Running Rings Around G2 With Broken Blade [Interview]

On Saturday night, FC Schalke 04 Esports became the first team to take down G2 Esports, and the result has cast doubt over the power rankings of many. I had the privilege of sitting down with the match MVP Sergen “Broken Blade” Çelik to talk about his time in the LEC, international competition, and the biggest upset thus far...

Check out our video interview below, or keep reading!

That game last night against G2 was incredible, has it sunk in yet, and how the hell did you pull it off?

Honestly, we kind of celebrated already as a team. We all came up together, and we sat down, and we chilled, and we played some games. It was really nice; obviously, we worked really hard for it, and I think at the end of it we deserved it - I think we pulled off a good win. There were a couple of mistakes, but overall we were okay with it.

All good games have to have mistakes, or it's not close - it's not a fight. Of course, you did mention slip-ups, they got the second mountain drake, and they picked off Gilius in the river, what was the thought process? That was the point where I thought you might start to lose it.

Actually, we got caught on the third drake, where Dino "LIMIT" Tot got caught on the mid-wave, which was really crucial to our snowball. I think if LIMIT doesn't die there, the game just ends like five minutes after because they would end up having to fight the fourth dragon and that would just be a really easy fight, and the whole game's over. After that, when there was the second drake for them, we were already in a really good position in mid and top, where we could just take two towers and the top side camps, which we thought in the game was a good trade, and I think it was, and looking back at it, I also think that Gilius also got caught there; he didn’t need to die, he died unnecessarily because the map was already won. They got the drake, yes, but we kind of won the map situation, because we gave up the drake.

You have to consistently beat a good team, that's how you become a champion.

You got like two turrets off that play if I recall correctly.

I think we would have got two turrets, but I think we only ended up getting one because Erberk "Gilius" Demir got caught on that moment. But, we ended up getting it back together because we caught Rasmus "Caps"  Borregaard Winther on top lane, and then we got Nash, and then we snowballed again, which was really nice, had some really nice plays...

I still think back to when the baron play was happening, and you were just off pushing the wave in bot side, and they had to commit two people to you just to keep you off the inhibitor and the nexus, that was really well played.

At the very end, Quickshot likened you to peak Fnatic. Do you think you have what it takes to win the split now you've taken down G2?

Winning the split is not just beating a good team once; you have to consistently beat a good team; that's how you become a champion. I believe that G2 was a milestone for our team, and now it's going to be Rogue since Rogue's scheduled for next week, and if we have a really good showing there, I think it's quite a possibility actually. I think we're getting better drastically, from Week 1 to Week 2 there's already some pretty good change.

You guys seem to struggle last week, you lost that game to Excel, and I was beginning the wonder if maybe you'd been playing down to them slightly. 

We really had a really bad game against Fnatic, and then we played against Vitality. Anyways, the whole thing was like, in the first week we were really really clueless about how to play the map. There was a really simple change; it was basically just "push the waves guys" and "don't just group up; we're not in NA here."

Nah it's just jokes, but the whole point of them having a team fight comp with Lulu-Orianna is like, "let's just go mid and fight", and we kind of opted into that which led us to just losing fights after we gave up an Elder Drake for free, which was a bad decision.

I actually think that Liquid will win, just because they look more consistent.

Fair enough. You mentioned your former teammates over in North America, have you been following the Lock In, and how do you think they've been performing?

I've been following them a bit, obviously because of the time changes it's a bit hard. I've been watching some games of TSM, but they got knocked out, so then I started watching some games of 100 Thieves, and they got knocked out, and I think today I will also watch the finals.

Have you got any idea who might win? Who are you favouring right now?

I actually think that Liquid will win, just because they look more consistent. I'm not sure how good 100 Thieves is, but they look very promising, Can "Closer" Celik especially looks very, very good this year, and I think he's actually going to be a star player for 100 Thieves, which could lead them to actually having a shot you know. TSM is also in the making of being like one of the best roster-wise, like on paper. But obviously, I can't say anything about because it's like, if you don't scrim those teams you don't know how good they are and how bad they are.

It's just a shame we're unlikely to get Rift Rivals under the current situation because I'm sure lots of people want to see you and other top EU teams face off against the retirement region.

I wouldn't call it a retirement region, like I'm in EU now.

I know, it's odd, people keep returning from it, back to EU, like yourself, and it's some sort of miracle it's like you've (I promise I meant it to be plural here, I'm sorry Broken Blade!) un-aged over there. Now, have you transitioned back into the LEC as well as you hoped? That's one of the concerns when changing region.

The first week I didn't really quite feel well going into the games, I didn't feel like when I was playing in NA. When I was playing in NA I was feeling really ready every game I played, and this last week where I actually think I performed to my level again, I started to get a really good routine, I have a really good pre-game routine, I figured it out. The games are a lot later than in NA, in NA the games are really, really early, usually, the latest game is like 3pm [local time]. In EU, the earliest is like 5pm; the latest is like 10pm, which is like, really, really different when it comes to like, "How do I prepare for the game now?" Because when you wake up is different, how many games you play is different. All these things I had to adjust and didn't really feel very well - I didn't know how to adjust to the situation I would say. But now we're going into the second or third week, I've kind of figured it out, and I felt really, really good, at least last week. So I'm going to try to keep doing the things that I've learnt.

I suppose on the flip side of that there must be some advantages to playing in lots of different regions; you've had a couple of splits in the TCL, you've had some time in the LCS, do you think that's brought a unique perspective of the game?

It's not of the game necessarily, but I can see the huge difference in how people are approaching the leagues. I played in the TCL, and when I was playing there, there was no stage, and it wasn't really something that you can compare with NA. The NA studio, obviously I haven't played at the EU studios yet, so it's kind of hard to say. I've heard it's smaller, but I don't really mind. As long as I go to the stage one day once this whole COVID situation has eased up again. We can go meet people, meet our fans, who come there to watch you play, it's a really great feeling - it's a part of the game, it's a part of the sport. I just really really miss that.

I'm sure all your opponents are as well, and I think your opponents next week on Friday, Rogue, are going to be needing it more than most. When speaking to Adrian "Trymbi" Trybus (Rogue) earlier, he said he's lacking confidence at the minute, do you think you can end Rogue's unbeaten streak as well?

Yeah definitely! Rogue is probably even better than G2, I would say, at least more consistent in their play, but they’re definitely beatable. I think Trymbi, right now, is doing quite well, even though he's potentially looking like a really good player. He's doing a lot of silly mistakes, and getting caught a lot, which we can use to our advantage of course. We'll just have to play better on the day because it's not going to be an easy game, we all know that on our team, and being the best isn't easy, but if you don't try you will never know.

I suppose it's never an easy game in the LEC. Schalke will be trying to continue their win streak against Rogue and Misfits this Friday and Saturday.

In the meantime, stay tuned for more news, interviews and features here at GGRecon!

Images via Riot Games