Former Gambit Gaming support player, Andrey "Darker"
Plechistov, sat down with me to discuss what he's been doing since parting ways
with the team, the past and current state of Gambit Gaming, and his outlook on
the current state of the European scene.
Since departing from
Gambit during the previous Summer Split, you went to University to finish your
education. During that time, did you try looking for another team to join?
Yes, I was trying teams quite a lot.
Was there a
particular reason none of those teams worked out?
Well, roster changes mostly. For example, I was playing with
Brokenshard in a team before he went to NA and overall it looked quite
promising. I think we could have made it to the LCS qualifications, but after
he left, the team was basically not the same and we didn't manage to find a
good replacement. Also, people didn't have motivation to continue so we had to
part our ways. Another promising team I had recently with ForellenLord, and not
being able to play with the same roster also was a huge factor there since we
had to switch three junglers (two of them went to high challenger and LCS teams)
two weeks before we went to Copenhagen Games tournament. We had to pick up a
pretty good but inexperienced player and he just didn't have enough time to
improve. We didn't put on a good show there, so I decided to not continue
trying out new people again but focus on finishing my study which is going to
give me more freedom and time to find a solid team later.
Alright, so lets go
back to your time in Gambit. You mentioned in your Facebook post that there were several issues in the
team that ultimately led to your decision to leave. Was there something that
Edward brought to the team that allowed them to perform well for so long? He
didn't exactly have the best showing during his time in Curse. Did something
special happen when the roster consisted of the original five members?
It's hard to tell, but I personally feel like it's about
Edward being with the original M5 roster since the beginning. They were getting
used to each other while they also had the best individual skill on their
positions. Genja was pretty much godlike during Season One and Two. In Season
Three, Edward left the team because they had problems with communications and
their results got worse. I can't agree that he didn't have the best performance in
Curse though. I actually think that he did very well in his position there, but
Curse didn't have the best players at that time and weren't a very good team
overall.
That's a fair
assessment. So why is it that you think those winning results couldn't be
replicated with you or Voidle? Did internal issues become worse over time?
I think me or Voidle could have played there and performed
well, but the attitude from other members and management should've been different.
In short, I can say that for me a team can only do well when people are doing
everything to achieve the same goal and have the will to work with each other, but
when I was in Gambit it wasn't like that, sadly. Despite that, I really
appreciated the opportunity to become a member of a world-class team and show
that I can perform on a big scene against the best players. I'm looking forward
to playing League on a high level again and I believe it will be an even better
experience for me.
So let's fast forward
to the present where Alex Ich has left the line-up for personal reasons. Do you
think they can still be a world class team without him?
Everything is possible and I have no doubt that they have the individual skill and experience to be the team which is able to beat the Koreans
again. But it will only happen if they change their mindset and attitude. Also,
replacing Alex Ich is a huge thing considering how hard he was carrying them in
the second part of the 2014 Spring Split and playoffs. Time will tell.
There has been some
mention among the community that Alex Ich had fallen off this season. What's
your opinion on his current skill level? Is it as good as it has always been?
Many people talk about player X from Gambit performing bad
in 2014. I see it as sign of the team not performing well in general, not just
some individual player. I think Alex Ich was carrying hard during his last
games on the team and pretty much saved Gambit from relegation with his Ziggs
(I think they still would've won vs. Denial, but it's another story.) Now he
switched to top lane and initially he won't be playing as good as he was in mid
lane, but I know him for a long time and I believe he adapts really well and is
able to switch roles and be one of the better players in it.
Well then, lets move
on to a Gambit member who receives a bit more criticism: Genja. He's frequently
discussed about his particular playstyle and unorthodox build paths. Some of
his peers still consider him one of the best AD carries and some think he's
among the worst. How do you think he stacks up against other EU AD carries like
Rekkles, Forg1ven, CandyPanda, etc.? And why is it that he dislikes solo queue?
I would say that Gambit's bot lane was in the bottom four during
last split and compared to Fnatic, CPH, and SHC, they didn't look good.
Regarding Genja, I can only say that he still has his strong side: he's still a
very smart player with strong team fight
positioning. At the same time, I believe that players like Forg1ven,
Rekkles, MrRalleZ and CandyPanda were better mechanically and decision
making-wise. I don’t know his solo queue situation at the moment, so I can't
answer.
