SR Ceos: “Of course it sucks to lose right now, but it’s not the end of the year yet.”

Q: Game 2 felt really close. What do you think is holding SR back right now?

Ceos: I think we were able to put ourselves in good spots early game, and I think we played decently well in lane phase and around the first objectives, but I think TL is a really solid team in mid game. I think they play together really well.

And I think in this part of the game, they just played better than us all three games, I felt like. They rotate better than us, they play together better than us, and they kind of knew their team’s win condition better than us too.

I feel like even though we were ahead early game in some of the games, they still made better decisions in mid game — around drakes, around Herald, how to play 1-3-1, where to get vision. So I feel like today, compared to TL, that was the aspect of the game that we were lacking.

Q: That was a strength of SR’s last year — playing creatively and cohesively in mid game. Do you feel that skill has regressed this year?

Ceos: I felt like last year we were good at playing more together. Even though it wasn’t the best play we could make, I felt like we would still kind of just go and do it together. Of course, the meta changed a little bit. Last year we had Atakhan, for example, and that was a really important objective that everyone fought around.

But I feel like compared to last year … it’s not like we lost all of that. I think we lost a little bit actually, but the meta changed a lot too. For example, this year there are a lot of mages bot, and a lot of enchanters.

You play mid game differently with enchanters compared to if you are on Leona, [when] you can kind of play alone, let’s say. You can get vision [on melee supports] really easily compared to a Milio, Lulu, or Nami.

So this changed a little bit of the dynamic of the team too. And I think it can be one of the reasons that we are not as good as we were last year at playing together and playing the mid game.

Q: Any plans for the break? Do you have any interest in a Korea bootcamp during MSI?

Ceos: No, we didn’t plan anything yet because we didn’t have a lot of time. We just got eliminated and we are not sure yet what the plans will be. I think if we go to Korea during MSI, there are a lot of teams that are going there. The first and second seeds from every region, except Brazil, I think.

So a lot of teams are doing bootcamps in Korea during MSI time. Maybe this can be a good idea because in the past, if only the teams that were going to MSI went there, sometimes it could be hard to find scrims because you kind of just scrim each other.

But right now there are way more teams. Not everyone there will be playing at MSI, so you can have a lot of scrims. Maybe this can be a good idea compared to the past. But we didn’t decide it yet.

Q: Any plans to go back to see family and friends in Brazil? Last time, you mentioned that your girlfriend came up to support you in-person.

Ceos: I’ll probably just go back to Brazil, like I do every offseason when we have some free time. For me it’s better than only my girlfriend coming here — because when I go there, I can see my whole family, my friends, and my girlfriend. So I’ll probably go to Brazil during our break here.

Q: Anything fun you’re hoping to accomplish while you’re there?

Ceos: Normally I just like to hang out with my friends and with my girlfriend. I like to watch movies, go to the beach, or go eat somewhere. It’s just normal things.

Q: Nice, relaxing time.

Ceos: Yeah, I like to relax.

Q: I talked to some other players about it, who mentioned that part of the difficulty integrating Zinie was the difference in style with Palafox. How have you adjusted to coordinating with Zinie?

Ceos: Yeah, for sure. I think I agree that the start was a bit difficult because Zinie and Palafox are different players — they see the game differently.

And even at the start, Zinie’s English wasn’t as good. So it was hard, especially inside the game, to tell him what we wanted and for him to talk back about what he wanted to do inside the game. This was really hard at the start.

But I think he’s taking English lessons every week. I think right now his English is pretty good, to be honest. You can talk about everything now and he’s not struggling at all inside the game.

So I think we improved because of that. And of course, as time passes, you kind of start knowing each other better. Now I know how Zinie wants to play, how he likes to play, and which champions he likes to play — and I think he knows how I want to play too. So yeah, right now it’s way easier, to be honest, to play with him.

Q: Have you been able to keep up with CBLOL?

Ceos: Yeah, not every series or every game, but I kind of watch one or two games before we come to the studio. We always go to the office, so normally in the office we are watching some CBLOL games. I follow it.

Q: Do you have a team that you’re rooting for to make it to MSI?

Ceos: At the start I was cheering for LOUD, but they already lost. Right now I think the final will be FURIA and LOS, right?

So yeah, I hope FURIA wins. I have some friends on FURIA, so I hope they win.

Q: Any final message for Ceos and Shopify fans who want to support you right now?

Ceos: Yeah, for sure. This split, this year in general, has been really hard for the team. Our expectations at the start of the year were really high because last year we took third place and we almost got to Worlds, so everyone was expecting me and the team to do better, and we didn’t play too well at the start of the year.

But I just want to thank everyone that is supporting me, supporting everyone on the team, and supporting Shopify. Of course it sucks — it sucks to lose. Right now I’m really sad. I really wanted to do well and go to MSI.

But I think on the bright side, our team is getting better and better every week. Of course we lost to TL, but TL is a really strong team here, and I felt like if you compare these games to the games we played against them in previous weeks, we did way better.

Of course it sucks to lose right now, but it’s not the end of the year yet, so keep cheering for us.

Header Image Credit: Riot Games