DSG Sajed: “I think any team other than DIG can randomly get into the Top 3.”
Q: How are you feeling about the Split? How’s the team doing?
Sajed: Yeah, feeling solid. Definitely better than going into Winter Split. I think our scrims recently have been going a lot better than Winter Split scrims. And I feel like as a team, we’re just more connected and we share similar views. When we lose games, it’s not [in] the same way we were losing them before — so we’re definitely improving very fast.
Q: What does that mean? It felt like the team was pretty successful in Lock-In, so what issue did you fix?
Sajed: Winter, we kind of underperformed compared to how we should be playing. Maybe we overperformed [in terms of] other people’s expectations, maybe cause other teams underperformed or something.
In Winter, a lot of games we lost, we were […] just hands-gapped or were split on what we wanted to do. And I think this split people are playing — myself included — mechanically a lot better than in Winter. I guess the couple week break really helped mentally refresh us.
Q: Ido mentioned that he wanted to make sure that the team got a break between splits and minimized burnout from scrimming without official games. Did you feel the break helped?
Sajed: Yeah, I mean it was confusing because I think there’s like a big break between last year and Winter split, right? It was like a couple months, like everyone had a bit of a break, I guess. But for me, I literally just went home and was just chilling with my mom for a week.
But I think everyone just been playing mechanically better […] It’s weird to say that a two or three week break really did anything, because we came from a huge break anyways. But I guess it really did and I feel like we’re really connected on our plays.
Q: From the outside, it kind of makes sense. You, Callme, and Kryra are new to the LCS stage — maybe it was a breather; time to adjust. Does that make sense?
Sajed: I can’t really speak for my teammates, but for me, I feel like I got my out of game habits a bit more locked in. And I mean, I’m someone that [needs] everything out of game to be very perfect and comfortable for my gameplay to be good. So I’m someone who has a lot of off days.
Even the slightest thing — my breakfast is not good enough, my sleep was slightly off… Any little thing really screws me over. I don’t know, I guess that’s just how I am as a human.
Q: Right — you mentioned, after the 5 game series against SEN, that nutrition and schedule are really important for you. Many pros say the same.
Sajed: I think it’s a little bit more so for me than [for] other people — I have to do a little bit more. I’ve been really on top of that so far, so I would say the break really helped me achieve that. I got more comfortable and I’m getting all my stuff done quicker and the routine is easier.
That’s just like why I feel like I’ve been playing a little bit better. But I can’t speak for my teammates. Everyone’s just been playing pretty good compared to Winter Split.
Q: How strong do you feel the team is, then?
Sajed: We’ve only scrimmed three or four teams, actually. I mean, we’ve been scrimming for a week and a half now — it’s just the same people. It’s hard to say without seeing other teams play, but I’m really confident with how we are right now and [with our] rate of improvement that we will be Top 3 by summer.
Q: It feels like the league’s super close — some could argue that any team could be top three by the end of summer, which is new for the LCS. Still, it feels like most people doubt DSG. Does that bother you?
Sajed: No, definitely not. I wouldn’t say it bothers me or anything. I think League has just evolved so much that the base floor of the game is just really high. It’s not enough to just have very insane players [that] just stomp lane [or are] mechanically good, because in LCS you can go almost even in any lane and then you just have to teamfight better.
You’re talking about [how] people don’t know the names, [but] names alone aren’t really important. Shopify literally went dead last in Winter. Granted, it’s Winter Split, it’s really volatile, but Shopify on paper [has] good names. So you’re asking who we’re unseating to be top three, but I think any team other than DIG can randomly get into the Top 3.
Q: Based on scrims, or just vibes?
Sajed: Oh yeah, we scrimmed them and played against them a lot last split.
Q: I’m just surprised — after Lock-In, my view was that Shopify seemed far, far less promising than DIG.
Sajed: I don’t know. I think Dignitas is the one roster that made zero sense to me — and maybe they just need some time — but they’re pretty locked with no chance to make it Top 3. I think a lot of things can happen.
You were [asking about] people doubting us. I think people maybe forgot that we were literally 1 game away from being Top 3 last split, even though the format was really weird. We were a singular game from being Top 3, and SEN was a singular game from being 6th.
Q: By that same logic, SR were also really close to decent results. Did all of Lock-In’s shocking results come down to format volatility?
