Previously known as Incarnati0n, Nicolaj Jensen is rapidly becoming one of the most successful European mid laners in NA LCS. After joining C9 to fill Hai’s spot in 2015, Jensen has joined forces with the new jungler, Contractz and concluded the last Spring Split in a respectable 2nd place finish with a 14-4 record.



We caught up with C9’s own Danish mid laner, Jensen, who was eager to take the top spots in the summer as well.

▲ Cloud9 Nicolaj Jensen



People have been saying a lot of good things about your laning ability. Do you have any thoughts on that?

I mean that makes sense. Laning is one of my strengths. I play an insane amount of League and probably put a lot more focus on laning phase than other aspects of the game because it’s a big snowball point. If you can have a good laning phase, you can transition into other game-changing things. That’s usually how you win games through lane advantages. Having strong laning phase usually makes you win games.



There are many successful Danish mid laners in NA LCS like Froggen, Bjergsen, and yourself included. Is it a coincidence?

I think European mid laners — I don’t know if they tend to be better — are dominant ones in NA LCS at least. NA mid laners are generally not up to par, and I’m not sure why exactly. I guess Danish mid laners are better than everyone else besides Korea, maybe.



Are there any players you’d not like to play against very much?

No one comes to mind. I wouldn’t really say I’m afraid of playing against any particular player. They’re all easy to play against.



What do you think C9 needs to work on the most?

I think we need to work better together in the early game, so we don’t always play from behind. Right now, we’re struggling a lot in the early game. We just need to coordinate better in the early phase and continue through the mid and late parts. Our teamfighting usually is very good, and if the game’s even past the early point, we usually win.



Your former coach Cain transferred to Team Liquid. Did you notice any change from Liquid after playing against them?

TL as a whole doesn’t look very good together. We used to work with Cain, so I know he’s a really smart coach. Their problem probably goes deeper than coaching staff. I’m not sure exactly what their problems are. If I had to guess, I would say their macro is the biggest problem. They don’t seem to work well together.



You’ve been seen a lot with Sneaky. What do you think about him as a colleague and a player?

He’s a really funny guy to be around and a hard worker. To me, it just feels natural to hang out with him and have fun together. I also enjoy playing with him because he’s very positive and has a good attitude about the game — very helpful to have on a team. He works as a mediator of sort who knows how to solve conflicts in unbiased ways.



There’s seems to be a growing divide between the current top teams and those lagging behind. Why do you think that’s the case and what does C9 have to do match them?

I’m not really sure, to be honest. I guess the current top teams work together in all stages of the game. That said, I don’t think they’re much better than us. We just had a bad start and could probably compete with them, given time. Right now, though, they’re simply playing better. It’s also hard to tell this early on.

Like I said, we should work together as a team in the early game because sometimes we’re pretty disconnected. I think that’s something we could be doing better. For example, we could coordinate better to actively look for opportunities to force early skirmishes and get advantages off of those.



How do you feel about playing against EU teams as an NA representative in the upcoming Rift Rivals?

It feels a bit weird. I mean I represent C9 and NA at the same time, but I’m European. What matters is that I’m just there to win.



How do you view the drama between EU and NA?

I think Europeans in general have pretty big ego — At least bigger than Americans’. EU likes to provoke by firing shots at NA more than the other way around. EU thinks they’re better than others, but we’re coming to show them.



Are you doing anything special to prepare for Rift Rivals?

I wouldn’t say we’re doing anything special. we’re just doing the usual. we’re going to Germany next week and scrim other EU teams that are not in the tournament. EU mid laners are probably a lot better than ones I’m facing here, so it’ll be interesting for sure.



Anything else you’d like to say that we’ve missed?

A huge thanks to all the fans who support us, and I hope you continue to cheer us on. I’ve been taking this split a lot more seriously than other times and have been working toward perhaps getting MVP. I hope it’ll show off because I’m putting in a lot of effort.