An interview with Mikyx, G2 esports’ support at LEC

After securing their third LEC title of the season in the Summer playoffs, G2 Esports continued their good form by opening their Summer finals campaign a 3-1 win over Team BDS. The victory sees them progress through the finals’ upper bracket while also securing a place at this year’s World Championship. We spoke with their support Mihael “Mikyx” Mehle following the win.

WIN.gg: What were your general thoughts on how the series played out?

Mikyx: I think the series went a bit closer than expected. I thought we were going to stomp them pretty fast, but in game two they had a good plan. They caught us a bit off guard because in their last two games they picked Ivern and lost both of them, so we didn’t expect them to just go back on it again. They just lost the previous game on Ivern, so we just thought they were probably not going to pick it. But they did and they actually had a good [performance].

They also played a lot of Zeri which we were also not that practiced against, so that was also a bit of an issue. They just overall played better than expected. 

Is that a tiny wake-up call, maybe just to make sure that no teams are underestimated at all?

Yeah, I guess so. I think we learned a lot from the series so I’m looking forward to our next one. I think we’re going to show a better showing.

I feel like we still didn’t really show much new stuff. I guess we showed Evelynn and Kled but, besides that, I think we have a lot more things in store that we didn’t actually have to pull out.  We just kind of had the same drafts over and over again.  

What are your expectations going up against MAD next? Is it hard to gauge them right now going from a loss streak into a 3-0 victory?

I expect it to go kind of similarly to today. I think they’re about the same level as BDS so it might be a close one, I’m not sure. I think we’re still better than them and I think we’re just way more prepared for them compared to when they beat us in Spring. I think ever since then, when we’ve played them, every time I think we just had a really good preparation for them and I think we just kind of know how they want to play.

Is there any team you’re expecting could be a bit of a tricky opponent throughout the rest of the finals?

Not really. I guess we didn’t see Fnatic and SK play yet, I’m not sure how they would do. Fnatic was good in the regular split for a while so they could surprise. I think SK also usually performed pretty well in scrims so I have high hopes for them as well.  

I hope my boy Mark [Mark “Markoon” van Woensel] makes it to the top four. Actually, it would be nice to play against him. So yeah, I’m hoping for SK. 

That series locks in for Worlds. Is there anyone in particular you’re hoping to go up against or looking forward to facing?

At Worlds I kind of want to play against C9 and T1. I think those two are the teams that I’m looking forward to playing because I know some people from the teams so it would be nice to beat them and then make fun of them after. 

I guess I would want to play JDG because they won MSI and they won two LPL splits, so they’re considered the best team. I want to play them and show them that they’re not actually the best.  

Against MAD, you’ll be up against a familiar support opponent in Zdravets “Hylissang” Galabov. The two of you are often considered in the LEC GOAT support debate – who do you think edges that? I actually asked Hyli a few weeks ago he said at the moment he’d probably give it to you.  Would you agree?

At the moment probably yes. I think he didn’t have the best split so far so I guess yeah. But I think when it comes to international performance he usually does really, really well so I don’t know. I think it’s a toss up.  

I think it depends on the game. We’re both kind of coin flip players, so whatever the coin flip plans on the day edges it. 

I want to ask you about the All Pro Awards. I know since they’ve come out, there’s been a bit of controversy about those awards. What are your thoughts on how they turned out?  

I think for EU, the first team made sense, no one was very close to us this split in terms of just gameplay. I think everyone on our team outperformed everyone on other teams.

I don’t know about the second and third teams. I don’t actually remember from the top of my head who was even there. I guess it was Excel, which I think makes sense because they did play way better. I think some players from the other teams maybe deserved more, I don’t know, I didn’t really care too much.  

I think the LCK one maybe was a little bit skewed in KT’s favour. I didn’t think KT was that far above everyone else so that one didn’t make that much sense.