SkewMond on G2's 0-3 loss to HLE: "What we did was unacceptable"
G2 have dropped into the lower bracket at MSI, swept 3-0 by Hanwha Life — and SkewMond didn't hide from it. RFT.GG sat down with G2 jungler Rudy "SkewMond" Semaan after the defeat to talk about getting stomped by the LCK's best, why G2 struggle against explosive teams, the thing he thinks they're missing, and a likely lower-bracket clash with T1.
First impressions after that series — how do you feel?
Honestly, I don't have much to say. The games were pretty quick. We fought well in the first one, but apart from that, there's not much to say. We just need to come back stronger and review the mistakes we made in the BO, because,
What we did was unacceptable. We clearly got stomped.
So I hope we can bounce back for the next matches.
HLE is maybe one of, if not the best team in the world right now. Do you believe G2 should be able to take games off them?
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Clearly they're extremely strong, and I think we do have chances to take a few games. But as we saw today, we're still far from actually getting there. Mostly, I think they have a very, very fast, very aggressive playstyle, and as a team that's not really the style we manage to play well against. In the BO against Top Esports it was a bit the same idea — they wanted to play the same way — but honestly TES are clearly worse than HLE. So it's definitely something we'll have to work on a lot, because the other teams too, whether it's BLG or T1, have a very similar playstyle. It's really important to be able to match their tempo.
Your coach Dylan said you'd rather face LCK teams than LPL ones, because you're more comfortable against controlled gameplays. But today the meta seems to demand explosivity — even T1 play that way. Would you say there's no real difference now between the LCK and LPL?
I think it depends on the team, but right now the LCK's top two — HLE and T1 — have a playstyle very similar to the LPL. They play fully aggressive in the lanes, trying to stomp as hard as possible from the start. But if I compare Gen.G, who were the third seed, I think that was really different — we saw it at First Stand. It's a playstyle that suits us a bit more, easier to play against.
Why do you think G2 is struggling against explosiveness?
Honestly, I couldn't really say. I just think we have a hard time anticipating every kind of disruption. They really try to speed up the early game with cheeses, invades, ganks and so on. In game three I managed to read what they wanted to do fairly well, but even so, it didn't really change the outcome. I expected them to do a little three-camp bot to disrupt the bot lane, but even then, it was tough. So we just have to review the games and work hard.
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Individually how do you feel about your MSI so far?
Honestly it's tough. Even though we beat Top Esports, I think the first two games — especially the second — weren't easy; the others were more than fine, I think I played well. But the most important thing is performing against the best teams, and
Today we clearly saw we're not at the level — me included.
In the jungle, it's important to have a playstyle like HLE, BLG or T1, because with the mage meta coming in, it's important to really give someone an advantage, to create plays. That's something I'll need to work on.
Is it hard to play for the jungle — as G2 usually does — right now? Does the current meta mean you have to play more toward the lanes?
I think it's important to give leads to lanes. But looking back at today's games, just off the cuff, they really managed to transition their early-game lead through the jungle, and they didn't let us breathe. It was really hard to get back even a single camp. They played really, really well — it'll be very interesting to study what they did in the BO and learn from it.
Photo Credit: Liu Yicun/Riot Games
Do you still feel — from your practice, but especially these two matches on stage — that you're one of the best teams in the world today, or at least that you can be?
Honestly, after that game, I'm not going to claim we're a top team in the world. But I think we clearly have the ability, the tools. We have very good players and good ideas to get there. Now the most important thing is to translate the kind of gameplay we have in scrims onto stage — and just be more explosive, because I think that's something we lack a bit at G2. Having that explosivity to get a kill in the early game and let ourselves snowball over the next five minutes. So yes, that's going to be really important to work on.
Yesterday Hans said you hadn't played at your level in the first two games against TES. Would you say the group might suffer from the weight of expectations after First Stand, as everyone sees you as the West's only hope?
More or less — honestly I couldn't say for the team individually. On my side, I don't think it really affected things. I think the biggest point is that, as a team — even since last year — when we don't have a game on stage, we're pretty slow to really get back into it. That's a bit what we lacked. And I'd like to be optimistic: our next match will probably be against T1. I hope we can bounce back and be at the level. Even at First Stand our games were pretty shaky — we got 3-0'd by BLG. Then we really found the formula. I hope it'll be the same.
It's a bit of cope, but you never know — maybe it can happen.
Photo Credit: Liu Yicun/Riot Games
Romain told me before the competition that for him, everything happening here — is all preparation for Worlds. With KC eliminated from play-in and today's performance, are you still optimistic about Europe's level in the long run, heading into Worlds?
I'm clearly optimistic. For the other teams I can't really speak, obviously — I'll focus more on G2. But the meta will change, there might be roster changes for the Asian teams or others, or even in Europe, whatever. Everything can change at any moment, so the most important thing will be being able to adapt to the meta — in draft and especially in gameplay. On our side, I think we're a little behind on the MSI meta — not necessarily in draft, we're fairly aware that mage bots are strong. It's more in terms of gameplay, really being able to be explosive in the early game. When I look at the top teams, that's what we're missing.
Yesterday you went for a completely different approach draft wise — Labrov was more on playmakers, whereas today the BO felt much more played on the bot 2v2, with enchanters. Is it easier to play that explosive early, like in game one, when Labrov is on playmakers?
Honestly, not necessarily. I really think the state of the lanes can just be much more volatile, like I said earlier. Every matchup — top, mid or bot — everyone fights all-out, and that's why I was referring to junglers: if you're creative, you can give that lead to a lane that starts snowballing and blows the game open. In terms of playstyle and playmaking, I don't think it necessarily changes. When you have an enchanter, you won't really let yourself roam the map and look for plays before level six. After level six it changes a bit, but I don't think it changes that much.
Photo Credit: Liu Yicun/Riot Games
The cruelty of this bracket is you'll probably face T1 next round. What can we expect, how confident are you?
I'm clearly optimistic that we can show good things — and I promise that to the fans who watched our BO today. Everyone's pretty shocked by the stomp; honestly, there was clearly no match. T1 are also a very good team and one of the favourites to win the tournament, so it won't be easy. But I'm confident that if we draw the right lessons, we can have a good match against them.
Skew will bounce on Oner
bounce off and fly home
I stand corrected