The 0-3 beginning of the 2024 LEC Summer Split can be considered a significant setback for Team Vitality especially in terms of playoffs and Worlds. Nevertheless, their current position on the Championship Points Standings is not very encouraging for the team and a quick upturn is expected to avoid a poor season. Following their difficult first two days of competition, we sat down with support player Zdravets “Hylissang” Iliev Galabov to talk about his and his team’s experiences and to respond to the negativity that was directed at him.
Lee Jones: Today you chose Ornn support which happened only two more times in the entire ranked games of Summer.
What has changed that can make Ornn a good pick in the current meta?
Hylissang: I think it is normal to pick Senna/Ornn into Nautilus because of the effect of Ornn’s W that combines with Nautilus’ Q making Ornn very tanky. Senna is a good partner for Ornn if he can have a good early game and a strong laning phase, Ornn will be rather unpleasant to face. However, today I was not efficient as expected. It was hard since I was the only frontline, so they could easily fail to CC me as I was ulting, making team fights complicated.
Lee: There should be a synergy between Jungle/support, and it may not happen immediately.
Overall, how has your experience been when dealing with Lyncas?
Hylissang: Well, I feel that Lyncas is actually performing quite nicely. We are trying to spend a lot of time every day working on listening to each other and getting on the same page. One can only imagine that in the near future, we will be experiencing the ultimate level of synergy in the LEC. He is intelligent and a good worker, and I am glad that he is our employee.
Lee: Many people have been critical about your performance this year. Your coach, Pad, has supported you and even in the interview with Thorin, said that the team will perform better if all the players stay for another year, which is also your opinion.
How do you think you have performed in the last one year?
Hylissang: Three games I played this split, I think, are not very good or are very weak, at least in my eyes. I believe I fell short, especially in terms of the performance aspect of the system. On balance, however, I do not believe that the criticism is warranted. While in most cases I have a good performance, this split has not been any good for me. I can identify with Pad’s comments and I always feel uncomfortable when everyone is not in harmony. Now, looking at the time I spent in both Fnatic and MAD, I can see the pattern. At the moment, the team fails to be united, and I am not as active in making the calls. Lyncas is involved in much of the shot-calling, which is desirable.
Lee: Some people on the Internet have raised questions regarding whether the criticism given by broadcasters and analysts is fair or not, especially when it comes to Upset and Targamas. Some fans have claimed that negative criticism should not be voiced.
So, what do you have to say about this?
Hylissang: Fans have the freedom to display the lack of sportsmanship as they feel it is their right to do so. Nevertheless, I think that negative criticism should be kept away from broadcasters. There will always be people who have something negative to say and it’s important not to pay attention to them. That is why I do not use social media now – everyone there wants to offend you and it is not pleasant to engage in such discussions. During the first days or weeks of the game, such negative influence may have significant effects on the players. That is just my view; it is social media, in any case – there is nothing one can do!
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