Team Heretics slipped to 1-4 after a 2-0 loss to NAVI, a defeat that badly dents their playoff hopes. RFT.GG caught up with Heretics top laner Sebastian “Tracyn” Wojtoń after the game to talk about a team that plays free in scrims and freezes on stage, his own inconsistency this split, working with sOAZ, and the contract that gives him no comfort at all.
Our schedule wasn't easy at the beginning — we faced G2, KC and Vitality, and those teams are hard to beat. Against Vitality I think we fought well, but KC and G2 are really tough opponents. Today's loss really sucks in terms of our playoff contention, though. NAVI is a team we really need to beat if we want to think about making playoffs. And today we just didn't show up — something felt wrong in comms, we didn't really play the game, and we got punished for it.
I'm the one who stayed, I guess, along with Serin, so I can only speak from my point of view.
As a player, especially a rookie, something like this isn't good — when the environment changes so many times in a year, it's pretty tough.
But we were doing our best to bring the performance. Sadly, on stage it's just harder. In scrims we're doing more than fine, definitely better than the last two splits; it's just hard for us to play the same way on stage. We're a pretty new team since we made changes. So our goal right now is to play officials the way we do in scrims, and then we can definitely compete with the mid-pack teams. Our BO against Fnatic was the kind of thing I thought would happen today too — I thought it should have been a close match, but something just didn't click.
Yes. Since the pressure is higher, everyone plays more scared, and I feel like we respect our enemies too much on stage. In scrims we can play more aggressively and take more risks, so that's definitely an issue. And for myself, I'm performing better in scrims too. The issue was a bit funny: whenever I went on stage, I'd never have my own settings on the monitor and so on, so the game felt so sharp that it felt like I was playing handicapped. But today I figured it out and set everything up like I have at home, and the game felt way smoother for me. I tried to be more active in comms because of it. At least that's a W — I figured something out. [laughs]
The approach is different. Here it's more straightforward, I'd say, and we talk about a lot of things. I think they're really good as a duo — they're doing everything possible to help us, and it's kind of on us how we execute what they're telling us. It's a big pleasure to work with a coaching staff like that, because I'm learning a lot individually. I just need to start translating what we learn in scrims onto stage.
My relationship with sOAZ is pretty good — I feel like he's my older brother in a way. We mostly touch on laning phase things if there are any, and besides that mid game, mostly side laning, movement and positioning in teamfights. He's helping me a lot.
Personally, I'm not happy with how I've played this season. I'm really unstable compared to spring and winter.
I'm really confident in myself in scrims, I'm doing really well individually — just not on stage. Last weekend wasn't the greatest; we faced G2 and it was probably one of the worst series I've ever played in my life. I don't want to make excuses, I just played badly — but like I said, I felt like I was playing handicapped because of the setup. Today's performance, I wouldn't say I played amazing, I wouldn't say I played badly; I'd say I played fine. And the level should never be lower than that. I'd love to perform better and I'm doing everything I can to improve that.
Those champions are two of my best, I'd say, and that's why I go for them. The results we have in scrims with them are pretty good, so since we're happy with that, we'll pick them on stage. Whenever I pick a champ, I look at my comp and think about what fits best. Today's pick was really reasonable given what I saw, and I think it would have worked if the game hadn't exploded on the second dragon, because my presence would have been really strong. It's not like I can only play two champions. These are also two of the best blind picks, and when I get to blind pick I usually go to my comfort zone. If I get to counterpick, maybe I can cook something more — but that doesn't happen many times.
No, it doesn't take any pressure off.
If you think a contract makes you safe, you should just retire.
Personally I'm not happy with how I play, so it's hard to have that feeling of "I have a contract till next year, it's fine, I'll still be there." If I play at a level I'm not happy with, I'd probably do something different. But I'll do my best and keep working, and if I feel I deserve the spot, then I'll be there. Just because you have a contract till next year doesn't mean you should think you're safe. Just keep grinding.
