Following an impressive start to the year, Gentle Mates is now sitting at the top of the Ligue Française de League of Legends (LFL) in their inaugural competitive year. With a score of 3-1, the team is aiming high as it looks beyond local domination. This week, we sat down with one of the team's coaches: Mikkel "Donby" Donby. In this exclusive interview with Sheep Esports, we discussed the team's ambitions and the career trajectory of the 26-year-old coach.
The Gentle Mates family, 2024.
| How are you doing today?
Donby: "Doing super good. We've had a good week of practice, so I think we're super confident in our own ability to play well this week. When you wake up like that on game day, it feels great."
| How are you feeling regarding your upcoming matches?
Donby: "First up, we've got Team Du Sud. They haven't had the best start so far, but some of their games have been very close. I don't think they're a bad team. We need to respect all of our opponents. It's Best-of-Ones (BO1), and anything can happen, so we've prepared equally for everyone. We have our strategy, and we know how we want to play against TDS. I'm confident that if we stick to our game plan, we can win."
"Next up is Vitality. I think their performances have been quite inconsistent. They either look really good or really bad. It'll be interesting to see which side of the coin they land on today. However, I'm convinced that no matter what, we'll perform well. If we stick to the preparation we've done and play our own game, we'll be fine. Sometimes, we might get caught up in what the opponents are doing, but if we focus on our own strategy, I believe we'll come out on top."
| Could you explain how does the coaching dynamics work in your team? You've notably been working with Hansen for some time, how do you balance things with him?
Donby: "I think it really depends from team to team. Coaching structures vary a lot. In some teams, you have very standard positions like head coach and assistant coach. In our case, it's more like a duo, where we share responsibilities but also have separate roles. Ultimately, someone has to be the head coach and the person accountable."
"However, on a day-to-day basis, here's how it works: I'm responsible for coaching the bot lane, conducting individual coaching sessions between games, and so on. Meanwhile, my colleague focuses on the top side, which includes top, jungle, and mid. That doesn't mean we don't interact with the other players; it simply means that I primarily work with Bao and Kamilius. My other tasks include sharing the drafting responsibilities and keeping an eye on other regions like LPL and LCK to stay updated and present relevant videos to the team. I contribute additional insights to Hansen's strategic direction."
"Our daily routine starts with discussing our focus for the day and our pre-practice meeting agenda. We usually set a weekly focus, but we adjust our daily emphasis as needed. We talk about our presentation plans and discuss the draft before moving on to practice. During practice, we watch the team play our practice games. Between games, we allocate 15 minutes for team review and 10 minutes for individual review. I engage with the bot lane, while my colleague interacts with the other players. We aim to separate our focus to avoid monotony and ensure everyone gets attention. We repeat this process for five to six games, depending on the schedule. Afterward, we gather as a team for a debrief, discussing how the day went and whether we achieved our practice objectives. Then, the day ends, and we start anew."
| Everyone is in Paris, right? Are you working from a gaming house? A training facility with player housing?
Donby: "We have player housing, basically an apartment with six rooms. I have the largest room since I was the first one here. Bao lives nearby but separately for now. Each day, we head to the office for our training sessions. We also have PCs at home, which helps us balance between alone time and office hours effectively."
| You've been in several noteworthy teams like Astralis and MAD Lions. What are your ambitions for your career? What kind of impact do you expect Gentle Mates to have on it?
Donby: "For a lot of people, the goal is to end up in the LEC. It's also something I'm thinking of myself..."
"... You've been there with Astralis for a short time, right?"
Donby: "Yeah, I was there for a whole summer split. But the more I'm in this scene, the more I realize how important it is to enjoy the process. Being on an LEC team that doesn't value the process or the well-being of its players and staff isn't for me. At Gentle Mates, I feel cared for. The owners, staff, and fans make their presence felt, and that matters a lot. Winning doesn't mean much if you feel bad. So, I want my career to focus on enjoying the process and feeling at home. Gentle Mates is heading in the right direction with that."
| Would you say that being in Gentle Mates feels different than other teams you've been in?
Donby: "Absolutely, by far. It just feels like people care here. As a team, we prioritize our fans a lot. When we set our goals at the beginning of the year, one thing we all agreed on was doing right by our fans. They mean everything to us; they're the reason we can do what we do. The interactions and responses we get from them are amazing. Right now, we're doing well, but I believe and hope they'll stick around even when things eventually go south because they will at some point. You can't always win; that's just how it is. So, it feels different now, it feels good, and there's an external motivation to perform well, which is really nice. We want to succeed for them, not just for ourselves, and that feels really good."
| What are the general expectations for the roster right now?
