After a tough 0-2 loss against G2 Esports in the LEC 2024 Summer Playoffs, Adam "Adam" Maanane, top laner of Team BDS, sits down with Sheep Esports for an exclusive League of Legends esports interview. In the wake of this defeat, he reflects on his team's performance and approach going into next week. The French top laner shares his thoughts on the team's confidence, the challenges they will face, and briefly mentions his views on the current LEC format.

What do you think happened today that led to your defeat against G2?

Adam "Adam" Maanane: Obviously, we thought that we would win today, to be completely honest. But at the same time, we knew there was a possibility we could lose. The last few days before going on stage against G2 were not great, aside from our MAD Lions KOI match. We still won against them; it was okay, but... the days leading up to the games were really rough.

We already knew we had issues, and we saw all of these resurface this week, especially in our match against G2. They 2-0'd us, and it really showed that we have a lot to work on. There's really nothing much we could really do during the games. I think they also had really good preparation against us specifically. We couldn't really adapt, so props to G2."

You posted after the match that you felt your team was not in the right headspace today. Were there any specific events that caused this?

Adam: I'm not sure. You know, this was more of a feeling. For example, I've been with my teammates for a long time now, so you can see when something is wrong. I could tell that something was not right, but to explain what caused it or why it happened is really hard.

I don't think this problem was caused by anyone in particular. Not knowing the cause of this problem is difficult. It could have been a lot of small little things added up, which became too much to handle. It was obvious we weren't playing at our 100% today. We were closer to 70-80% of what we can really show. I don't think we played bad games though, it just felt like G2 was way better.

Do you think this week's matches have affected the team's confidence, or are you still confident about pulling through in the lower bracket?

Adam: Personally, I have full confidence in my team, my teammates, and myself, obviously. I don't think this series defines us, defines BDS defines our split, or defines what we are as a team. We actually all know what we're capable of. Today, even though we didn't show the perfect BDS, I still think we didn't play badly.

It was very different in our MDK match, where we played really badly. We had to wake up a bit after facing them. Playing against G2, I mean, we obviously didn't play that great, but I still maintain that we weren't bad either. We'll have to learn from these matches for next week. Just because we lost against them now doesn't mean we'll never be able to beat them this split. Let's just call it a bad day.

What do you think BDS is missing in order to match G2 in future matches?

Adam: We have already improved a lot in handling side lanes, especially against G2's playstyle. If you don't know them and you're experiencing their playstyle for the first time, it can be hard to handle. But throughout the year, we practiced a lot and improved a lot on that. We aren't really surprised anymore by Caps, with Tristana pushing everything into our base and us not being able to respond. It used to happen before, but not anymore, right?

But if you want to say what was actually missing today, it's more like connection. Like today, even though we're on the same team and the same comms, sometimes you just lack a lot of connection, which can come from both ways. Everyone is not mentally in the game, which I think happened during these two games. And so, it's hard to coordinate with each other. Everything becomes so weird. For example, we made so many mistakes because we just don't talk enough, right? Or we just don't think about what G2 can do. This is probably the biggest issue we had today.

Otherwise, I think during the best-of-one, we showed how strong we could be in Europe, and I think we proved it really well. It's just that coming to best-of-three is different somehow. I would say this is something we need to work on. I already talked to Striker, and he has points to help us completely step up in this aspect, so we'll have one week to improve.

What do you think of the current LEC format? Do you see room for improvement?

Adam: I'm not the biggest fan of the nine best-of-ones to decide the standings. This is something that could definitely be improved. But otherwise, to be fair, as a player, I don't really care about the format. Because no matter what the format is, if you're bad, you will not play a lot of games. This is how it works, right? And if you're good, you will play more games. So, I would say this format is just... Like it's double-edged, right? The worst teams cannot play games, like Rogue—they play 29 games—and the best teams can play a bit more games, like more best-of-threes and more best-of-fives. I don't have a strong opinion on the format.

In interviews, BDS members often mention that winning a title in the LEC is their goal. Given the recent defeats and setbacks, do you still see this as your primary goal, and do you believe it is achievable this year?

Adam: For me, it's kind of this split or never. We've been trying two times in winter and spring, and we've been so close every time, but we couldn't even reach finals. Split after split, I feel like we are getting a bit closer to reaching this title and, if we don't believe in ourselves, we will never achieve it. I'm not thinking about whether it's achievable or not because I'm focusing on my desire to achieve it. I can only know if it will happen or not when we either get eliminated or win the trophy.

Next week, you will be facing the winner of the Heretics vs GIANTX match. Who do you expect to face in the lower bracket next week, and how do you think you'll match up against them?

Adam: Oh, I honestly thought we were facing the winner of MDK vs KC. I mean, that's good for us. I think the real challenge for us will be facing SK Gaming. I don't have much concern about facing either TH or GX, to be honest. We'll just need to win against SK and reach the top 3. Then, most likely, we'll face Fnatic in a best-of-five, and after that, we'll aim for the Finals, where we would probably face G2 again to finally win the title. So, that's the scenario we hope for. But we'll try our best.

So, full confidence whether you're playing against Heretics or GIANTX, right?

Adam: Yes.