Taking down the behemoths of T1, Los Ratones established themselves as a force to be reckoned with at the Red Bull League of Its Own 2024. As the team prepares for even greater challenges, the Messi of League of Legends, Simon "Thebausffs" Hofverberg, sits down with Sheep Esports to discuss his rise to fame, the evolution of his career, and reflect on his match against the South Korean reigning World Champions.

Today at the Red Bull League of Its Own, you pulled off the Baus Special against T1, solo-killed Faker, and lived up to your title as the Messi of League of Legends. What was that experience like?

Simon "Thebausffs" Hofverberg: "You flatter me—thank you! No, it was amazing. The fans were crazy. It was such an incredible experience. How was it to beat T1? Well, they didn’t give it their best, you know. They had a substitute, they were off-role. So, honestly, on a real day, in a proper game, they would whoop our asses. But still, this was my first-ever stage game—my first-ever competitive game on stage—and to get to play versus T1, and even beat them? Nothing beats that. It was amazing.

Was it stressful for you? Are you happy with how it went?

Thebausffs: Yeah, I mean, I was inting the early game. I was so nervous. That Teemo started spacing me—like, from the first minion, he started spacing me, you know? I got so stressed out. Throughout the early game, I played a lot worse. No excuse for anything, but Untara played really well. He did great, so no excuses there. But yeah, I was very nervous. Luckily, that passed in the mid-game, and I was able to focus up and secure the W.

You recently won the NNO Cup, beat T1 today, and are facing new challenges next year. At this point, can anyone stop you? LS once said, "If Baus played real champions, he'd be better than most pros." Do you think that’ll happen next year?

Thebausffs: LS said that? Damn, that’s giving me a little too much credit. Well, right now, I think my champion pool is actually pretty damn strong. There are actually a lot of other players giving me credit, and some are being inspired by my champion pool. They’re thinking, "Oh wow, these high-tempo, high-wave-clear champions look pretty strong when Baus plays them."

Right now, my champ pool is looking real fine, and I’m really good gameplay-wise. So, if it comes down to needing to learn champions like K’Sante or Gnar, which I don’t like, I’ll do it if the team needs me to. I’ve said this to my team, and they agree—they’re on the same page. We didn’t start Los Ratones just to have fun with content or joke around; we made it to win everything.

You worked your way up to becoming a pro and a big streamer. Back in 2019, you already wanted to be a full-time streamer, but did you ever expect it to get this big?

Thebausffs: No, of course not. I didn’t expect that. Like, me playing on this stage—I don’t even know how many people were watching. They said it was 15,000 people, which is incredible. And what’s even more incredible is that I played against T1, of all teams. I’ve watched these players and this team for so many years. I couldn’t even imagine playing a match against them. So, yeah, it’s incredible.

I have a quote from your stream where you said, “Only a few pro players actually spend time playing solo queue, and most of them are the laziest people in the world. I’m going to first-time pro play and win everything to expose the disgusting work ethic they have in Europe.” Do you still stand by that today?

Thebausffs: I’ve been meeting all these pro players, and I hope no one takes offense. But yeah, I stand by it 100%. The thing is, I haven’t been seeing pro players in solo queue. These pro players wake up and do their five-set scrims. What is that? Three hours? Then they do one hour of analyst work. And after that? Half of them don’t even play solo queue. I know their schedules—some teams do two scrim sets, but the rest of them don’t do anything. They just go on Twitter and scroll all day. No one has any work ethic, and it shows. That’s why we never win anything in Europe.

Do you think they're scared of you?

Thebausffs: 100%! You kidding me? Every top laner in LEC is shaking right now because they know I’m gonna take their spot.

Are you saying you're going to win the EMEA Masters next split?

Thebausffs: 100%! Yes. There's only winning with Los Ratones. We’re not gonna lose a single one."