A week after Rogue's elimination and the conclusion of the LEC 2024 Summer Season, the team's star midlaner and captain, Emil "Larssen" Larsson, sat down with Sheep Esports to discuss the abrupt end to their competitive year. Despite their best efforts, the team faced two defeats against MAD Lions KOI on the final day of the group stage, resulting in their elimination from contention for the remainder of the LEC 2024 Season after playing only 29 matches across all three splits. In this exclusive interview, Larssen reflects on his future with the organization, provides insights into the last week of the LEC, shares his thoughts on the LEC's format, and much more.

How are you feeling one week after the end of the season? Have you had time to process everything?

Emil 'Larssen' Larsson: "I'm happy to be here. I still am in the denial phase honestly though. It feels very surreal that the year is already over for us. Losing out in June and being eliminated this early... When I went to the office after the loss, I was doing my off-day practices and getting ready to play scrims on the next day, except there were none obviously. It was and still is just a very weird feeling. It still feels like the split just started, you know?

Scrims and Expectations

Given that you started scrimming two weeks before anyone else, what were your expectations going into summer? Was Rogue's underperformance surprising when put in contrast with your scrims?

Larssen: I mean, at the start of the year, definitely. I had very high expectations. I expected us to at least have a good chance to be a top 3 team. When I looked at the roster, I saw a lot of potential. We had a lot of good players, and I thought we had what was necessary to eventually be a really good team.

Going into summer, obviously, we had already went ninth twice in a row in the two previous splits, so I knew that it wouldn't be easy. Still, in my eyes, getting top eight was never something I expected us to fail at when heading into this year. I really thought that getting the top 3 was doable, as most European teams are not that strong right now in my opinion.

Could you tell us more about the scrim results of the team prior to and during the split?

Larssen: Scrims have been solid. We had some ups and downs. Sometimes scrims have been pretty bad; sometimes they have been good. Definitely a higher win percentage than on stage. We had issues playing relaxed and normally on stage I'd say. We were unfortunately a very slow team to adapt. We definitely had some issues that we never fixed. I definitely still think that we're a better team than what was showed, but we had a lot of opportunities to show it and failed.

You mentioned that you thought the team had a ceiling equivalent to the top three of the LEC...

Larssen: I mean, I even thought we could have won the title. That was my hope, right? I thought we had what the ceiling of contesting a title in the LEC and thought that our chances were very good.

Rogue: Past, Present, and Future

Rogue has undergone changes since its successful pre-2022 era, evolving from Rogue to KOI and back. As someone with the team since 2019, how do you see the organization's evolution, particularly in terms of coaching and overall structure?

Larssen: I feel like it's not too different honestly. Personally, I'm not involved much in the office side; my focus is on winning and competing. So, from my perspective, things have remained fairly similar. Of course, there were changes with KOI coming in, which expanded our fanbase, especially in Spain. However, in terms of the gameplay and results, I don't think much has changed. If anything, we're performing worse now compared to before.

You were a central figure in the 2024 off-season and had high expectations for better results. Has this year affected your confidence and how you see yourself as a player? Do you still consider yourself a top player in the LEC?

Larssen: I have a lot of confidence in myself. I still believe that I can be a top-tier midlaner, and I still believe I can be the best mid in the LEC and win the title. But obviously, after the past one and a half years, my confidence has definitely been hurt.

Before, when I would go into a game in the LEC unless we played a top-tier team, I thought we would probably win the game. I thought that no games were out of our reach and that beating those teams wouldn't be that hard. But now, any game I go into, even against the bottom three teams, I just think: "It's going to be a hard game; we need to fight for our lives to win". There has been a big change in my mentality coming into officials.

It used to feel so easy to win, but now, everything feels so hard. So it definitely affected me, which makes sense after having this rough year. But I'm still very confident in myself that I am still a very good player. Still, my confidence in leading a team to victory has definitely been hurt.

You have signed with Rogue until the end of 2027 but, there have been rumors since last year that the organization might eventually look to sell its LEC spot. Have these kinds of rumors impacted your negotiations and do they scare you for your future in the LEC?

Larssen: Not really. I mean, I'm not thinking about the future too much. I can't just sit here and think about it. I'm living in the moment, so I just need to prepare the best I can for next year and make sure I'm in good shape to revive my career. I really want to get back to the top again, so that's the only thing I can do right now. I can't think about other stuff, and it's not really affecting me. I'm just trying to live in the moment, and whatever happens in the future happens.

The Final Week

Rogue felt much less proactive in Week 4, often giving away games without doing much. What happened going into that week? Would you say that the stress of making playoffs got to you and made you opt for 'safer' scaling comps?

Larssen: Coming into week 4, we had a very good week of practice. We actually stomped some teams and felt pretty confident. We also had a relatively easy schedule compared to other teams in our position. Honestly, I'm not sure what happened... It's just an issue we had throughout the year, right? We didn't play as aggressively as we should have.

