The League of Legends European Championship has seen a roster swap all around teams that were struggling in the standings. With Misfits Gaming, it was no different. In order to brace themselves for playoffs, they have brought back Support player Petr "denyk" Haramach. 

Inven Global’s Lara Lunardi had the opportunity to chat with Denyk about his life on the bench, returning to streaming, and getting out of this comfort zone, as well as the team environment now that he is back.

#FREEDENYK

I need you to answer the question everyone’s asking. How broken is to be out of the bench?!

It’s fine, I was kind of worried because I played only four scrim blocks. I was worried I was going to int [laughs]. I still was positive all the time during the game and kept being positive and shot-calling during the game, so I think it was enough. My team carried me, kind of.

Why did you only scrim four blocks?

Because the team played with Doss, and they decided to put me in really light to the roster, that’s all.

And what did you do in the meantime?

I was streaming and playing the champions my chat picked. So I played some Sona Support, some Twisted Fate Support… and I was completely griefing the games, so I think it was a good practice for the LEC.

Let’s talk about your return to streaming then, how was the experience like?

It was kind of hard. I was never used to stream. I was focused on being a good player in the LEC, I was focused on my journey as a player. So I started streaming and taking care of my brand and name, it’s where the “broken tweets” and Instagram spam are coming from. 

This kind of forced me to do other things, and I think I came out stronger in terms of my mentality and I am grateful that right now I can be back, I kind of have a good mentality in my games and even if I do whatever, I still maintain positivity and I know we can win the games.

Before all of this, let’s trace it back to your mentality. What were your initial thoughts being out of the LEC roster?

I mean, I was disappointed because I thought I had a great split in Spring. It happens. I had a hard off-season. I had just broken up with my girlfriend, had been told I would have to play tryouts, so obviously I was not able to prepare myself for the tryouts, and lost them. They decided to then play with Doss.

I was dealing with a lot of things, and as I said, I found myself in the gym and in the streaming and I started to be happy again, I was just underrating my opportunity. I am pretty sure the next split some team will pick me up. So it’s fine.

I’m happy that you’re back in the LEC. We had a conversation before about you finding yourself in sports, and not having this complacency and getting used to whatever life brings you. You could have not streamed, but you went actively for the extra mile to keep up with your brand.

When did you become more focused on yourself as a personality? 

I think I was kind of forced. I was not playing the games with my team, so I was sad and didn’t know what to do here. I said to myself “even if these things are not what I want to do, I have to force myself and start creating a new habit”, this makes me stronger. Every time a person gets out of their comfort zone, it’s really good for everyone, basically.

I think you often find yourself out of your comfort zone, right?

Yeah, exactly.

What is that one thing that makes you snap your fingers and go “crap, I’m not improving as I should”?

It’s like when you are doing something and you don’t feel satisfied instantly. That’s how I know I am not in the comfort zone anymore. When I was streaming, at first I was talking and not enjoying it, but then day by day, I was getting better and liking to talk. I was able to interact with the viewers as well as being focused on my game.

The stream got better and better, and people started noticing it as well, so the numbers were increasing. I think you always need to have some progress and then with the results, you can start forming a habit from liking it or loving it as well.

From hating to stream I have learned to like it.

I noticed that your social life has been a lot more active lately. You’re always posting about it, always hanging out with Marek [Humanoid. Is this something you had in the previous Split or are these friendships developing right now?

I’ve known Marek for five or six years, we lived in the same city, like ten minutes from each other. We have always been friends, and we also have our own Czech group in the LEC with Neon, Marek, Patrik, and Carzzy. It’s good to have someone here, but as I mentioned, before I was not playing scrims, so I could basically only see them on the weekends, so I needed to somehow fulfill my schedule.

How is your team reacting to you being back?

I think they are happy right now since we won, but it’s hard because the team didn’t go so well, going 5-8, and the mentality was kind of down. I was bringing in the positivity. Actually, when something went wrong in scrims, there was not a good atmosphere, but I was trying to cheer them up and constantly talk. I think it’s fine, I am trying to pick them up because they are really great players. They just need to get some wins and they will be fine.

Anything that you want to say now that you’re back?

Ah… How broken is that @DenykLoL is back, and @DenykLoL is FREE?
And as well, I want you guys to follow my twitter and Instagram @DenykLoL and thank you Lara for the interview… Goooodbyyyyeeeee! 

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