Stixxay Talks CLG's Past Decisions, Reasons For Joining GG And Laning With Newbie
In 2015, Counter Logic Gaming let go of legendary North American AD Carry, Yiliang “Doublelift” Peng, bringing in Trevor “Stixxay” Hayes as his replacement. Stixxay quickly filled the hole Doublelift had left behind and helped the team win their second League of Legends Championship Series (LCS) title in a row, qualifying them for the 2016 Mid-Season Invitational (MSI). Once at MSI, Counter Logic Gaming finished in second place behind SK Telecom T1 — one of the highest placings ever on the international stage for a North American team.
Fast-forward to 2021, Stixxay has left his long time team, Counter Logic Gaming, and has joined Golden Guardians after GG lost all of their players and decided to build anew with newer players from the Collegiate and Academy scene.
We had a chance to sit down with Stixxay after his team’s loss to Team SoloMid on Day 1 of Week 2 in the LCS' 2021 Spring Split. We went over what it felt like leaving his long time team, he gave us his thoughts on Golden Guardian’s roster prior to joining and after he joined, as well as what it’s like to lane with his new bottom lane partner, Leandro “Newbie” Marcos.
Questionable management decisions, roster decisions, all that kind of stuff, it kind of catches up to you after time. And you start wondering, do these people [CLG] even want us to win or want the best for us?
You started your LCS career with, and made your name playing for, Counter Logic Gaming. You even ended up winning an LCS title after you beat long-time rivals Team SoloMid, and qualified for the Mid-Season Invitational (MSI) in your debut season. How does it feel to no longer play on Counter Logic Gaming knowing you had created a long history with a specific team when usually players don’t get to do that?
Well honestly, I think [...] CLG was kind of split in two parts when I first joined in late 2013 and then I played for about a year and a half. And then I'd say we got like, a lot of new — actually was around when franchising happened. There was a lot of new management — new people — and the old people in the org left, and so it was kind of like a different CLG. And that was kind of the vibe for the past couple of years leading up until I left, so I think it's nice to have a change of scenery for me. And yeah, I don't know. I mean, I wish those guys the best of luck. But I — I'm glad that I'm on a different team now, also.
So the vibe change, as you put it, did it greatly affect how you viewed the team thus leading to you changing to a different team?
Yeah, I mean, just questionable management decisions, roster decisions, all that kind of stuff, it kind of catches up to you after time. And you start wondering, do these people [CLG] even want us to win or want the best for us? Things like that.
Were Golden Guardians always your number one choice after you parted ways with Counter Logic Gaming?
They weren’t my number one — it pretty much depended, I talked to a couple of teams in the offseason. And I felt like I liked the coaching staff of Golden Guardians the most. And I liked what they had to offer. We really aligned on how we wanted things to work out for the next year. So that's why I chose them.
I was generally just impressed with the level of mechanics and knowledge that my team had.
Like that idea that you just mentioned, you aligning with the coaches, etc. Were Golden Guardians transparent with you in saying that “hey, we're gonna pick up players that are lesser-known, and that are rookie players”?
Yeah, they were transparent with the people they were getting. And I don't know, I just trusted them. The main thing is I just trusted the coaching staff because I talked to them a lot. And [...] I felt like they just had good ideas for what they want to do in the year. And also just — I respect working with Nick [Inero], especially in the past. That's about it.
LCS Lock In already passed and we're on our way to Day 2 of Week 2 of the Spring Split. How are you feeling about this roster in general? What are your thoughts on the team and the players so far?
I said it before when I first joined the team, I wasn't expecting a lot in the beginning, because I know we have a lot to work on. But yeah, coming to the team, I was generally just impressed with the level of mechanics and knowledge that my team had. I think the main thing that we lack is just experience in pressure situations or just games that are really important. And I think that's something you just gained by playing and just grinding more games during the LCS split. And hopefully, at some point, we'll be on stage as well.
Speaking about experience, you're obviously the most experienced player on the team. Have there been instances pop up where the team has relied on you as the experienced player on the team?
Yeah, I think I try to do that as best as I can on game days, I think our game versus TSM that just happened we're a bit lost later on in the game. But definitely, in the early game, I'm able to provide really easy pathways for my team to make good plays and just be successful early. Yeah, and then outside of that, just VOD review and stuff like that to try to chime in with what I think is correct just based off my past experience. I have a lot of games under my belt, and I've seen a lot of different things, different situations.
Obviously, it’s the only second week of the LCS, but having played Lock-In and four games now, how has laning with Newbie been? How is the bottom lane synergy between you and him coming along?
It's been pretty good. I think we have — luckily we have like a natural synergy. Sometimes you just play with people, and it just feels really awkward, just doesn't feel right. And so luckily, I hadn't even talked to Newbie before, and we were just playing some in-houses in the offseason, and we were just it just felt it — kind of clicked well. We just kind of feel like we're doing well. Yeah, it's been a good time. He's really chill guy; he's always open. You know, I can flame him, he can find me and things like that.
Stixxay and the rest of the Golden Guardians finished with zero wins after the second week of the LCS 2021 Spring Split. Looking to add more wins to their record, Golden Guardians will face off against LCS Lock In champions, Team Liquid, on Friday, February 19.
Images via Riot Games
