SPLYCE TRASHY
ON THE CURRENT JUNGLE META AND WORLDS

by Robert Wery

Your KDA was among the top six during the regular season and top three in playoffs. What do you find more important: going for a kill, sacrificing yourself for a teammate or holding off on the last hit to allow the teammate a kill?
KDA in general is quite an overrated stat, you need to play accordingly to what compositions you’re executing, and what role you have on the team, so it's hard to say what is more important. In general as a jungler you are more likely to be the one sacrificing yourself for your teammates, rather than taking the kills especially in Summer Split where the meta was mostly tank junglers.

You played 12 games with Gragas; what about the Rabble Rouser is attractive to you as a jungler? Was it to fit into specific team comps or is he worth picking alone?
The reason why I like Gragas so much is because of his versatility as a champion. Most tanks are usually either engage or disengage champions, but Gragas can do both with his ultimate. So his versatility and his playmaking potential are the biggest reasons why I like him so much.

What do you think of the current jungle meta? Are you comfortable or would you like to see changes?
I like the current jungle meta, it's a lot more diverse than previous patches. We see all over the world that you can play both carry and tank junglers, but with tank junglers being more preferred because of their stability. I have always seen jungling as a role to setup your three lanes to succeed, as more of a supportive role, so the current jungle meta fits me well.

Photo Credit: Riot Games

Thinking back to the jungle in past seasons, do you like the adjustments to camps and the addition of neutral plants throughout the map, or would you rather it return to a simpler time?
With more camps to farm and give junglers more gold and more carry potential, which has both negative and positive sides, so regarding to my previous question I kinda dislike the fact that more junglers focused more on farming camps and getting gold from that, rather than affecting the lanes. On the other hand it gave a whole new way of playing jungle, that would make you a lot more powerful in the midgame. But in general I'm happy with the way the jungle has developed over time for more different playstyles.

Splyce finished 8-5, fought hard in playoffs and in the gauntlet, but were unable to make it to Worlds this year. What do you think were Splyce’s strengths this split?
I think our strength this split was our diversity in playstyles. We had players on all lanes that could carry the game, and that made it hard for the enemies to prepare for us. Other than that I think we started having good early games during the playoffs and gauntlet, but lacked in mid/late game decision making.

What do you want to focus on most in the offseason leading up to Season 8?
This year has been pretty rough for all of us, me included, so I have decided to take a little break from everything and clear my mind, so I can come into next year with a fresh mindset. I still have a lot of stuff to work on even though I have been playing for a long time, so for me it’s important to stay in shape after my break so it's easier to get back into practise for next year.

Photo Credit: @Trashyofficial

Looking towards Worlds, where do you think EU stands against the other regions, and why?
It’s very hard to say, because the 2-3 weeks of practise before Worlds will be crucial for the EU teams. I have faith in G2 to perform, so I would be disappointed if they didn’t make it out of groups. Other than G2 I think EU as a region looks pretty weak internationally.

Who’s your dark horse pick for groups?
I think most of the teams that will come from the play-in stage will be dark horses in their groups. Else I think the top two in each group, apart from group C, looks pretty clear.

Thanks for your time, Trashy! Any shoutouts at the end of the interview?
Shoutout to Splyce for supporting us throughout the year. This year hasn’t been the best from us and myself. I’ll work even harder in 2018 to succeed and reach my goals.

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