Luka "Perkz" Perković’s sights haven’t changed at all. He still looks like one of the best players in the world, and still has his lifting the Summoner’s Cup on his mind. Though Team Vitality doesn’t have the best record in the LEC, Perkz is still optimistic about the talent and potential of the lineup. Inven Global got to speak with Perkz, and discuss his opinions on working with the roster, his opinions on the meta, and the public’s perception of Fnatic top laner Martin "Wunder" Hansen.

The team looks good, but obviously doesn’t look as fine-tuned as some of the other top teams in the league. Alphari mentioned that your guys’ playstyle is a bit overagressive. Besides that though, what do you think you can work on?

Yeah, I think that is kind of true. I think sometimes we're not really playing slow and controlled. But I don't think it's that bad. I think it's better to be over-aggressive and tone it down than to have the lack of looking for fights and engages. So I'm not too unhappy with it.

We have a lot of things to work on, I think it'd be hard to mention all the things that we actually have to work on because there are so many of them. But it's just about taking it one step at a time — not focusing too much on the negatives and the problems. And working on one weakness and buffing one strength is the way to go.

On the LEC broadcast you stated you need all four teammates to follow you — how does this team approach that principle different from when you were on C9 and G2? To find success — is it more a matter of adjusting your style, or your teammate's adjusting theirs?

I mean, I think it's not really about...yeah, I said that, but it's not about whether it's like to follow me or to follow somebody, it's rather about being on the same page. 

I believe — I can't say for sure — but I am one of the players that tries probably the hardest to have his team on the same page. So that's one of my strengths. And I work really hard to try to make it happen. So I feel like my opinion is being respected and listened to. And that is what I need to strive and that is what I need to make my team perform well as well.

I bring up topics to talk about, to discuss. And then I ask everyone if they agree with it or not, and then when they don't agree, then we agree on something else as a team together. It's about agreeing on communication on macro points and stuff in-game altogether. So it is it can be anyone's point. It can be Barney's, it can be Carzzy's, it can be jungle and support's as well.

It's just about us being on the same page. It just happens to be that I bring up a lot of points. So that is why I mentioned that, I guess.

How does it compare working with Selfmade in comparison to Jankos and Blaber?

I think he and I work well. I think we are just both skilled players and I think we are playing the meta well. I feel like he's very good at getting jungle leads, and at the moment, I'm very good getting mid lane leads for myself as well. So I think that there is not like something... it's not like the old times when the jungler would just perma-gank mid. Jungle is more about farming nowadays and making plays in sidelanes. And I think we are doing just fine.

I don't think Jankos or Blaber are doing something specifically insane or something bad. I think that Selfmade and I are just both good players, so we're playing well together.

Do you think that style is best for the meta at the moment? Malrang seems to have found a lot of mileage with ganking over farming. Do you think in the long run, though, that a farming style is better right now?

I think it depends on the champion you play and the game states. But I would say most of the time, yeah. I mean, I like having a high CS jungler. Obviously, I like when jungle ganks my lane as well. But most of the time, if the gank doesn't work out, it can be really bad for your jungler. It's happened today, for example, to Malrang [interview was recorded on Feb. 10 — Ed.]. So it depends on the game. It's really hard to say.

I think in general, the higher the CS jungler, the better it is. And if he can pressure while having high CS, that is really good.

Do you think Rogue are likely to level-out, or do you think their loss against Astralis was a fluke?

We scrimmed them, and I do think they're actually the best team in Europe. So I think today was a bit of a fluke. It is bound to happen that a team who hasn't won a game beat somebody. So it sucks that it was them, but I do think I actually have respect for Rogue. But I don't think they're like really, really insane. I think they're just a good team right now.

We’ve started to see some of the Smite meta shifts start to affect mid lane. In PCS we saw Smite Bard mid. Do you think we might start seeing stuff like this in the LEC?

[laughs] I didn't see that, but it sounds kind of fun. I mean, if it's actually good I would like to play it. It sounds pretty funny to play Bard. I don't know if it's a great... honestly, it sounds kind of troll. But I have no info.

When I spoke with Alphari about top lane, he was very much against the idea of Janna Smite top. Do you then think differently regarding enchanters in the mid lane? Are they a problem?

I like diversity, but I kind of have to agree with him. I think playing a champion that doesn't farm and just runs around the map and does nothing... that does something, but does eventually nothing — it's kind of boring and it's kind of not healthy for the game. It is true. So if that is in any way viable, it should be nerfed and deleted.

Why do you think casual players are so enthusiastic about it?

I think it's just a way in soloqueue to throw people off and gain Elo by not playing a normal strategy. I think you can win lots of games cheesing people.

You heard recently about YamatoCannon's comments regarding Wunder — that his work ethic and professionalism have both been excellent. Some saw this as contradictory to your previous statements — in a serious context — that Wunder played a lot of World of Warcraft over League. Would you mind elaborating, please?

I liked working with Wunder. I have no issues with him. I think he's a good professional. I did mention that he didn't play as much solo queue as somebody else. But it is different from person to person. So I'm not to judge that. I think he was a good teammate. Him playing soloqueue or not playing soloqueue is up to him.

Right now, I'm kind of playing a lot of League. And I know some other players in the EU that also play a lot of League. But I feel like mindlessly grinding soloqueue is not useful anyway. Sure, if he doesn't play more than 10 games a week, that's probably not good as well. 

Honestly, even over 30 games of soloqueue a week is maybe more than enough, considering we have scrims every day, team meetings, and stuff like that.

To be the very best player, you don't think grinding soloqueue is necessary?

I think it is needed at specific times. For example, playoffs, Worlds — usually, I play more League, and focus on specific things in soloqueue. But I feel like mindlessly grinding soloqueue throughout the whole year is not that good, no. I don't know. I'm personally a soloqueue addict. So I do it. I don't think it's great. I love when I take breaks. I'm actually just addicted, right? So I admit it. [laughs]

If I win, I don't feel so good because I think I'm supposed to win. And if I lose, I feel really f*cking bad. I think in a way — I did read somewhere, in an article or something, it is kind of like you get the effect of going to a casino. There is some science behind it, where playing soloqueue is like going to a casino, basically. I do think there's some correlation there.

What were your observations of Wunder last year? Many people were very underwhelmed by him all throughout 2021. What do you think the problem was?

Usually, when a team fails, people are just looking for somebody to blame. I used to be the scapegoat on my teams. And since I'm gone — they have to find somebody else. I think that Wunder is an outspoken persona in interviews. Similarly to me. Maybe he's a bit harsher. So when he loses, people are just very happy that he lost for no reason, right? I mean, just for that reason.

When Wunder doesn't have his best games, people are gonna downplay him like, "He's the worst player in LEC." Which is like, again, not the truth. I think he had good games, and he had bad games last year. But I don't think he was bad. You know, that's a very harsh thing to say. And obviously, if he was bad, he wouldn't be picked up.