TL Tactical on C9: “I’m sure we’ll eventually be able to beat them”

Team Liquid has dethroned Cloud9 as the top team in the LCS standings. Liquid advanced to a 10-2 record after defeating 100 Thieves, a far cry from their Spring Split performance. 

Jungler Edward “Tactical” Ra may be new to the team and to the LCS, but he’s proven himself worthy time and time again. WIN.gg spoke with the recent Team Liquid Academy graduate to talk about his time on the main roster and what it will take to stay on top this split. 

WIN.gg: How are you feeling? 

Tactical: Pretty good, since we just won! 

Did the match go as planned? 

It was a bit scary early, but later on everything went pretty well. 

The draft gave them a lot of early control but it seems like we capitalized on their mistakes and were able to stabilize in the early game. 

Team Liquid is currently on a six game winning streak. What changed in such a short amount of time?

Our teamwork has gotten better. We’re on the same page more. We sync up faster during the matches, especially.

The meta is good for us right now. We’re comfortable on the champs. So we can focus on the team aspect of the game. 

The biggest difference for the team is obviously the switch away from Doublelift. What do you think you do differently than DL that has really benefited the team? 

Before we would try to get advantages with DL in laning phase, since we had a support that roams a lot. But we try to get our lead through top side now. We’re pretty stable and pretty good at minimizing our losses. As a result, we are able to get a lot of those opportunities where we don’t lose as much as other teams might. We just execute pretty well in top side. 

How do you feel you’re fitting in with the team this season? 

I feel like a core part of the team. I make a lot of contributions. Everyone brings in equal contributions. 

You went from Academy to dominating this season in the LCS. How has it felt being a part of TL’s comeback? 

It feels really good. It feels like a strong comeback. I always like winning, winning is really fun. Especially since this is my first starting split in the LCS. It feels good in my first split we can have such high placement in the standings so far. 

What do you miss the most about being on stage? 

There’s more excitement and adrenaline to it. For me, I’d look up to big players on stage and thought it was really cool. So being up there, it’s like being in a dream I had years ago. 

A lot of the teams play in their rooms now but Team Liquid is playing at the Alienware Facility. Do you feel that gives your team an advantage?

It has in terms of team growth during scrims. We’re more efficient. It helps us improve more effectively, because in-person interactions make it easier to pinpoint what needs improvement. 

How do you think Coach Jatt has helped you guys improve?

I didn’t get to play pre-Jatt too much. But it seems like he brings a lot of structure to the team. Just making sure there’s something to work on every week. 

Team Liquid look to keep their top spot in the LCS

For the first time this year, Cloud9 has been dethroned. What will you need to do to stay on top?

For us, keep doing what we are doing. Keep polishing up. I’m sure we’ll eventually be able to beat them, for sure. Everything is going really smoothly for us. 

Despite your great record, many of Team Liquid’s games have been fairly long and not finished in a clean fashion. Which improvements are needed to make the games more clear-cut?  

I think our games are long but it’s because we take our time with how we want to end the game. We could play more aggressive and take fights but for now, we are using guaranteed leads. We are not trying to outplay mechanically. We are just using our comp and team advantages.