Group B in the 2019 LoL World Championship was considered to be comparably easy, but it turns out it’s the bloodiest group. All four teams are tied with a 1-1 record going into Day 3. After their loss against FunPlus Phoenix, Splyce support Tore “Norskeren” Hoel Eilertsen shared some of his thoughts about the group.

You nearly won, but wasn’t able to close today. How would you rate your performance today as a team?

I was pretty confident when I went into the game today because I thought FPX has only one good player, which is Doinb, and after watching proview for bot lane, it felt like they got carried by Doinb every game. So I thought that if we get a good matchup in bot lane, they wouldn’t really be able to reverse if we snowball bot. We did get a good matchup, but I guess we were too nervous because we played really horrible in the later state of the game.

I think we really need to work on our Nash play. We have pretty good early games and mid games now. If we manage to close our games and bait Nashor or get Nashor properly, I believe we would be a really strong team. That was the only thing that was missing today and we were facing China’s best team. It’s pretty sad that we didn’t make it, but I think we could have a good fight and I’m kind of okay with that for now.

How about your own performance?

I was confident until the later part of the game where I was a bit unsure of what to do. I was pretty calm throughout the game. I’m okay with how I played, but I feel that it’s one of my jobs to make sure that we play around Nashor correctly. If I was the one who stepped up and did it, we’d win. So I blame myself a bit on that.

GAM Zeros had said that Group B is also a very difficult group. What do you think?

I don’t know if FPX had a bad day or something, but it felt easy to play against them today. At least in the early part. I don’t really know much about J Team; I don’t watch much LMS. Since we beat GAM which doesn’t seem very strong either. The only good teams in our group would be FPX and J Team. I wouldn’t really regard this as a strong group because there are so many good teams. Honestly, this group might be the easiest. So I feel pressured that we should make it out of groups; if we don’t people might be disappointed in us. I think we have a good shot at making it out.

How’s the team atmosphere at Worlds?

It’s the first time for four of us here, so we’re enjoying it a lot. We’re trying really hard in every scrim, more than we had before. Obviously, we feel the pressure and I think we’re all hungry to have a good performance. Some of us have worked really hard to get here for many years. For me at least, it’s my second year of the LEC. If we get a good showing here, it would be really good for my career. I feel the need to try a bit harder. I know my teammates want it and that gives me more motivation.

Up to now, how do you think you’re doing in general?

It’s only been two games, but I’m pretty satisfied with my performance. I thought I would be a lot more nervous. Playing on a big stage has been my goal for a long time and I feel kind of comfortable with it. I’m really happy that nervousness hasn’t gotten to me. I think I’ll just keep practicing harder and I’m sure we’ll do much better.

Does it help to be the "home" team?

Yeah, I think. Maybe. We don’t really practice in the same area as we do; we play in a hotel, not in our office, but I think it just feels like home I guess. But I might enjoy it more if we were in another country because I like traveling a lot. (Laughs) It’s nice to be here.

Are you confident in playing against J Team?

Umm… Yeah. I don’t really remember much from their game against FPX. I think it was pretty close. If we just play confident and fix our mistakes we’ve made today, it should be a good game and we should get it.

Many people say this is the most stacked Worlds ever. What do you think?

I think there are a lot of good teams. RNG, SKT, and even FPX before the tournament. I didn’t really know who’s the most likely to win. I feel for right now after watching some of the games, SKT or G2 are the only two teams that can win, but every other team in the tournament is really hard to beat.

I haven’t really played in Worlds before, but every scrim, every team I play against, it’s a lot harder than it is in the EU. Teams are a lot better and I feel the competition has a lot more stress.

Which teammate is the most reliable going into this tournament?

I think Visicsacsi is the most reliable. He’s the player with the most experience. He’s a player that I can always rely on. He’s never nervous, and he’s always willing to do stuff that can help the team, so I learned a lot from him.

Any last comments to the fans?

I know we’re the third seed from EU, but it feels good to hear the people cheering our name, cheering for us on the stage. I think I’m just happy that people cheer for us as well as G2 and Fnatic instead of ignoring us, I appreciate it. (Laughs)