After three consecutive lost finals this year and a career full of second places, Francisco "Thayger" Mazo Sánchez finally got it done. Galions won the EMEA Masters — a first for him and for the organisation — beating their nemesis Solary in the final, with Thayger named finals MVP. RFT.GG caught up with him the day after to talk about overcoming the mental block, his individual peak, his short NAVI stint, and what comes next.
I don't think there are words to describe how good it felt in the moment.
When you actually destroy the Nexus and realise you did it, that you accomplished what you wanted for six months of pure training and improving — it was insanely amazing. We'd been working for six months to fix the mistakes. I really think we had a mental block against them, because in many games we'd have really good spots, lose them, and then manage to throw it. So winning this — it's like, okay, we've done the hardest part already.
Kind of, yeah. On the third game there were some ghosts coming back when we couldn't finish two times in a row. But I tried to keep calm — I think we were still in a really good spot to win. We knew the game was still in our hands, and even though it was a bit messy, we managed to pull it through.
I think we came more prepared. Honestly, in the last final — against Solary — they were just better. I think we had one game we should have won, but still, they were the better team. But we worked a lot to improve many parts of the game — macro, early game. We also worked a lot individually with a performance coach, who helped us a lot. That's the main thing. And going into the match with a lot of confidence, because we'd been working hard and we knew we could actually win.
Not really. We implemented something new in terms of gameplay which was kind of big, but besides that, the day-to-day was the same.
Yeah, for sure. Especially for some individual players on the team, he did a lot. Because I feel like we kind of didn't believe we could win at some point — in many games where it was even or we were slightly ahead, we'd manage to lose. That's why I say mental block. It felt like we didn't believe we could actually win. The performance coach helped us a lot to just focus on the game, not focus too much on the result — it's going to come along, just focus on the small things.
Yeah, for sure. I wouldn't say it's my peak, but it's the closest to my peak that I've shown.
I played with a lot of confidence — I don't remember ever playing this confident in officials.
We came in really prepared, and individually I worked with my coach a lot on how to improve my gameplay. I consider myself really, really good mechanically, so with the help of my coach on some points of the game, you could notice in the games that we worked a lot, and I came into the match with confidence.
Yeah, and meta read as well for some champions I felt like I played really well and I wanted to play them if I got the chance. For example, Lee Sin is my most played champion ever, but in officials I normally never play it. So I felt like, okay, it's time to pull it out.
Yeah, it's also really high priority after the buffs. The champion is for sure strong and it's also my main, so I really wanted to play it.
Yeah, I felt really confident we'd win. I remember the same day, we were eating with the team, and I told the coach we were going to win 3-0 — and he told me 'no you're crazy.' And we actually did it. After the game I just laughed and said, I told you. It's pure preparation and confidence.
Yeah, it's the first break we're going to have, and I can't wait. I'm going to try to rest as much as I can and come back stronger for Summer — we want to win every title left.
Yeah, for sure I'll watch. It's a real break from playing, but I still watch — I really like watching international events.
I was going to say Gen.G, but they didn't make it, so that's kind of sad — I was sad when I heard. I'd say Hanwha Life, I really like how they play, and Zeka, I really like him.
It was a bit tough when I first heard it, but once I accepted it — okay, I already accepted the deal, I'm already here, so I'll try to do my best. That was the mindset going into NAVI.
For sure, it hurt me — I didn't really have time to prove myself and I was already out. Not benched, but out.
I really wanted to show I have LEC level and that I can be one of the best junglers in Europe.
The results didn't come — I didn't play well personally, and as a team we didn't have much time to adapt. It was a really weird format with two groups, best of threes, just three matches, and we lost. We didn't win a single game and we were out in just three series. Really short. I don't think we had enough time to adapt.
Not really. In scrims I was doing really good, playing with confidence, thinking — okay, if I play like this, we're going to do good. But when it came to officials, I feel like we didn't play as a team, and personally I also didn't play my best level. Both things came together and it was a disaster.
I think it's confidence and the things I've been learning this year.
I consider myself one of the best junglers right now anyway, even if I'm not in the LEC.
But for sure, confidence is a big part of it.
It's things you can already know, but — playing as a team is something really important. For example, in Galions in the early part of the year, we weren't playing well as a team, and you could see that was the main reason we weren't winning. We didn't play as a team in NAVI either, so you could see in officials that we weren't synced. I think I know more about the game now, how to play it and how to play as a team.
I want to focus on the Summer Split and see what it brings. I think I can do really good as well. Keep improving, keep perfecting the things we've been working on these six months. I want to win everything that's left.
I haven't, but even if I do, I'd really have to think about it. I'm not going to take it lightly like last time with NAVI. I won't insta-say yes even if it's the LEC.
I really care this time — if I go to the LEC, I really want it to be a project where I feel I can actually win or make it to the top three.
I wouldn't toss it right away — I'd think about it depending on the offer. But nothing is settled. It's not like I want to go 100%. I'd have to think about it.
I don't think about it, to be honest. What matters most is level. As long as you have the level, it doesn't matter if you're 20 or 28. Look at Caps, right? He's like 26 or something. As long as you have the level to play in the LEC or high-level gameplay, you're going to be there. That's all I care about.
I wasn't really into the pro thing. I was just playing solo queue, and then randomly one day — I was probably already Challenger at the time, when I was like 19, 20 — I started playing amateur. Someone talked to me, and then I went up pretty fast. And one day I randomly got an offer from UCAM because they wanted to change jungler. But the main reason is I just didn't think about going pro at any point. It's more that someone actually talked to me and convinced me.
It just didn't come to my mind, it wasn't in my plans. I was just playing League for fun — I'm really competitive and I always like to try hard in solo queue. So at that time I was just playing solo queue and watching pro play, but I didn't think I could go pro. It wasn't on my calendar.
I want to win everything. I want to go to the LEC, I want to win the LEC, I want to play Worlds and win it.
Thanks for everything. It's been a tough year for the Galions fans — too many second places, too many losses. But they've always been showing up, coming to the viewing parties, really supporting us. Even though the results weren't there, they were still there, and I really appreciate that. Same for the Spanish fans — I really appreciate all the love they sent me through this time, especially after we won. A lot of people reached out, and I really appreciate it. Thank you. Let's see what comes next.
