Berk "Gilius" Demir and his teammates are up in the European League Championship summer split standings after a 3-1 performance, the same as their start in the spring split. But his squad isn't named Elements anymore, and that's not the only difference. The mid lane has undergone a change, and so did the team uniform as Gilius put on Schalke 04's colors going into the summer split.

"Our owner said we would rebrand, but he didn't tell us to what," Gilius said enthusiastically. When team owner Jacob "Maelk" Toft-Andersen broke the news to the team, there was cause to celebrate. "We went to Gelsenkirchen. We were invited. We partied with the Schalke people and we watched the football game. It was really great."

Schalke 04 has good reason to be optimistic. Despite Elements' spring split record, the squad had shown promise: surviving in a cutthroat environment and going against predictions. But Gilius remains candid about the spring split. "In the end, we did [avoid relegations], but we could have easily been in [it]," he said. "I think we were pretty bad back then." Editor's Picks Hitting their apex: Keane and Ray

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Some of the jitters Elements endured were related to inexperience. Besides Etienne "Steve" Michels and Rasmus "MrRalleZ" Skinnenholm, the roster lacked onstage experience, and Jérémy "Eika" Valdenaire's inexperience didn't help.

"I think it was his first split. Same for me. We were both really nervous, and we were making each other nervous for nervousness," noted Gilius. "We both had stage struggles. We played much worse onstage than in scrims."

The Unicorns of Love's offseason woes were a blessing for Schalke 04. Hampus "Fox" Myhre's availability on the free agent market was a no-brainer pickup for the team, and vice versa. Gilius recalled his time on that team and the two tryouts that allowed him to gain stage experience. But he noticed something was wrong. "[On] Unicorns of Love, I remember people not taking it too seriously," he said. "They were really relaxed about the LCS. People would not practice as much."

Fox bolstered a squad that was in need of playmaking in the mid lane. Throughout the week, Gilius facilitated his mid laner's rise through ganks and skirmishes, pointing at a change in approach. "Fox usually wins his lane, [and] is really aggressive. It just enables the jungler a lot, [as well as] the support. If your mid is super aggressive, it just opens up the map, so he's a big factor."

When asked if his renewed interest in ganking mid was due to Fox, he agreed and said, "I trust Fox more. Fox is really experienced compared to Eika. He already played two years competitively. He's really confident, and Fox being so confident makes me much more confident as well."

On Schalke 04, head coach Patrick "Nyph" Funke ensures that Fox is not the sole reason. He shares his deep game knowledge to players that sometimes need to see the bigger picture, beyond the mechanics. He has also proven diplomatic when it counted, and that garnered him the support of the organization. "He's a calm guy. He won't argue with you. He's not aggressive," Gilius points out. "He knows what he's talking about. You can discuss things easily with him without him taking anything personal. I think he's the best coach in Europe right now."

"[On] Unicorns of Love, I remember people not taking it too seriously. They were really relaxed about the LCS. People would not practice as much." Berk "Gilius" Demir

The impact of Nyph's coaching and Fox's arrival could not be measured. Following their seventh place finish, Elements' players took advantage of the long rest to prepare. No playoffs, no relegations, only preparation for what was to come. The bootcamp proved fruitful as the players trounced opponents in scrims. "We actually win most of our scrims," Gilius said. "I'd say 80%."

And Gilius needed to be ready for a stage experience that proved extremely stressful during the spring split. "I was the kind of guy that destroys everyone in scrims, and then onstage, I was invisible," he explained. "I was really nervous. I was scared. My team obviously played really different as well. If your jungler is invisible onstage, everyone plays worse. I know that if I pressure myself, I'll play worse. Obviously, I'll try hard everyday and take it very seriously, but I try to take it easy."

The inception of the best-of-two format helped Schalke 04 get into rhythm, trouncing the Unicorns of Love -- Fox's former team -- twice and crushing H2K Gaming in the second game of the series. But that doesn't mean there's no room for improvement.

"I think we need to fix our problems in the first games," said Gilius. "We always need to get used to the stage. Then, on the second game, we explode. We play much better. We just need to figure something out that we play just as [well] in game one."

Sometimes, it's also a matter of picks and bans. H2K's heavy-engage composition in its encounter with Schalke 04 met little resistance, partly because its opponents conceded crucial meta picks. However, the team showed it could bounce back and read situations properly.

"The Azir -- we conceded that for free. We couldn't really engage," Gilius explained. "At that point, we banned Kindred so I can pick an engage jungler, so that went really well."

The experience allowed him to realize that he needed to improve his communication skills under stress. Gilius concluded: "I was panicking. I was making the others panic a bit because I wanted to make the plays way too fast. We gotta take it slow and collected."