Adrian "Trymbi" Trybus and Rogue are in a weird spot, but their focus is still on the LEC title. After the team's disappointing loss in the 2022 LEC Spring Finals to G2 Esports, the league looks even more challenging. G2 and Fnatic continue to be enormous threats, and roster changes on Team Vitality and MAD Lions provide even more competition. Trymbi spoke with Inven Global to discuss his reflections on his team's loss in spring, and how the team will overcome challenges in the future.

Looking at all of the Spring Split, you guys had such a great-looking team. Obviously, in the end, it didn’t quite work out, though. How do you reflect on that performance?

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I think overall we had a really good split in Spring. And the fact that we lost the finals pretty much was a way that you can keep up the narrative that we're just choking or something. But after all, when you think about it, every single series and game outside of those games versus G2 — we played really solid League of Legends. And I think we were doing really well. So yeah, I think it was a good split overall, even though we didn't get to win. It's just that we didn't manage to step up at the end, which is obviously something that is very important to do. I think we're gonna be able to do it next time. We're gonna get the chance.

After the finals, everyone’s immediate response was that Rogue choked again. Did you see it that way? From there, G2 went on a streak where they were beating teams like T1 and RNG. It feels like they just leveled up around then. 

It's hard to say. It's pretty hard to say something that would be bad towards G2, since they were winning everything almost at some point — they had their win streak and everything. Obviously, they had the momentum that was so extremely good for them. And the fact that they had a good read on the meta, and overall played pretty solid. 

But I do not think they were a team that was just unbeatable and were just stomping everybody. I feel like, at that time, we were really not performing to our expectations. And I think some of the ways we prepared for that series were not as usual as we did versus others. So that was something that we've tried to improve on now throughout Summer. 

Because if we prepared as we normally should against opponents, I feel like the finals would've been a bit easier for us, even though I'm not sure if we would win. Because, obviously, G2 had their momentum and they were playing well. So maybe they'd still win. But I'm sure that we would at least show some kind of fight and possibility and option to actually win. Because that finals, it was not as one-sided as the result was [0-3] but after all, when you look at those games they were in the driver's seat for most of the games. Almost all of them. And they played really well at the time.

How did the team approach the break? What do you think is gonna be different this time around in beating teams like G2?

I think everyone wanted to just take it slow at first — just try to spend as much time with their family. And overall, just try to unwind. Because the season was pretty long and I think everyone was doing a really good job in terms of preparation, how they played, and adapting to specific things. 

So the season was pretty stressful for everybody — you could feel this pressure after at the end of the day that you were supposed to win in some way (before G2 did what they did). So that was obviously something that it's good to have a break from afterwards. And coming later into the offseason — when we were having our dinner after the finals — I had an idea when I was talking with one of the media members. 

They were from Spain, and I was like, "Why don't we just go to Spain and have a vacation as a team?" Or whoever wants to go, obviously offseason you can do anything you want. And we kind of did it with most of the members. It was pretty fun. I think we kind of got to know each other from the different perspectives and overall outside of League. So I think that could help quite a bit. And yeah, overall, the fact that we got to chill together and actually be in a different environment than the one that we usually are with each other —that's kind of a step closer to actually win. Because it's a relationship that is really hard to get when you're just playing all the time and actually not having this kind of time outside of playing.

How did you contend with it? I’ve seen some of the Rogue players talk about the loss but I was really curious about your thoughts, cause I know competitive mentality is something you focus a lot on. Was it rough after your guys’ loss? What was it like in the few weeks after?

That final loss was for sure much worse than the ones that we had, for instance, versus MAD Lions or any other game that we lost (maybe outside of some). I was very frustrated at the time. And frustration is for sure something that takes away all of the fun I have from the game. It just tends to happen that when things are not going your way (and especially when you feel like you don't have control over it), it just gets really frustrating. 

So that was for sure something I felt during that series, as well as hopelessness. I felt very hopeless, and that's a feeling that I really hate to feel, because that's basically when all the hope and faith that's supposed to be there to the very end kind of went off. It's not easy to talk about it. After all, it's not something that should happen, in my opinion, cause faith should be there all the time. This year was in some way for me very hard. It was very stressful. 

And overall, I just never wish this feeling to happen again, cause I think it never happened to me this way that I felt this exact feeling. And I would never wish anybody to have that feeling. That's for sure the first thing. And the other thing is that I will try to make sure that I never feel like this ever again. If I have to win everything in order to not feel like this, then I'll do my f******g best. If that's not going to be enough, then I'm just not good enough, I guess. 

Why was the loss against G2 Esports more challenging than the one against MAD Lions?

I think we overall were better prepared for MAD Lions. Versus G2, it's a bit of a similar story that I knew that I can beat them easily — I kind of had this feeling — but versus G2, I didn't feel like we put enough time to find tools in order to do so. So that was for sure something that's on me. And I don't want this to ever happen, because I just want to be as prepared as possible. I think maybe I just took a little bit too much of a break between the semifinals and finals. I'm not sure. 

I just didn't feel as well prepared as I usually feel. So that was for sure something that didn't help it. As well as versus MAD Lions: I played much better in the finals. Plus I would say I was more into the final versus MAD Lions than G2. I felt like versus G2 there was such a new feeling to be in front of the crowd. And the fact that the crowd was obviously pretty one-sided. It just felt like a completely different atmosphere than the one that we had versus MAD Lions.

Even today, after the game, the crowd just makes it quite different. Obviously not the same as the one in finals, but yeah. It was just something so unusual to me that I just want to try to get used to it and try to get a better feeling on the stage. And I'm really happy that we're gonna be able to play in front of the crowds for at least some weeks now. 

It’s been the big consensus just because of star power that Fnatic’s bot lane is the strongest in Europe. Now that you guys have got some international experience, you’ve played together more — how confident are you? Do you think that idea is going to change soon?

I think it's more about how their team is oriented — in the sense that it feels like Razork is every time in bot lane whenever they need it. That's something that they're very known for. I'm sure people can realize that they're playing a lot with their jungler. Which is not a bad thing, obviously, they're using him well. It's just sometimes they try to get as much value as possible with it. That's why they get sometimes the advantages. 

For example, today, I felt like we pretty much inted quite a bit. So it gave them the tools to do stuff when we were doing really fine versus them. And I felt like they were losing quite a bit in the ballclub, but obviously the tables turned. So yeah, I don't think they are the best. It's really hard to judge, because I don't really judge botlaners 2v2s. You have to be aware of the way that their team plays and how they play. But I would say it's closer than it was for sure. I think some bot laners are stepping up and making sure that they're not behind with the way people play. I think there are quite a bit of botlaners that want to actually play than just handshake their games.

What did you think of Flakked and Targamas at MSI? What’s your general impression of EU bot lanes compared with China and Korea?

Really hard to say. Maybe due to the amount of games that LPL or LCK play on stage as well as other best-of-threes — I feel like they have so much more practice on an actual competitive stage and actual official games, that it feels like they're just more sure about those things. So they're able to do more things with it. 

But with bot lanes particularly, I don't think there is like a huge difference. I would say obviously that maybe mechanically that they're a bit better. Outside of that, there is not like a big gap, I would say. Maybe the way they're prepared for more stuff, but I wouldn't say so. So I think it's just about how they play sometimes with jungler, and how they manage the waves. As far as EU teams, for instance, they kind of maybe use jungler more in some way of ganking potential. I think in Korea, I guess they're just trying to make sure that the jungler can play the game, and they're just making sure that the wave is in the best spot possible for them. And China is just making sure that they can fight whenever it's possible for them and whenever it's beneficial for them.