Donby: "I think overall, we'd be lying if we said our ambition wasn't to win it all."
| Does this include the EMEA Masters?
Donby: "Yeah, I think we'd be lying if we weren't honest about where we want to go. That's definitely our aim. But overall, I believe the main goal is to enjoy the process and become the best team we can possibly be. Because ultimately, if we're at our best and still don't win EMEA Masters, there's nothing we can do about it. We can't control the outcomes; we can only control our approach and efforts. So, for me, the goal is to ensure our processes are solid and that we, as a team, enjoy and give our all every day. That's the only way we can look back at the year and feel content."
| Is there any standout player that has impressed you above others so far?
Donby: "They're all impressing me every day in different ways. Bao stands out to me for his openness as a person and his dedication to learning English. It's been much smoother than I anticipated initially. In terms of gameplay, Eika has really impressed me. He's incredibly flexible, probably the most flexible player I've ever worked with. While I've worked with flexible players in the past, Eika takes it to another level. He can handle several champions, including some niche ones. You might have noticed we pulled out Kog'Maw unexpectedly, but that's just one of many surprises he's capable of. His adaptability is what impresses me the most."
| Hot takes only! Can we hope to see some of your players in the LEC soon?
Donby: "Yeah, definitely. I think some of the players should already be in LEC. Some of them are really putting in the work to get there. I can see all five of them making it into the LEC, for sure."
| Soon you'll be playing in Nice for the LFL Days. How is the team preparing for that event? Are you excited to be competing in front of a huge crowd?
Donby: "Yeah, I mean, the preparation hasn't changed much so far. We'll discuss it more after this week because the stage, areas, and those kinds of things will come into play, so we need to focus on that. Other than that, we'll try to stick to our rituals and processes as closely as possible to maintain a sense of normalcy. That's really the point. Also, the patch is changing from 14.1b to 14.2, so there will be technical adjustments. Since everyone will lose a day of practice due to travel, we won't have much time to figure out what's good on the new patch. It'll be a bit of a race to adapt to the potential changes in the meta. We're examining the changes, assessing their implications, and looking at the statistics to prepare for the LFL Days."
| Are you confident about the team's read on next patch's meta?
Donby: "I'm confident in what changes and what doesn't change. I'm not confident in what's going to be new. Because you never know. I think there's so many things yet to be seen that still isn't discovered on the current patch. It was very obvious when the LEC started, there was one meta, and then..."
"We saw huge changes in priority for champions like Lucian"
Donby: "Yeah, and Xin Zhao too. He used to be really strong, but now he's not. It's surprising, considering it's the same patch. And Azir, too. That caught us off guard. And Corki appeared suddenly. It's these scrim bubbles and echo chambers which sometimes give out wrong information. Some teams also keep certain strategies to themselves until official matches. So yeah, there's probably still some things people haven't seen. I can already tell you that the meta changed a lot this week compared to last week."
"We saw that last week with the apparition of Udyr top."
Donby: "Yeah, that too. We didn't see it before it happened in the first few official matches. We noticed it in LCK before it started being played in Europe, so we already knew it was coming. But yeah, I mean, the draft patterns have changed this week, at least for a lot of teams we've played against."
| Any last words for the fans?
Donby: "I want to say thank you guys so much for being as supportive, friendly, and welcoming as you have been. I think we as a team could not have wished for a better welcome. And the support that you guys give us, as I said earlier, is everything. It's one of our big goals to make sure you guys are happy. I hope you can see that in how we interact with you guys and how we try to keep you updated and everything. So thank you so much for allowing us to do what we do. And we're gonna keep fighting to make sure that you stay happy."
Donby, competing with Gentle Mates in the LFL.
What's next?
Coming in as favorites this week, Gentle Mates will have to continue their ongoing strong performances as they look to face-off against Team Du Sud and Vitality.Bee. The team is expected to meet its first true challenge at the LFL Days in Nice as they will face Aegis and Karmine Corp Blue there.
Week 3 - Gentle Mates LFL Schedule:
- Wednesday 31st - TDS vs M8
- Thursday 1st - M8 vs VITB
