"Vitality Finished First, But I Don't Think They're Consistent Enough to Be Top Three" — MKOI Independent Before LEC Spring Playoffs
Photo Credit: Riot Games
The playoffs start this weekend, and Movistar KOI are heading in with a point to prove. They lost their last matches to KC at the EWC qualifier, but Eric "Independent" Ruiz Bogurina isn't concerned — he sees it as a separate competition entirely. RFT.GG sat down with MKOI's assistant coach right before the action begins, covering Alvaro's evolution, the rock-paper-scissors dynamic at the top of the LEC, and a candid take on their next opponent.
How does the team feel going into playoffs?
We still feel confident even if we lost against KC the other day. We know it's a separate competition and we need to keep our mindset in a good place, because I think we are capable of beating everyone. We just need to be in shape, to be honest.
What lessons did you take from the EWC qualifier loss to KC?
There are several things to take into consideration. We were also playing from the office, which reduces the normal tension you'd have in a studio or in front of people. We had to put more effort into creating that intensity, because you don't have people cheering, you don't have that connection. But I think we achieved it — even in the results versus KC, I think we had the tension that was needed. We just didn't play and perform well enough.
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It was kind of fun seeing Supa jumping off his chair in drafts...
Normally he's not like that happy, but when he saw the Vel'Koz pick — he was just super euphoric, hyped by the match, feeling it. I think he was even doing push ups between map one and map two. I was like, what the hell is going on here?
Was the takeaway mainly about intensity, or did you also draw conclusions from playing against a top two team?
Today, for example, we're all together studying what happened. We already drew some conclusions individually on what we did badly, what we need to improve. To be honest, both teams played pretty poorly overall. We played worse than KC — that's why they got the win. But I feel like the gameplay was a little off that day. Both teams made a lot of mistakes. Any team could have won any map. It's just about details. I think we could have been way more connected in the important moments — KC were more connected than us, more decisive, and I think that's why they took the series.
A big change everyone noticed was Alvaro playing much more engage support recently, especially in Madrid. The team looked completely different — more decisive in the mid game, more agency for Elyoya to play the map. Did you feel the same way, and would you say that switch was needed?
I wouldn't say it was 100% needed.
I just feel like Alvaro is really good by nature on engage champions — he's very consistent on them and takes really fast decisions compared to other supports in the league. He has a real strength linked to that style.
I think he also made a big improvement with enchanters, even if the results don't always show it. Of course he still has a lot to improve there. But with engages, he's really spectacular to watch. For any fan watching esports or League of Legends, it's just not the same — doing a Lulu ultimate versus a Rakan or Leona engage. It's always more spectacular, so he can show off more. But a Karma mantra E might be equally impactful in a teamfight even if people don't see it that way. People love seeing Alvaro in this role. I love it. And well, Riot apparently too — they're making engage supports more viable in the next patch...
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Melzhet told me before Madrid that the team had a hard time finding who pulls the trigger when it's not Alvaro doing it. Did you feel the same?
That role was mostly connected to the jungler. You can see champions like Vi, Jarvan or Pantheon being the engage tool in the early maps, but when it comes to later maps, you have fewer ways to engage from the jungle. It can work — you can draft these engage supports in Fearless map 4 or 5. But when we were playing best of threes on stage, it was pretty uncommon to draft this type of support because you kind of accept you're going to lose the botlane to some extent. If you play Rakan into Karma for example, you know you're going to have a deficit — and in officials it was a pretty big one, like 2k or even 3k gold down.
How did the decision to put Alvaro back on engage happen? Was there a specific moment in practice?
Practice helped a lot.
I feel like we are a team that is really resilient right now — we could be 5k or 6k gold down and still feel confident we can win the game. We've been coming back from a lot of games that look impossible from the outside.
That brings us confidence to just play these champions, to accept some deficit in exchange for a stronger teamfight setup or to play to our strengths. The moment was when we were getting really good results in practice — coming back from a lot of games — and then going into officials and seeing the same thing happen. So we feel confident that even if we fall a little behind in the early game, whether from the matchup or a mistake, we can come back.