When we lost to BDS in week 3, before beating Heretics the next day, we came to the conclusion that we just had to opt into these scaling comps because we simply weren't good enough to play for the early game. We always failed to snowball our leads. Honestly, there are even times when we lost in the early game with early comps. With this much on the line, I still think it was a good call, even if it did not work out.

More importantly than Week 4, the final day of the LEC was intense for the lower teams. After playing your second match, you had to wait about 3 hours for a rematch against MDK. How did you experience that day? Did the long break affect your readiness for the tiebreakers?

Larssen: It's definitely not ideal to sit in the studio for 3 or 4 hours. It wasn't easy, but it was the same in the Spring Split. We played against SK in either the first or second game and then had to wait for the tiebreaker against SK for a couple of hours. It's definitely challenging.

It's something we should have prepared for more—how to handle it and ensure we're mentally sharp when the game resumes. We were just chilling in the studio, not doing anything special. It's part of a player's time when in the LEC, but sitting there for so long is definitely not great. Can't really blame anyone for that though.

The League's Format

The LEC format has been criticized by many for various reasons including high mental pressure on players, volatility, and more. What is your personal opinion on the current LEC format, especially after having struggled for two years in a row?

Larssen: I think the priority should be what the viewers enjoy the most. We play for the fans, so their enjoyment matters. As a player, entering the format, I knew a rough start could put us in a bad position early on. It's stressful when the split is on the line after a tough week 1 or 2. I didn't expect both teams I've been on to struggle this much.

However, I've been critical of the format from the beginning. The hype around the final weekends feels much lower with so many titles in a year. Calling each split final a "title" lowers the value of winning a LEC title in my opinion. Initially, I thought only the season finals should be considered a true title. Now, with so many titles, it devalues past achievements. Overall, it doesn't feel as exciting or prestigious anymore. The best-of-one format brings some excitement with quick eliminations, but I'm not convinced it's the best format for fans, despite what some might prefer.

From a competitive standpoint, the current format seems to also bring high volatility and disincentivize bringing in rookies. Would you say that the format impacted the growth of Rogue as a team and stifled your ability to try new things?

Larssen: Yeah, for sure it does, as I've said before. If you have a really rough week one and a tough start to week two, you're in a spot where you really need to be careful about what you pick and how you play. For instance, in the last week, we focused on drafting scaling compositions because that's often the safest path to victory in this format. It's been especially tough for a rookie like Zoelys because every split has started poorly, which isn't ideal for his development. As I mentioned earlier, I think the most important thing is how the format impacts the fans, and I'm not sure it's the best for them.

One positive aspect of the format is that top-tier teams get to play more games. More best-of-threes and best-of-fives are played, which I think is beneficial. So it's not all negative. There are definitely positives to the format, especially for the top teams. Ultimately, though, I believe the priority should always be what's best for the fans.

Takeaways & Other Midlaners

Are there positives that you will take away from 2023-2024? Even if the results were difficult, would you say that you have learned from them?

Larssen: Of course, there's always positives to be found in difficult periods in life. I always try to focus on the positive and learn from these situations. Right now, it may seem tough, but in the long run, these struggles could turn out to be beneficial. Winning games now brings me a lot more happiness than before. Previously, it was more of a relief because winning was expected. Now, winning makes me genuinely happy and even emotional. There's definitely a lot to learn from this experience, although it's still early days for reflection. What I do know is that it will fuel my determination for next year. That's already a positive takeaway from this.

As one of the longer-standing players in the LEC since 2019, how do you feel about competing against new talents like Jackies, Vladi, and even Nuc, and do you feel motivated to prove yourself against these rookies?

Larssen: Definitely, I think it's more enjoyable now with rookies like Jackies and Vladi joining. It definitely adds extra motivation to compete against them, although they've been winning against me recently. It's interesting to see new players come in with their raw talent; they offer new things to learn. I do consider myself a veteran, not as seasoned as Nisqy and Caps, who have been around for much longer, but still part of the old guard in a sense.

Do you think the overall level of play in the midlane has improved in recent splits compared to the past?

Larssen: I wouldn't say so, no. I feel like the level was probably higher in the past. But the current level is completely fine. When I first entered, I thought the overall level was likely higher.

Conclusion

Have you thought of what you're going to do in the next few months? Perhaps bootcamping in Korea? Something else?

Larssen: Everything is still very early on. I just got home in Sweden and, I haven't really made too much plans yet. I just know that I will do anything to get back to the top. It's just really boring to be at the bottom of the standings. Korea is definitely an option, but I've heard that solo queue isn't as good as before nowadays.

Rogue nowadays does have one of the smaller fanbases of the LEC, but you still have plenty of dedicated fans following you like Hannivai. How important was the support of fans for you this year?

Larssen: Yeah, for sure. In the past, when we were winning, I didn't really value the fans as much because things were going well and I didn't feel too affected. But now, going through a tough time, every message from fans means a lot. It lifts your spirits to receive letters or messages from them. I still have fans who support me, and I value them greatly. So, especially in these difficult times, their support means a lot to me."