Fredy 122 (centre) with the LEC trophy (image credit: LoL Esports Flickr, Michal Konkol/Riot Games)
The champions of the League of Legends European Championship (LEC) Rogue are currently sitting pretty at 3-0 on top of Group C in the 2022 World Championship. This is their third time at Worlds as an organisation and the first time for them to qualify as Europe’s number one seed, and they have a good chance of qualifying for the team’s first-ever international knockout appearance.
UK head coach Simon ‘fredy122’ Payne has been with the team since their first foray into the LEC in 2019. Megalodontus speaks to him after their win against Top Esports in the first round robin and he talked about Rogue’s form, preparation going into Worlds, as well as some brief thoughts on the recent Rogue Koi merger.
First and foremost, thank you for your time, and congratulations on the 3-0 scoreline! I’m going to start with the most immediate topic of the day and ask about your thoughts on Rogue’s performances in general, because Rogue are 3-0 and top of the group. How do you reflect on your performances so far? Has it met your expectations or has it completely exceeded them?
I mean, we came into Worlds thinking that we can actually get out of this group and do quite well but we didn’t really expect to be 3-0, so I’m actually very proud of the way everyone’s performed on stage.
There have been things that we could definitely do better. I think none of us were happy about the game against GAM Esports, but after today, finishing 3-0 after the first round is a special kind of special feeling because we can go into next week with very little pressure. I’m super proud of the guys and the way they played on stage. Onwards and upwards.
When you mentioned being on stage, there was the topic of the ‘arena buff’. I’m curious, how has Rogue kept their momentum going from the LEC finals? Is it the arena in New York ‘buffing’ the players to make them rise to the occasion?
There are a lot of factors but the arena in terms of actual performance is definitely a huge one for us. I think it always will be with this group of players. It’s like, a lot of excitement, I think. It really like drowns out any other emotions of stress and stuff. That’s my take, maybe the players will have a different take.
But I also think, coming into this tournament, we have a good meta read compared to a lot of teams. I think that’s given us at least some kind of edge in the games. Obviously, meta read alone means that the guys have to perform anyway on those champs. Those are the biggest two factors off the top of my head. There’s a lot of stuff that’s going right for us right now.
When you mentioned meta read and that you guys expected to do well, I interviewed Larssen before Worlds. He said that generally, the situation was not ideal because of limited scrim time due to how things have been scheduled. Talk to me about Rogue’s preparations and maybe how the lack of scrim time has affected the team.
In terms of lack of scrim time, I think for us and Fnatic maybe it’s working out well because in reality, what you need those scrims for is to just get the meta read at this point and do some small improvements. But I think that it actually hasn’t hurt us too much. Maybe we’ve been a bit lucky in some way that a lot of the champions that we have played the whole season, or at least from the playoffs in Malmö, Sweden, those champions are still very good in the meta, so we didn’t really need a huge amount of practice.
Our picks work for us still, our picks still work in the meta. The lack of scrims, I think, at least for this particular Worlds, hasn’t been as impactful as it might have been if the game had completely shifted away or if there had been more extreme changes or something. So yeah, we’re surviving. We have more scrims this week so we’ll be catching up even more. Not bad for us, the situation.
Not bad indeed! Here’s a slightly odd question then. You mentioned that maybe you got a bit lucky with the meta, but do you think that the strength of the LEC’s competition this season prepared Rogue sufficiently for Worlds?
It’s funny, because if you would have asked me that In Week 6 of summer, I would say definitely not [laughs]. There’s no chance that we’re going to be prepared. But it seems that the fiesta that was the LEC this year was on a higher level than everyone thought, and it seems that the competition, especially towards the end of playoffs, really picked up.
Because it’s not just us doing well, right? Mad Lions aside, Fnatic are doing well and G2 Esports almost did well today [against JD Gaming] as well. I was thinking about this and I think maybe the LEC was just suffering from losing the G2 line-up a few years ago. It took us two years and we’re back to a good level now, I think. That’s kind of how it feels.
What do you think of the recently announced Koi partnership with Rogue?
In some ways, it’s bittersweet because it’s the end of the Rogue name and the Rogue icon although I think it will live on in the LEC Hall of Fame. But I think everything is staying the same and it’s just kind of the price of progress, I guess you could say. But moving forward, it’s definitely going to be good for us as organisation, it’s good for the LEC and for everyone.
It’s just a little bit bittersweet, but I’m happy that it’s going this way and everything will stay the same anyway. It’s just what it is really.
‘The Koi merger is definitely going to be good for us as organisation, it’s good for the LEC and for everyone.’
I just wanted to ask you a little bit about your background. How come you’ve never really played in the UK scene and went on to play in the old EU LCS (now LEC)?
I think for the early veterans in LoL, which I’m one of them, we kind of got to skip the whole regional leagues and I never really actually played in any tournaments in the UK scene or anything. For me, I skipped that whole process and just went directly into EU LCS as a player. After that day I went into coaching, right. So yeah, I skipped an entire step but that’s the privilege you get when you’re one of the first in a growing industry.
I don’t imagine you keep up with the UK Leagues right now?
Sadly not, no. [laughs]
You had a relatively interesting career as a player, do you have any fond memories to look back on?
I do. The whole Season 4 time was a big fondness to me. Times were very different then. We didn’t have managers or coaches, we were just five bros hanging out and trying to do our best to win. Those times were also very special in a way, that’s all the way back in SK Gaming… before we started losing at least [laughs].
Hanging out with people and being good friends in a team, some of the principles that I learned back then are still something I believe in today when it comes to coaching. For example, how successful a team would be and also how a team that’s completely ‘boomed’ will act because I had both of those experiences back then. Yeah, lots of fond memories, for sure.
“I never really actually played in any tournaments in the UK scene or anything. For me, I skipped that whole process and just went directly into EU LCS as a player. After that day I went into coaching. So yeah, I skipped an entire step but that’s the privilege you get when you’re one of the first in a growing industry.”
Do you think Rogue has that same vibe?
To me, it does for sure. I believe in building stuff for the long term and that’s what Rogue has been for me now. I’ve been with Rogue since the start of LEC and we started at rock bottom, but the management has kind of stuck with us or stuck with me, especially.
Now I feel very proud that we’re here and we’re top of the group. I actually get pride from being in the org and how well the organisation is doing as well, so that’s part of it for me and the memories as well come along with that, right?
Before we end, I saw your Twitter and you said that, because you won again, you’re going to have to tweet something out. Does this mean that if Rogue goes undefeated at Worlds and carry that into the LEC next year, you’re going to be stuck on Twitter tweeting?
That will be a lot of tweets I have to plan out, I can tell you that [laughs]! I guess that’s the positive side if we drop a game or two now, you know? But I making an effort to put in a bit more into it, it’s part of the process.
We’ve come to the end of the interview. Do you have anything else you’d like to say or any shoutouts you like to give?
Well, now that we’re winning, for the fans that have stuck with us this long, you’re getting your just rewards! Thank you to those who stuck with us the whole time.
Worlds 2022 continues today (October 15th), with Rogue playing GAM at 8pm BST, DRX at 10pm and Top at midnight. You can catch the action live on Riot’s Twitch channel.
Further reading: Nordic League of Legends talent – including Rogue’s Larssen – celebrated in Worlds hype video narrated by NLC and EUM caster Duckling.
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.
