Interview with Nordavind NLC coaches iHansen and Donby: ‘I consider us stronger than Tricked and Munster, but people are free to form their opinions until they get proven wrong in playoffs’

With the NLC now in full swing and the BBC in full support with its broadcast, spectators have been treated to plenty of plays from the UK & Ireland and the Nordics’ finest.

Nordavind, a Norwegian esports org familiar to fans the world over due to their participation in multiple disciplines, have rebounded from a mediocre spring split to a blazing start so far. Megalodontus sat down with head coach iHansen and coach Donby to talk about their off-season, the split so far and the NLC ecosystem.

Please tell us about your background in League of Legends.

iHansen: My name is Bjørn-Vegar Hansen. I’ve been coaching League for over five years, being full time since spring 2018. I’ve coached three splits in the UK and two splits in Spain. During my time in the UK, my teams qualified three times for EU Masters (EUM) and for this split, my eyes are set on fighting for one of the two EUM spots.

My coaching style can be compared to that of a teacher. I’m structured, and focused on teaching and guiding the players to fully understand the concepts introduced to the team. I believe it’s important for everyone to understand the map as an individual and as a team.

Before LoL became my life passion, it was football. While playing football I got my first taste of coaching when I was in charge of a local youth team for a year. You never stop learning as a coach (or a player for that matter) and I try to take inspiration from traditional sports to improve my own craft.

Donby: My name is Mikkel Donby, I started coaching back in 2016, where I briefly coached a German team in ESL Meisterschaft. I then took a break after that split, and came back in September 2019. I’ve made my way from the Danish Division 2, to Division 1 and finally Nordavind, where I started in spring. The spring split was tough, but I learned a lot over those months, and I’m still learning more.

On a daily basis, I’m still studying at university, and I’m a manager in a restaurant at Legoland. Before I started coaching, I got an education as a ski instructor in Canada. These experiences have enabled me to organise, lead and emphasise with the players on the teams I’m on. Furthermore I’m very structured, so me and iHansen has been a great fit so far!

Before diving into League, I’ve been playing other games at a high level, such as CSGO and also raiding in WoW.

Before the split began, Nordavind built what some describe as a top 4 roster. Tell us how this roster was formed and the thought process behind it?

iHansen: Coming into this off-season, my mind was mostly set on either staying in the Spanish league or joining an NLC team. As a result, I started doing early research on Nordic and UK players to have a better idea of the player pool, and asked for references on some of the key players I identified in the process.

I got in talks with Nordavind early on and from there it was about identifying the right people to fit my coaching style and the players:

• A toplaner that is flexible, willing to sacrifice for the team, but also able to carry
• A midlaner with pop-off potential
• A botlaner that is consistent, can communicate and 1v9 the game if set up for it
• A ballsy jungler and support that have to be communicative within the system I want to have for the team

The standard for most ERL teams is to run a bunch of in-house games which I’m not the biggest fan of, so I kept the in-house blocks to a minimum. When I was officially confirmed for the job, I instead invested most of our time into five-man scrims to simulate how it would be for me and the players to work together.

We decided on Noltey first, then came our botlane duo, then Erixen. Top lane was not decided until the very end, but I’m extremely happy that we ended up with Mumus.

Donby: I’ve transitioned from the Nordavind spring roster into this summer one. The thing I think we were missing last split was synergy on the team: we had too many people who wanted resources. This time around, I wanted to build a roster that made sense.

The building process started with a coach. I had only heard good stuff about iHansen, and after having a talk with him, me and Kami (Nordavind’s manager) was certain he was the guy. He reminded me a lot of myself, just a smarter and more experienced version. He’s also very dedicated to his craft.

The next step was the roster. From my time in spring, I firmly believed Chrisberg was going to be the best ADC in the league. He was the smartest player I had ever worked with, and I knew that him and iHansen would be a great fit strategically, so I was very keen on retaining him.

We also wanted to lock down a jungle/support, because they’re very integral to how the team plays the map, and I’m very pleased we landed on Noltey and BeBopBulli. Picking Mr. Nordavind aka Erixen was an easy task, when you look at his spring performance on Barrage Esports. The man plays with no fear, and that’s what we wanted. Finally, Mumus was our last piece to the puzzle, and boy am I glad we got him!

Despite one or two slightly shaky performances, you are also currently 4-1 in Group A, only losing to BT Excel so far. How’s practice been going and what challenges have you faced so far?

iHansen: Every team in the NLC are having “shaky” performances if we’re being honest about it. Mistakes can and will happen, it’s all about consistency and staying calm when things go wrong. We are 4-1 and it’s deserved with how we’ve performed so far. We’re still refining our fundamentals and will only continue to improve in the coming weeks.

