Valkyrie in mid. We hope your water bottle is okay. How are you feeling about the win and the series more generally?

Spawn: "I mean, look, I’m obviously happy we won and maintained top spot, and it’s good to go through a season where we beat the other two contenders. But, yeah, pretty visibly unhappy with how we played a couple of areas in Game 1. I think the hallmark of a great time is when you’re able to address those areas really quickly and turn it around. Credit to APA today. I think he had a shock in Game 1, and then [in] Game 2 and Game 3, [he] was one of main reason we won. That shows a great team. We rally behind our players, we explain what’s going wrong and we make sure they make the correct adaptations, and he was able to do that." 

The strategic elephant in the room after that series is the lane swap. We've seen them pop up every now and again in different regions throughout the split. Given that we last spoke at MSI, and they were heavily nerfed, we've got to ask: Why lane swaps and why are they still around?

"I mean, to be honest, I don’t even know if they are still around or if it’s just a TL thing now. Pretty much, we just have an early game checklist that we go through. If some of the criteria is met, it means we can lane swap really effectively. I think Blaber hit on it well in the interview afterwards. We just have a lot of experience on our team. Y’know, Core and Impact are really good at calling where we should be on the map at what time. We feel that if we can get more movement on the map, we’re going to come out ahead a lot of the time.

"Sometimes, it’s not even something specific. You know, people say 'bad matchup!' or this or that, but sometimes, we just want the enemy team to move a little bit. We think when they move, they’re going to make mistakes, and when we move, we’re going to find opportunities. That’s as simple as it is. There are certain advantages that I can’t give away. It’s just a tool that we’re willing to use at certain points. We’re not going to do it every game, but on the games that make sense, we’re going to do it.

"In terms of the games today, ultimately, three very similar drafts were played. Very front-to-back, team fight-heavy comps. Some people will be like, 'all three games?' and you have to understand the comps were very very similar." 

What is it about the depth of experience that your team has that allows Team Liquid to use this strength so well? It seems like putting your opponents in non-standard situations, forcing them to make awkward decisions, and then punishing mistakes therein is a big part of why you're the only undefeated team. What about Team Liquid makes you able to orchestrate these atypical scenarios and come out profitable?

"I think that we just have a really flat team. And what I mean by that is it’s not like we have to play around Yeon, otherwise he can’t play the game, or we have to play around Impact. We have five very good players. And what that means is we’re quite unorthodox and probably annoying to prepare for because we play the game very stylistically different each game. I think that really showed through today.

"When I think about other teams in the league, they have some great players on their teams. But I just truly believe that a great team will be a team of great players every single day of the week that ends in Y, to be honest. Yeah, that’s what we try and do.

"We try to play the game the right way. We try to give the resources to the champions that need the resources, and try to be in the right place and take the right action. I think we haven’t been particularly quiet about it. I think we’re the highest combined kill-per-minute team in the world."

Now that you're locked into the only undefeated spot with one series left, I'd imagine your eyes are set on Playoffs and the possibility of Worlds beyond that. What do you want to retain from your learnings this split, and what improvements do you want to make as we move towards the end of the year?

"We just have to get back to basics. I think what happened is we played a pretty bad basic game at the start and then we grew that up over the Spring split and we got pretty good at it. Then we went to MSI, then EWC, and the game became more complicated because we’re playing against great players. We just try to add when that happens. Every single time it’s important to define what made you a great team in the first place.

"We feel like we’ve added a bit, but when we first did that, we took a few steps backwards. Now, it’s important that we keep the things that we added, but we also get the things we add back. The goal, at the moment is, like, I feel like we’ve had a lot of freedom in our scrims the last three weeks before this one, where we were really trying to learn from EWC. And then, this week, I really cracked the whip and tightened it back up, and I think that really showed in our gameplay.

"Just get back to the basics and do the little things well. Play for each other, make sure that we’re not being selfish, that we’re being good teammates, that we’re staying positive, and all those things."

There has been a lot of discussion this week surrounding mental health in LoL esports. We had an interview with Sniper where he was very transparent about the effects of the split on his mental health. Meech stepped down for mental health reasons, and Faker had an instance of pretty visible distress after playing Gen.G. As a coach who's worked with everyone from Worlds winners to rookies, how do you see the balance that players have to strike between being emotionally invested in winning and their own mental health? How do you approach creating an environment that facilitates that proper balance?

"It’s really hard. My thoughts are definitely with Meech, Sniper, and Faker, and their families. When you see someone go through that stuff, it’s really, really hard. And honestly, like, it’s heartbreaking as a coach. I always say, like, I’m there to make you a good League of Legends player as well, don’t get me wrong, I love winning games. But, I like to think that everyone comes through the Team Liquid system in the last four years and has left Team Liquid a better person. I’m pretty fortunate to be a pretty big pillar in a lot of young men’s lives.

"I think, as a coach, you’re responsible for a lot of young people in a developmental stage in their life. I think, as a coach, we have a great responsibility to our athletes to push them to be the best person they can. As a coach, you need to push them to be not only the best people they can be, but the best League of Legends player they can be. That’s really hard to balance those two when you’re either underperforming or losing a lot. Or when you’re very close to winning it all and you need wins desperately.

"What I will say is at Team Liquid, every single one of my players’ mental health is at the forefront of every second of my day. I hate to see my players sad. I hate to see them down, I hate to see them knock themselves down. There have been points this year where we’ve had to tackle this and go through it. And what I’ll say is — we value the person first, game second, even if we really like to win. I think that’s the attitude all of the coaches will have. I think that puts our athlete in the best area for them to succeed, not only as players, but as people."

Really appreciate your thoughts here. Last question is completely unrelated to pro play and nice and lighthearted. We've been asking pro players and coaches who they would like to see in Arcane.

"Ah, it’s actually really hard because the little kid in me that started playing League of Legends is saying Demacia. Because Garen and Jarvan were the first two mains I ever played and I love those champions to death. I’d love to see them.

"I also think the Freljord is just artistically beautiful. Who wouldn’t love to see all the stories that come out of that region? I’d say it’s hard for me. I trust the Arcane people, but probably Demacia, off the top of my head."

Spawn and Team Liquid will play their final series against a struggling NRG this coming weekend.

That's all for now, stay tuned to esports.gg for more news, interviews, and updates.