Scoring one of the most convincing best-of-five victories for Europe in several years, G2 Esports are now the stars of the Mid-Season Invitational (MSI) for Western fans. In this conference interview, BrokenBlade sits down and discusses the ways G2 has been improving and his expectations for the rest of the tournament.

BrokenBlade: "Honestly, I do want to beat T1 and get my rematch. I feel like we should have and could have won this series. It was very disappointing on our end. We know we can win, so we want to face them again. If for whatever reason we end up playing against Team Liquid, it'll feel good regardless to avenge our European brothers at Fnatic."

BrokenBlade: "We came into this tournament playing against a ton of top-tier teams. Thanks to them, we've been able to grow and become stronger, to the point where we're now stronger and able to outperform them. In the first series against T1, the main reason we lost was because we got overexcited and doubted our chances of winning. Today, we managed to stay calm much better. Even though we faced a very strong team, we were much more disciplined."

BrokenBlade: "I think that 369 played very well today. In general, he is a player who plays very consistently well and, he will always be able to deny you farm and utilize his jungler well. In game 2, I died a lot and got pressured by the two of them. He played it all very well."

BrokenBlade: "We've just won two BO5s in a 3-0 fashion in a row. It's a very nice feeling for us, and I think our opponents will need to respect that. When you win three games in a row like this, your opponents will see less from you and you won't have to reveal as much. We still have to play against so many opponents if we want to win since we lost in the first round. Obviously, this match will give us a lot of momentum and, we want to win the next series.

Our goal is to stay humble and focused, even though we just 3-0'd an LPL team. We want to aim for the trophy and for us, that means having to beat every single team that crosses our path. It will not be an easy road at all, but I know that we can do it. I know that we have the skills and confidence to win it all. My hopes are high."

BrokenBlade: "Mainly, the biggest reason for teams not trying out off-meta picks is simply because, well, they are off-meta picks. People are scared of trying out different strategies and, if you pick something that isn't common and do badly, you'll be flamed into oblivion. We still also have that pressure but, we love to experiment and try new things. We often throw a ton of picks at the board especially in scrims so we can see what sticks.

A good example of this is how we were among the first teams to play Zac, Rek'Sai, and Twisted Fate. The same goes for Ivern today as well. We have a lot of confidence in our strategies, and we practice them a lot. We define the meta, this is OUR meta and the identity of our team. There are a lot of players who would rather go and play the same champions for years, but that is not us. As a top laner for example, I could be playing things like Gnar or Renekton, but well, no one knows me for that [laughs]. Our players and staff are just like that, you know? We are creative and we are able to pull these things off. I'm very glad that I'm in such a team."

BrokenBlade: "I think it's fair that most people made this statement in the past. I think that a reason why this narrative was spread is simply because people could not compare me to any other local top laners, since I was the only one that consistently made it to international tournaments. It's hard to compare me against myself instead of someone else.

This year, I have practiced my laning phase a lot and, as some may know, I've been working with Alphari a lot since the start of the season. Even though I'm not working with him anymore, I've taken a lot of learnings from that and learned a ton of new ideas and creative strategies which made me realize that I can do so much more in lane. I feel like my game IQ has grown very highly outside of laning phase as well.

The reason why I could never use it and look good internationally was because I could never get out of lane while even or ahead. It was a fair statement back then but, that narrative is dead now. It doesn't mean that I should stop working though. I feel like I'm just at the beginning of something great."

BrokenBlade: "My cactus is doing very great. Thank you."

BrokenBlade: "It definitely impacted us a lot. We were way too excited going into the series and it cost us dearly. After that match, we knew that we could have won and that we were good. We had talks after facing T1 and just told ourselves: "Let's just stay calm in the future and have a good game plan. Let's talk with each other and avoid screaming even if we're hyped".

I feel like these games are much easier to play when we're calmer and collected. There were many moments in our matches where I was playing Zac for example and engaging forward when the overall play was already over. We were simply not always on the same page. We know that we will just smash these teams if we stay calm. We are just so good at the moment and, as a team, we have an amazing understanding of how the game works compared to last year. I think that our game knowledge is equal, if not better than most teams at the tournament."

BrokenBlade: "I don't think it all comes down to us improving. I feel like we came in with a high level and, obviously a lot of people did not anticipate that from us but, we're doing great against Eastern teams as well. There were a lot of narratives about how G2 were just going to get stomped again but, at G2, we build rosters to win internationally.

Yes, the last few years have been failures but, this year, I would hope that we will make a difference. We are aiming high each year and I want to be the best in the world. Bringing in Duffman has been a key to us understanding of how to play League of Legends at a higher level. He has brought us a lot of new key aspects and have learned us the staples of the game. I think we've made a lot of progress in how we handle minion waves for example.

Last year, we simply did not have any talks about that kind of thing and, we're a much more intelligent team now. I'm grateful for his work and, I feel like we have something special this year. We can't let this opportunity slip past us. Everyone is working very hard on themselves and for the team. We haven't taken a single day off since our arrival at MSI. We're looking to win, nothing else."

BrokenBlade: "From my perspective, that match is very T1-favored. That said, T1 has been having difficulties lately and, with TL coming off a win against Fnatic, I can imagine that they are excited and have high hopes for that match. They're going to come in confidently, whereas T1 is not at their best.

If APA can get into Faker's head in chat, maybe we're gonna get a good match. I do think there is a chance for North America. Obviously, they are still the underdogs and, I hope that T1 wins since I want to get my rematch against them. Still, I'm not against playing Team Liquid either. They can be dangerous and we wouldn't underestimate them. They beat our brothers at Fnatic and we have to take revenge for them. It's going to be interesting."

BrokenBlade: "Not in particular honestly. Yike is just very good on that champion. It just looked very strong in that game and my jungler was completely smurfing on it. It combos very well with champions like Camille or K'Sante for example as well."

BrokenBlade: "It's been an amazing journey to get there; I'm grateful to be here. I get to wake up every day and play with my teammates and there is just so much passion in every single one of them. I'm glad that our environment is so good and that I can share my opinions and discuss with them as well. Winning today means a lot for us. It's also proof that our hard work and efforts are being repaid and were worth it. We are closing the gap once more. We want to inspire other teams in the West to do their best. If we can do it, anyone can. I hope that we'll lift the MSI trophy and bring Europe to a new era."