Practice has been going great, we’ve kept steady progress from the very beginning. There’s a healthy system and the players seem to enjoy growing and playing in it. A lot of concepts have been learnt and there’s still a lot of concepts to learn and refine if we want to become a top, top team in the ERLs.

A part of our team culture is to confront the issues and problems head-on and overcome them together, instead of trying to hide it under the carpet or ignoring it. For example, our jungle/support synergy wasn’t looking that great at the start and some tension was building within the team. But with practice, effort and patience they’ve been steadily getting better and now it’s at a healthy point.

Donby: We’ve had shaky moments, but I think they’ve been far less shaky than what you’d expect from a newly put together team. We’re taking one game at a time, and as long as we don’t repeat the same mistakes, I’m happy.

Preparation on the teams has been really successful. iHansen and I have been spending quite some time reviewing footage and making video clips for the players. This helps them visualize what we’re talking about, and have an easier time seeing our points unfold while they’re in-game.

In one such match, the enemy support had a tendency to be quite far up when they were contesting waves, and often without backup. We showed the team three clips of it happening, and it paid off: we immediately pulled the trigger and got a kill.

Analysts on the NLC broadcast have sometimes said they think Group B is overall stronger than Group A. So, let’s settle it here and hear it from you guys: Is Group B better than Group A? 

iHansen: I consider both groups to be rather even, and can’t confidently say one is better than the other. For example, MnM Gaming have been a complete meme this split, but I think it’s fair to compare ENCE, Godsent and Team Singularity to Dusty and Barrage Esports. Fnatic Rising looked better than BT Excel so far, but I expect to see them get stronger and stronger as we get closer to playoffs.

I consider us stronger than Tricked Esport and Munster Rugby Gaming, but people are free to form their opinions until they get proven wrong in playoffs.

Donby: I think both groups are pretty evenly matched. Fnatic Rising have looked stronger than BT Excel, but I also think we’re stronger than both Munster Rugby Gaming and Tricked Esport. Our middle of the pack teams are mostly the same, so I don’t understand why group B is being hyped.

Teams in both groups have flaws – ourselves included – so there isn’t anyone that’s clearly on top. Only playoffs will show!

I’ll be the first to admit I’m not the most knowledgeable when it comes to the Nordic scene, but I do know about the ‘Battle of Norway’ between Nordavind and Riddle Esports! How did it feel beating your rivals and what can we expect in the second match against them?

iHansen: It was definitely nice to win that game. We won as the better team and that is always a great feeling for the coaching staff.

For the rematch, it depends if Riddle have managed to bounce back or not. As it currently stands, their teamplay hasn’t been good enough. The players are good individually, but as a team it doesn’t look like they’ve been improving much over the first weeks of NLC. If they stay as they are, the result will repeat itself with another #Nordawin.

Interview with Riddle Esports’ British head coach Louis ‘Smeagol’ Green on his UK scene return

Donby: Towards playoffs I was the coach on our academy team in spring, so my record against Riddle was 5-0. Needless to say, it’s lovely to notch another win against them!

I don’t think we played at our best, but I’m very glad to see that when we get in tough situations, we’re the ones keeping level headed and playing towards our strengths. For the rematch, you can expect us to be even stronger than what we were the first time! 

Name who you think will be the top 4 teams at the end of the split, and one team you think is currently very underrated.

iHansen: Nordavind, Excel, Fnatic and Munster. I personally don’t think any team in NLC is “very underrated”, on the other hand there are a bunch of teams that gets over hyped to fit a storyline or narrative. Teams such as Tricked and Dusty in my opinion.

Donby: Nordavind, Excel, Fnatic and Tricked are my top 4.

I think we’re underrated ourselves to be honest, but that might be because of our “less interesting” playstyle. There are a lot of teams getting overhyped though, and I don’t really know why. I’m happy that teams are getting praise when it’s deserved, but I think Riddle and Munster are way overhyped.

So far they’re underdeveloped on macro, and can only win through individual prowess, which won’t get them far in the long run.

Maxlore joins Munster Rugby Gaming

What are Nordavind’s goals and expectations for the NLC Summer Split? Do you two have any personal goals you’d like to reach?

iHansen: Our goal is to consistently have strong performances regardless who we are facing. If we continue to improve and perform, we will finish at the top this split. We aim to play well and understand the game, not just looking good but crumbling when it matters most.

Donby: Goals and expectations are two very different things. We’ve entered a very stacked league on paper, and the expectation could never be to win it all. Therefore, our goal is to play the best game that we possibly can!