Does it feel like the LEC is harder this year? That would explain why MKOI have had a harder time establishing themselves as a top two team in the general opinion.
Yeah. I feel like this year the LEC is way more stacked in terms of the top six. Teams are putting up more of a fight compared to the past. I wasn't here before, but I had this discussion with Melzhet — I asked him what the level felt like in the first year, and he said it was sh*t compared to what we have right now. I feel like there are still some teams that clearly have a bit more level. In my opinion, the top three is still the same. Even if Vitality finished first in the regular season, I feel they're still an inconsistent team. In the EWC qualifier they lost to Shifters, which shouldn't happen. Of course they can perform — I don't think they're completely bad at all.
But I don't think VIT are consistent enough to be in the top three in a regular split.
So you consider MKOI locked into the top three, but would you say beating KC or G2 would be an upset given recent results?
I think it would be an upset for any of the top three. If G2 loses, it's an upset for G2. If KC loses, it's an upset for KC. If we lose, it's an upset for us. That's our mindset. These three teams just want to be the best team in Europe and we're challenging each other every time we meet. KC had the upper hand the last time we faced them, but we also managed to beat G2, which gives us good confidence. And in practice it's been going mostly well against both of them. It's just small details we need to fix when it comes to officials. I think we are capable of winning the LEC.
How do you explain the rock-paper-scissors dynamic at the top — MKOI beat G2, KC beat MKOI, G2 beat KC?
It can happen for multiple reasons. I feel like our strengths match up better against a team like G2 than against KC in particular.
KC also have a lot more information through Zeph, who has worked with the roster for two years. He might know which picks players can and can't play.
Of course we improved our champion pool a lot this year — Alvaro wasn't playing this enchanter style before, Myrwn improved his standard picks, even playing things like Shyvana or unusual top laners. But I feel they just have more information on our weaknesses as individuals and as a team, and their preparation might be sharper in that regard. The last time we faced them, I think it was more about gameplay to be honest. Map two, Vel'Koz into Seraphine... Seraphine just presses one button and is ten times the champion. So it wasn't really about drafting.
Photo Credit: Riot Games
What do you think of Vitality — your first playoff opponent this Sunday? Did they overperform in the regular season?
It is a bit different because the regular split was best of threes and now we're in best of fives. I think Vitality, when they reach map three already, show some weaknesses in terms of draft — what to pick or not pick. In a best of five, if they haven't done the work on their champion pool, it's going to be harder for them than for other teams.
I feel like the top three — KC, G2 and us — are more prepared for best of fives.
We had more challenges in the EWC qualifier where we faced each other. So they have a bit more information from that. But I feel confident we are a better team in terms of champion pool and map play. We just need to lock in and play our game.
From an external POV, Vitality looks very good at playing through their top side early — something MKOI have struggled with a bit this split. Do you think the match might be decided there, by MKOI's ability to control Naak Nako?
I feel like Vitality are kind of similar to Shifters in that sense — they have a top laner who can naturally create a lead in the individual matchup. It doesn't mean the jungler plays towards him — sometimes he creates the lead by himself. And then Naak Nako can impact the map more because he has better conditions than the other top laner. But I feel they still have a lot to improve when it comes to the mid game.
I don't feel Naak Nako is a complete player right now — I think he's really good individually in the laning phase, but I feel he still lacks a lot of things when it comes to mid to late game.
I don't know if that will be solved by the match we're going to face, but I feel we are in a better position because the hard part of the game — the mid game — I think we are way more consistent than them.
A last word for the MKOI fans before playoffs start?
The last match we had was in the EWC qualifier against KC. Now starts the playoffs, when it matters.It's now time to show off. We're going to put our effort in to just make it happen. The team is really hardworking and I feel like — just trust us. We can make it, and it's going to be incredible.
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