A big talk among the
community now is that acquiring an analyst is a necessity in any team. A few
experts have suggested that if Gambit picked up an analyst then they could
possibly perform at a more optimal level. Later, Alex Ich mentioned that they attempted to pick one up but
that no one took his suggestions to heart when it mattered. It seems to be
common knowledge that the Gambit members are stubborn when it comes to getting
input about their own position. From your time on the team, do you think the
players have the capability of listening to an outside source's suggestions?
Yes, I think so. I believe that being open-minded is a huge
part of success, especially in League when the game is changing so fast
constantly and part of what you considered to be good before can no longer work
in the next patch.
Let's move onto the
current state of the European scene. During the off-season, it seems that NA
has attempted to make strides in improving by importing players to bolster its
talent pool. Also, Fnatic's performance at the 2014 All-Stars was very
lackluster considering they were expected to do well as a team coming off their
third consecutive LCS Championship win. Would you say that EU is currently
behind the other regions right now?
Yes, I think EU is pretty weak in its current state. I see
two core problems there:
First one is that organizations just don't feel like they
should pay if they pick up a non-LCS team. From my experience, most
organizations don’t feel like giving you a contract with a salary in it. They
don’t want to risk their money and they don’t get respect or loyalty of players
because of that, but it's very important to make professional relationships
work for both sides. That’s my very own personal point but I really want
organizations to start actually paying for representing their name and working
with them. Then they can ask from their players and expect them to show
progress and make results. When an organization offers nothing, people lose
motivation and teams can easily disband when some of their players get better
offers or players just go to another region if they see an opportunity. Many
talented players move to NA because money is there and I really want EU organizations
to step up their game.
Second problem is that 'coaching thing' is in very poor
state in Europe; many LCS teams don’t have a good coach
or analyst. I'm not even talking about challenger teams. Players who don't open
their mind and listen to outside opinions while people who are trying to be
coaches are usually pretty bad at what they are doing. So the picture we have
is good mechanically but often cocky or arrogant players who don’t listen to
outside words (my coach is bad and I’m a good player - why would I listen to
this guy?) mixed with inexperienced or bad coaches. If players pay more
attention to what other people say and try to work with an analyst and focus on
getting one and actually listening to what he's saying, they can improve their
game understanding and communication skills. I believe EU can be top region
again.
So if organizations
were willing to pay analysts and coaches a realistic salary, do you think more
people would go for the job? Is there a sufficient amount of experienced people
who are capable of being coaches or analysts? Or do you think EU should try to
look abroad (NA, KR, etc.)?
First of all, I think players should get contracts with a
salary in it. Analysts and coaches should get paid as well since it's serious
business and should be treated like it. In terms of looking for proper coaching
and analysts, I think EU organizations should look towards other regions, but
that just comes from my experience. Maybe there are some very skilled coaches
who can actually help teams even in EU.
What about the player
talent pool? Does EU have all the necessary talent to compete with the Eastern
regions?
Can't say much because there are not so many international
events. If we look at All-Stars, we can say that Fnatic got pretty much
outplayed on a mechanical level, so it's hard to say about the whole EU as
"best mechanical" region from this state. Talent needs work, it's not
enough to win against Koreans just by having players like Rekkles in your team.
EU teams need to step up in many aspects - training regime, mindset, attitude
etc. Also from my perspective and team-searching process, I feel like many
players here in Europe are pretty lazy and rely on outplaying people who play
worse without trying hard on improving, expanding their champion pool etc. If a
player doesn't play a certain champion but it's clearly good, that player can
just say "Nah, I don’t feel like playing it" and won't learn it.
Obviously this is bad and changes must happen in order for Europe
to become competitive again.
So with how things
currently are, do you think Europe can make a good showing at Season Four Worlds? Do you
see any of the issues being addressed in the upcoming weeks?
We have to see how teams will perform. There's still enough
time to improve and fix issues, everything is in hands of players and team
management and they just need to be smart and work effectively to solve
problems. There are bright sides of EU as a region: SK's improving during the split
as an example of that.
So since no new teams
entered the EU LCS, how do you predict the standings to look like for the
Summer Split?
Too many changes and too much time to predict anything, but I
believe that SK and Alliance will
do fine.
Alright then, any
shout-outs or people you want to thank?
Shout-out to my friends and people who support me. Thank you
for making this interview with me and good luck in your games and life tasks to
everybody reading this.
And thank you for the
interview as well as graduating from university. That's a very impressive
accomplishment. Best of luck finding a new team. We're all hoping to see you
back in the competitive scene.