Sajed: I mean every team will get better, I think that’s the nature of competition. There’s a learning curve where some teams can skip this part and get to other things, but every team has to start with the bare bones basics.
You can make the argument that C9 and Shopify should be skipping those steps, because they’ve been playing together a long time — that can affect their rate of improvement, or maybe even hinder them. But I said this last time, I told you that it’s a complete fluke that either us or Sentinels was going to make Top 3. I think neither of us were good enough to be Top 3.
Q: You’re putting TLAW top three?
Sajed: Yeah, I think Top 3 in winter was definitely like LYON, C9, TL. LYON towards the end and TLAW C9 came out pretty strong. I guess FlyQuest could be close to top three. But us, Sentinels, and FLY were competing for that fourth place spot [in reality] — it’s kind of a scam that either of us could have made Top 3.
Q: On that topic, you’re heralded as the next great NA talent, a la Massu, Busio, and Jojo, and you mentioned your apprehension towards the DIG roster this year, a team criticized as a “washed veteran lineup.” SEN, too, passed on rookie talents like you in favor of known quantities — is NA still ignoring key prodigies in the system?
Sajed: Well, I think Sentinels does kind of have rookies — I mean Rahel, HamBak, and DARKWINGS are all sophomores I would say, maybe less so HamBak. I really liked Sentinels’ approach to their roster. It made sense to me. C9 wanted to run it back and I mean their roster made sense too. They have players that they think are very good and they’re solid so they work well.
And I guess to your point, maybe as veterans, they do have a certain ceiling and import-wise, you can’t really import your way [through]; you’ll reach a certain ceiling, I guess. But it’s hard to say, right now, you’re talking about looking at Tier 2 talents and developing rookies. I think there’s like a bunch of things about it. Right now, Tier 2 doesn’t have as much talent as people are saying.
There’s kind of like that last generation and hopefully, NACL can get better and it could be a better ecosystem to enable more players to get better and look good. Cause [in] NACL for the last two years, if you wanted to be successful, you had to join a completely stacked roster like FlyQuest, or you had to be very close to LCS level [when] joining the league. And that’s the only way you’ll be successful in NACL — I felt you couldn’t actually just sit there and develop, or else you have a bad split and then you’re perma on bad teams.
First, I think NA Tier 2 doesn’t actually have as much talent as people are saying, [though] there’s definitely some very good players. The [other problem] is a lot of players aren’t willing to actually play with rookies — LCS players and maybe even coaches or staff. [When] you’re expecting X results by X timeframe, rookies are very volatile for that. That’s why I really like our DSG roster. For me, Castle and Lyonz are very, very easy to work with as a rookie. I’ve never once felt like Lyonz felt annoyed to play with me — or frustrated that I’m a noob or anything like that. […]
I mean, he does have a couple of years of Tier 1 experience and he did go to Worlds I think once, maybe twice. But [there’s definitely] a lot of things that we’re still learning. For me, there’s infinite things I have to learn in lane [and] he’s teaching me a little bit; we’re looking at VODs to learn together.
Q: Are those FST vods, solo queue, or…?
Sajed: Yeah, we were looking at a couple. It could be BLG, G2, those lanes. I think that’s a big thing for rookies as well.
Q: Having someone who can be there to bridge the knowledge gap?
Sajed: Not the knowledge gap but just like … Making you not feel bad for being a rookie. You never have to have the thought in the back of your head that “Oh, he thinks I’m so bad for this” or “Oh, like [he’d] rather play with X person”. I would say some LCS players might have that unwillingness to play with a rookie — and then if a rookie did play with them, they would have a lot of those bad vibes and thoughts.
Q: Which ADC would you like to defeat most on-stage?
Sajed: Yeah, I think the best two ADs by a decent amount are Berserker and Massu. Overall in our league — in bot lane at least — they’re like the two best laners. Fundamentally they do everything pretty solidly. I remember like the first game on stage I played against Berserker, he was playing Corki-Rell and I was Kai’Sa-Neeko. He played that lane super well.
Yeah, just those two ADCs. I think they’re insane laners and they’re the best, so I’d like to beat them, but overall, my goal is to be able to compete with the Eastern bot laners. So those guys are my side quests first.
Transcription assistance by @delfidotwav
Header Image Credit: Riot Games
