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As the 2024 League of Legends World Championship Main Stage kicks off, all eyes are on EMEA representatives to bring home the glory. Among them is London-headquartered Fnatic, one of Europe’s most storied teams who find themselves at a pivotal point after a season of ups and downs. With them, Spanish top-laner Óscar ‘Oscarinin’ Muñoz Jiménez is about to enter his second Worlds with the organisation.
Oscarinin made his Worlds debut in 2023, where he had moments of brilliance but ultimately struggled against the world’s best, especially against top-tier talent from the LCK and LPL. Now, a year older and wiser, Oscarinin is prepared to test his growth on the international stage once again and can’t wait to do so against the best top laners. Here’s what he had to say in our Worlds 2024 interview.
Hi Oscar, thank you for your time. What are your expectations going into Worlds?
I mean, I think I don’t really have expectations because I haven’t played against other teams yet, so I cannot really know how good they are. Even though I saw them, obviously I would like to play against them in Worlds and on scrimms, and later on we’ll see I guess.
But I mean, obviously my objective, at least, is to get to the quarter finals. I think if you don’t even get to quarterfinals, it’s a failure because, obviously, Asians are probably the best, but not getting to quarterfinals would be just a huge disappointment, I think, for anyone.
Thinking about Fnatic objectively, do you think you can reach quarter finals?
I think it’s for sure possible. But I think it depends a lot on how we start performing from day one. But I think we can make it.
‘My objective, at least, is to get to the Worlds 2024 quarter finals. I think if you don’t even get to the quarter finals, it’s a failure.’
FNC Oscarinin
How is the team mentally right now? Are they chilling or are they just pumped up looking forward to the first match against DK?
I mean, I think we are good. We’re looking forward to playing against Dplus Kia. I think we are motivated, and yeah, we want to play (laughs).
In the upcoming match against DK, you’re up against Kingen. What is your expectation going against him and what do you think of him?
I think Kingen is one of the best top laners in LCK. I think he is really good, and he has been one of the top top-laners for a while now. So I want to play against him.
Last year at Worlds, I played against him, and I thought he was pretty good, but I couldn’t play a lot against him. So I want to see this year how good he is, how much he improved, how much I improved, and see my level, I guess.
A lot of top-laners have been telling me that the top lane meta is very different from the Play-Ins meta. We’ve seen a lot of K’Sante, Renekton and Rumble. How do you think the meta will shift now that Swiss has more LPL and LCK teams?
I mean, I think top lane, at least, won’t change a lot. I think LPL teams are going to pick Renekton and K’Sante a lot. So I don’t think that’s going to change much.
Maybe we won’t see as much Ornn as we did in Play-Ins, but I think we’re going to see the same champions, kind of.
I will try to bring some spicy picks or new picks, but we’ll see.
What are your thoughts on the supposed nerf to lane swaps we’ve seen in Play-Ins?
“I think Riot doesn’t really understand the lane swaps because they are, in my opinion, completely griefing by nerfing the tower damage. The swaps don’t have anything to do with the fucking tower.”
FNC Oscarinin
You’re not hitting the tower, you’re just dodging the first three levels of bot lane. So your bot lane is fine, and after that, they can play and you’re chill. You also can make the game crazy if you’re actually good at swapping – you can surprise the enemy team a lot. I think there are many ways of playing it. So you have to be really sharp on it and know what the enemy team is doing.
So I think many teams are still going to play it on the Swiss stage. I think it’s decent. I think it’s not good if the enemy team responds well, but it’s hard to do. But I think the tower is not it, because you don’t care about the plates, you just care about the tempo and just dodging the first levels and that’s it.
So I think they’re just completely telling [off] my lane because I cannot get plates now before minute five, but it is what it is. Now my auto attacks deal seven damage to tower, but it is what it is.
Considering what you just said, what is your stance on the impact top-laners can have at this stage of the competition?
I think top lane right now is strong for sure. I think champions in general are pretty strong. You can impact the map a lot if you’re better than the other, with teleports, rotations, and lane swaps. If you understand the map better than the other, I think you can impact it a lot too. So yeah, top champions are always really OP, in my opinion. From minute 10 onwards, if you’re ahead, you can be a monster.
What are the chances that Europe will send a team to the finals?
“I think for sure making it to finals is really hard. If I have to be objective, Asia is for sure better than us right now, but you have to be a bit delusional because you have to believe that you can make it and you’re better than them. And I believe that we can win against anyone. It’s really hard, but it’s for sure doable. So we’ll see.”
FNC Oscarinin
Is there any top-laner you have strong motivation to go up against?
I want to face Zeus and Bin. I faced Bin last year, but I want to face him again with a spicier matchup. Zeus has been someone I’ve watched for a long time since he joined T1. I just want to face him on stage.
Looking back a year, how is today’s Oscarinin different from last year?
I think I have way more knowledge about laning phase, waves, and just how to play the game. Last year I was decent, but I think I wasn’t as sharp or knowledgeable as I am now.
If I played last year’s Worlds with what I know now, I would do way better.
What are your thoughts on the changes to the competitive structure next year, with three splits and three internationals?
I mean I’m not a super fan of having three splits in general and where they had it on, but I don’t really like it honestly. I like having the three internationals, I think it’s fun obviously, but I feel like at least for me it was a bit hard this year because we didn’t have a break at all.
And when we reached the LEC Season Finals, it was a bit tough already with the burnout part because we didn’t have any break at all.
So I think you have to manage it really well or you are going to be in a bad mental state during the end of the year. So yeah, I mean you just have to deal with it I guess the best way you can.
But yeah, I mean, I don’t even like those three splits because I feel like some teams don’t even play the year, like they play six weeks and they are gone and you don’t give the rookies time to develop, so it’s a bit weird in my opinion.
Related article: Sam Mathews on Fnatic turning 20 years old
Hi, I’m Cecilia! A freelance writer mainly focusing on League of Legends and its esports scenes. Find me at events interviewing anyone who has a story to tell, from players to the talented people working behind the scenes. Do you also have a story to share? Reach out to me via Twitter.
