Q: Before we get started, do you have any trash talk for BLG?
Elyoya: I think I’m good. I know who to talk shit about and BLG’s not on my list right now, you know?
Q: What was your reaction to the draw?
Elyoya: I mean, we were hoping for FLY, just because of the banter between Bwipo and Myrwyn. It would go crazy. Whoever solokills the other, the Twitter game after would be the real game. When we got BLG, obviously we were excited because it’s the strongest team we’ve played so far, so it’s gonna be a really good experience to see how good of a team they are.
Q: Best team you’ve faced so far on stage or including scrims?
Elyoya: On stage, probably.
Q: Would you rather face G2 than FLY if you were allowed to?
Elyoya: Not really, I like playing into different teams and obviously we haven’t faced FLY that much.
Q: What about from a “chances of winning” POV?
Elyoya: For sure we are more than capable of beating [G2] but I think still FLY. From what I’ve seen they’re a weaker team than G2. So I’d still go for them.
Q: Yesterday, I asked Yike how well the NA teams were doing and I got EU respect for NA teams for the first time — do you agree with that?
Well I think TL and FLY are good Western teams, but my problem with Western teams right now is that I don’t see them beating the Asian teams.
Sure, I see them winning against G2, but I can also see them losing to us. I don’t think they’re much stronger teams than [EU].
Q: Who do you think the #1 jungler from the West is? If it’s you, who’s behind you?
Elyoya: Obviously I’m gonna go with myself, because I just think that I understand the game better and I play teamfights better. I think my understanding of being a complete player, I’m better.
I think I understand the game deeper than them — some of them can be mechanically better, like in Razork’s case, I think he’s better mechanically than me, but as an overall complete jungler I think I have a better idea of what should happen […] than the others.
As a top two, I think Inspired has shown really strong performances. He likes to play for himself — you’ll never see him fall behind, most of the team plays around him, so that’s why he looks better than other junglers that might be better than him. I would then put Razork, then Yike, then UmTi.
From my games against UmTi, I think he was good but I wasn’t really surprised by him or anything. I’m still yet to be shown why Team Liquid works that well.
Q: Assuming that the BLG match goes as expected, how are you feeling about the potential Swiss lower group?
Elyoya: Of course with BLG, they’re a stronger team but we are confident that they are beatable. In the lower bracket, as I said, we can lose and win [against] anyone. I see us winning into FLY, I see us winning into G2, but I also see us losing into anyone. I think that’s the problem with us right now. Our fundamentals are not so consistent that we’re still able to beat teams when we have these bad games.
In the West, our fundamentals aren’t as good as the big Asian teams. For example, I can see us maybe winning a game into BLG, but I don’t see us repeatedly beating BLG at today’s level. I’m just being realistic, right now they’re a stronger team.
That’s what we’re working on right now, because, as I said, we might lose a game to NA or EU, but if we are solid we can beat them consistently.
Q: Did you see Bin’s quote to Myrwyn by Sheep Esports?
Elyoya: I think you need to know when you got cooked, and this time his line was quite good, you know? I can’t match it, or I can’t think of anything right now that can match it. If I tweet something — I mean, I will not because Myrwyn will — it’ll be offstage after the game because his line was quite good, you cannot beat that.
Just get in the game, now you just pray to beat him in League so you can counter, I guess.
Q: Do you have a favorite story from any of your Worlds trips?
Elyoya: The funniest stories I can think of are always with Carzzy, this guy was always having something in the head.
At 2021 Worlds, we were next to the RNG room and they were screaming [bantering] at eachother. Like, they were going out the window and screaming at each other while they were playing the game, and they even went for cocktails afterwards, I think it was Cryin.
I think Carzzy was the guy that was the craziest.