My personal goal is for Nordavind to play on stage at EUM Summer 2020. I’ve always wanted to attend an offline event. That of course, means we have to finish at least second in NLC. Hard, but not impossible.

For many of our UK readers, they also tune in to the UKLC but many don’t have time to tune in to the other four Telia Nordic leagues. Give us a brief overview of Nordavind Academy and how their split has been going so far in TES Norway.

iHansen: I don’t pay too much attention to the teams below NLC. I check the academy teams’ results from time to time and they are doing fine. We play against them in warm-ups before our NLC matches, so I’m very thankful for them sacrificing their own time and practice to help us out on match days.

Donby: Our academy team has had many players who have gone on to larger leagues: Kektz is on mYinsanity (Prime League), Ploxy is on Racoons (PG Nationals) and Erixen is right at home in the NLC.

We nurture future stars, that’s also what is being done this split. The team is currently 11-1 and in a tied first place so they’re doing pretty well!

Read more: NLC announced with full details on its grassroots ecosystem

Speaking of academies, when the academy system for the NLC was announced, there were many diverging opinions in the UK scene as to whether it would be beneficial for existing NLC teams to have an academy slot in the national leagues. As one of the clubs with an academy team in TES Norway, what are your thoughts on this?

iHansen: From my point of view, the benefit of having academy teams in one of the five national leagues is there’s a higher chance that this organisation will be a “proper” one and not be detrimental to the league. If the end goal is stability, then the teams below the NLC also need to be competitive enough to be a potential worthy replacement of the NLC teams.

Donby: I honestly think there are a lot of organisations in the Nordic national leagues that are not as serious as you’d like them to be. The academy teams and systems in place provide structure and the seriousness needed to breed the stars of tomorrow.

I’d just like to touch on one more point regarding the NLC’s tri-tier ecosystem. With five national leagues and an array of grassroots leagues included, what benefits and drawbacks do you foresee in the long term?

Donby: I can’t think of a drawback. One of the benefits is that we’re broadening our own player pool, and developing talent within our own ecosystem. I think the Nordic region has many talented players, and I’m excited to see how the NLC ecosystem pans out as time goes on.

Despite the massive rebrand and merger between two regions, for the EU Masters Summer 2020 the NLC has only been given two seeds. Many have expressed their displeasure at this ruling and say NLC deserves three seeds. What do you think of this?

iHansen:  It’s crazy to me that two regions, that includes five countries along with the UK & Ireland, with a combined four seeds in EUM Spring 2020 only gets two seeds for summer. EUM is the best platform to showcase yourself to LEC teams. Right now, in my opinion one team in the NLC probably deserves a more of that chance compared to say a second seed of a smaller ERL. But they will not be able to do so due to this weird decision.

Donby: I’ve been very vocal about this on Twitter: The UKLC has been the most consistent region at reaching the top 8 at EU Masters; the Nordics not so much, but they have gone there as well. It’s a major problem for the region, because I think we have three teams that could go very far in EUM, and I believe we could challenge for the top.

Given what we’ve seen so far, do you think that the merger of the UK and Nordics will finally allow the NLC to challenge the bigger ERLs such as DACH, Spain and France?

iHansen: I already thought the UK & Ireland was able to challenge the bigger ERLs since the addition of the academy teams. The merger has given teams a reason to invest more money in their league rosters.

Money is not a requirement to be successful, but it for sure helps when everyone on the team is able to focus on the game instead of having to balance studies with playing, or relying a part-time job to sustain themselves.

Is there anything else you’d like to add?

iHansen: I’m very confident in our team and I think we have the chance of becoming something very special this split. Some might find us “boring”, but we are trying to learn to play and understand the game properly. It will be fun to see whose approach is rewarded in the end of the split.

Donby: I just want to thank my teammates for being a bunch of solid lads. I also want to thank Kami for believing in me. He picked me up out of nowhere, because he saw something in me. To this day I don’t know what he saw, but I’ll make sure he wasn’t wrong!

Nordavind prepare to face their opponents in the NLC and you can tune in every Tuesday and Wednesday on BBC iPlayer or the Twitch NLC channel

Megalodontus

Megalodontus is a miraculous survivor from the mass extinction and somehow learnt how to use his stubby fins to operate complicated mechanical equipment and drink tea. Worryingly for cryptozoologists, he’s been writing League of Legends articles too.

A self-taught writer who’s had the privilege to work with good editors who aren’t terrified of his pearly whites, Megalodontus is often seen writing either independently or for various websites such as this one. When not writing, he usually runs it down mid in real life and is fascinated with watching paint dry.