Fnatic may have had a tough time with Invictus Gaming, but the European juggernaut had little issue with beating up on both 100 Thieves and G-Rex. Now, 2-1, Fnatic are in the driver’s seat to take a quarterfinal seed and begin their journey en route to matching the expectations set by European and North American fans alike. Leading that charge, Fnatic jungler, Mads “Broxah” Brock-Pedersen, is ready to step up and prove that Fnatic can indeed be the team that the fans desire.

After his decisive win against G-Rex, we had the chance to talk with Broxah about Group D’s strength, Europe’s future, and why Rasmus “Caps” Winther is as good as anyone else at Worlds.

You just had an insane Lee Sin performance against G-Rex. How does it feel to pop off as Lee Sin in a competitive game?

First of all, it felt really amazing to even get a chance to play Lee Sin again. I don’t think I’ve played him at all since Worlds last year. There was this long gap where Lee Sin wasn’t meta and wasn’t that great of a champion. Finally being in the position to pick him on stage and have such a good game was really, really amazing.

After that win, you’re 2-1 and currently slated to make it out of the group at 2nd place. Fnatic and Invictus Gaming have looked pretty good, but it seems like 100 Thieves and G-Rex are lagging behind. What do you think of their strength?

After seeing the first games, iG definitely looks like the strongest team. I think we have a really good chance of taking them down and I hope we get to prove ourselves next match. As you mention, it seems like 100 Thieves and G-Rex have some glimpses of hope. They have parts of their gameplay that look really good, but I think they have a few things that are too lacking. They are too inconsistent to really contest us and iG. Obviously I don’t want to jinx that right because anything can happen in Best-of-Ones, but on paper, we should be able to secure a top two seed along with iG.

Coming into this tournament, Fnatic received all the hype as the great Western hope that should make it to top 4 or whatever… How do you feel about that? Is it warranted?

I think it’s pretty fair that we’ve gotten all the hype around us. It feels a bit weird since we’re not really used to it. We’re used to being a hyped team in Europe and not really used to being expected to take down all the Korean and Chinese teams. It’s a lot of pressure to suddenly have on us. I don’t think anyone really minds it… It’s pretty cool in a way.

I don’t think anyone specifically minds because we have the same hopes as the fans. We are going to be really disappointed if we can’t contend the Korean and Chinese teams because that’s what this team was made for. We don’t want to only win in Europe. We want to showcase that we are a good team internationally as well.

That being said, the LPL looks really strong and are currently 8-0 (now 8-1). What makes the LPL teams so good and what are they doing well?

I don’t think it’s any specific thing. I think it’s just that LPL has received a lot of really good infrastructure. At MSI, when we saw RNG In the studio, they probably had five or ten times as much as staff as we did… They have so many people helping out. At the same time, they have some really dedicated players.

Generally, looking at the Chinese players, they also have extremely good mechanics. I think the game knowledge, mechanics, and infrastructure… just everything in China seems to be skyrocketing. China is really starting to challenge Korea, especially since they won MSI. I hope that we can start doing the same thing in Europe.

Speaking of Europe, what does the future of the region look like to you? A lot of people were down on the popularity and strength of it, but Summer and this World Championship have done pretty good things for Europe.

I think the gap has gotten a bit closer between Europe and Korea. China has also gotten so good in the last year when China and Europe were pretty similar. I think we are getting a bit closer. We still need to prove it on stage that we are stronger. Generally though, looking at this tournament, with how Vitality took down Gen.G and G2 beating Afreeca, it seems like EU teams are doing much better than they did in the past. I don’t think this has really happened before.

Teams all over the world are really contesting each other this tournament. It’s only China that looks… not even unbeatable… but really, really good. I definitely think with how it looks now, hopefully Europe can look even stronger.

The jungler pool at this tournament feels fairly thin, but there’s still a significant crop at the top. Who do you think is the best?

The best jungler is Score. Everyone is pretty much on the same page when it comes to this. He has been a pretty good jungler for many years and he is finally at Worlds again. The guy has just always had really, really good game knowledge. He just seems to always be at the right place at the right time. He has a deep champion pool, good mechanics.

I’m not sure if he’s a leader type of guy, but it feels like he has all the things you want in a good jungler. He deserves the title as best jungler in the world. At the same time, I hope we get to play KT in the tournament because I want to prove myself that I am up there somewhere.

Lastly, I had a chat with iG’s JackeyLove yesterday… He gave you guys a lot of credit and think you’re a pretty good team, but he still believes that Rookie is just a little bit better than Caps. What do you think?

I don’t think there’s any mid laner at this tournament that is necessarily better than Caps. I think Caps is just such a good player that I don’t think it’s fair to give the title to anyone else. I saw an interview with Ucal where he said that himself, Rookie, and Caps were pretty much even.

I think that’s pretty fair because all of these players are really, really good. I don’t think it’s fair to put Caps above everyone else, but at the same time, I don’t think it’s fair to say that anyone is better because Caps is just really insane.

Photo: Riot Games