It's been a challenging couple of months for G2 Esports. After riding high on the wave of a win in the 2022 LEC Spring Split, as well as a strong start at MSI 2022, the team has now had to contend with many challenges. Their performance fell off as they progressed through MSI, and they've had a difficult time in the 2022 LEC Summer Split compared to the peaks they reached earlier in the year. Inven Global spoke with Victor "Flakked" Lirola, to discuss his thoughts on G2, his individual performance, and his pet duck.    

How have you been feeling about the pacing of the season? G2 has had some rough weeks, but not making playoffs is less of a worry. Are you relieved at all, or what's been your thinking?

I'm not really relieved. But for sure, there's less pressure than in the past weeks, because we're in the seed of fourth. So, of course, I'm not really relieved because the standings are really tight, and you don't really know what's gonna happen. For sure, the more we win, the less pressure and stress is on us. But still, there's this level of pressure on our shoulders.

I know that you’ve talked in the past about how you’re a fairly emotional player. Looking at MSI, and some of the past few weeks when you've been in a bit of slump, how would you say you adjusted?

I think me and everyone in the team dealt pretty fine with it. For me, before joining G2, I had really, really bad results with past teams. So I'm used to losing — I'm used to really bad weeks of scrims, really bad official performances, and I'm used to teammates having conflict. 

But as well, I didn't act my best in MSI. Especially because we came from LEC, and when we won LEC in Spring, it was kind of free. We didn't have many problems when we were playing in Spring. And then suddenly, we went to MSI, and we were facing a lot of issues — inside and outside the game. And for me, it was harder to act in the best way. I'm not saying I was toxic and stuff. I was just sometimes more sad than usual when we were facing some problems. But I think everyone as a team — we went through it in a good way.

What about looking specifically at the past few weeks when G2 was having a rough time in the standings?

Yeah, this week, there was a lot of pressure — a lot of anxiety as well from my side. Because for some reason, it felt like we forgot to play the game, and we forgot how to play as a team. And I was wondering every single day, every night, "What can we do better? What do we need to fix this stuff?" For me, these past weeks were really hard mentally. 

But, we are a really good team — we're a big family, and we talk everything through. But as well, sometimes it can be hard. But yeah, I think everyone in the team did a really good job. We were really stressed and pressured, but we overcame it pretty well, and now we are talking every single day. So I feel it's really hard right now that we fall again into a slump.

Could you please go a bit into the dynamics of how G2's team communicates in difficult times like those? 

I think we support each other...of course, everybody has their own ways. For example, usually it's me, Broken Blade, and sometimes caPs — the ones that bring the mood up. And usually it's Jankos and Targamas that are the ones that speak up about the problems they feel we're having. So we mix and combine with each other really well in terms of personalities and attitudes.

From an individual perspective, what has this season been like for you? Do the bot lanes seem stronger? Is the meta challenging for you? What are your general thoughts?

The bottom lane is looking better than in Spring. I'm not sure if we're the best, but probably one of the strongest. We have the strongest players in the positions. For me — I don't feel I did a lot of stuff remarkable this split. When we won, I was always doing fine. And when we lost, I was sometimes not doing that well. But overall, I was doing fine. 

I'm not extremely proud of my performance, but I'm not sad, either. I just feel in the wins, the wins were really free. And I think with the losses we had, we were really lost. So I didn't have much space to be able to do much. But yeah, overall, I'm pretty happy with my performance.

What's your perspective on your role within G2? Have you found it more challenging to carry in this meta?

It depends on what you draft and stuff. It's not something new that me and Targamas are not the strongest laners in bot lane. We play teamfights really well — our laning phase improved, but it's not like we have Excel's laning phase. They usually really carry stuff. But I would say me and Targamas are really fine in lane, but when it comes teamfights, we are just really good. So it makes sense that I don't have that much of a priority when it comes to carrying. But yeah, me and Targamas are doing fine.

What's your perspective of the LEC bot lanes in general? Who stands out the most to you overall?

The bot lane that is performing the best right now I would say is Excel. Patrik and Mikyx are playing really well. Yeah, they lost today, but I think they still make a really, really good duo.

You obviously have strong roots in the Spanish scene. What are your impressions of Team Heretics joining the LEC?

I know there's been a lot of controversy and stuff between teams like KOI, Kcorp, and Giants. I think that they're gonna do fine. A lot of people are saying that they don't have League fans and stuff. I'm not sure that is true. But I'm pretty happy that Heretics is joining. I think they're a really good Spanish org. I think they're really liked in Spain, even though League never was their main game. They still will make a really good job when it comes to branding and stuff. And of course, I'm not sure about the signings — if they're gonna make a good team or not — but for sure they have the resources to make it.

Can you elaborate on your perspective of Heretics' fans in League?

Yeah, it's gonna be really interesting. A lot of people talk about that their main fan base came from Call of Duty, because it was formed by Spanish streamers that play Call of Duty. But at least in Spain, when they play in LVP, I still think their matches have pretty decent viewership, and I think that they're gonna have this viewership in LEC as well.

I had to ask, there was a big controversy [laughs] regarding your pet duck not having another duck to keep him company. Are you considering doing so?

As of right now, no, because I don't have much space. I have enough space for one duck, but two ducks is a lot. Right now, I can't be there. So if I have two ducks, I would like to be with them. Because when I'm playing LEC, my duck stays at home, and it's my parents who take care of them. And a duck takes a lot of work to take care of. It's not like he has a lot of special needs, but for example, he poops everywhere. He's really dirty, and you need to be cleaning him all the time. So for sure, in the near future if I can buy a home or something like that and give him a big space, I would really love it. And I would really love to have a lot of animals. But for now, I am not looking to get a new duck.