Photo by Michal Konkol for Riot Games

Team Vitality has struggled throughout the entire Spring Split, securing 3 points in total, with standings of 1-13. After Mid Laner Lucas "Saken" Fayard’s double duty in the LEC and the LFL, Vitality made the decision to take the player out of double duty, subbing him for Marcin "Selfie" Wolski. Starting the seventh week of the League of Legends European Championship in a rush, Marcin shared thoughts on the current situation with the team.

You just entered the LEC Spring Split after a being on hiatus. When was it that Vitality let you know they needed you on stage?

Well, I didn’t exactly have a very large window. I only knew three or four days before last week, when they were about to play week 06. The situation in the team was really bad and I was aware of that, but I didn’t mind joining because at this point there is nothing much I can lose, since I was not going to go competitive for this split. I was still playing League, just streaming.







Wait. Can you turn around? I had the impression the name on your shirt was different…

Yeah *laughs* it’s Milica’s. Like I said, the time window was really small, so they didn’t have a jersey with my name prepared.

From your perspective, what is Team Vitality’s interest in bringing you in for the mid lane?

At this point there are not too many free agents. I am not saying I am insanely good or anything like that, but even the mediocre mid laners are taken at this point, right? I think coming from the perspective I am a former pro with no team, so I guess it was an easy choice since there were not so many options. For us right now it is all about improving and I am still here as a sub, so when Milica is back, I hope they have a good foundation.







And mechanically, what have you brought to Vitality?

They say that now our early game is a lot better, and I have gotten compliments on being a good shotcaller. Our early game in scrims looks really good. On my first time on stage this weekend, it didn’t look as good, so we were really disappointed, but on the last game of the weekend, we had a great early game. We did not snowball, which was really unfortunate.







You mentioned not having anything to lose by joining the team, but given that this is a team with only one victory in the entire split and how that can affect a player’s career, what attracted you to join?

Nothing specifically when it comes to the organization. I still think the players are really good, we have had more issues in-game as a team than as individual players and I believe that is why our early games are good when comparing to our mid and late game. I was also willing to play competitively again and still prove that I am a good player.







Since you joined on such short notice, how was the process of insertion into the team? Did they brief you with previous vods or were you just thrown into the chaos?

I really have not been following competitive League of Legends at all. I didn’t even play the newest champions, just Viktor for one or two months, which people were perma banning me for already. That was good scouting by the opposing teams. *laughs* There is a lot of catching up to do if we want to get some wins.







What has the catch up process been like, then? Are you having to compensate for the time lost and put in extra work?

I don’t think that I am doing extra work, or working harder than other team members, but I have been picking every other champion to play, looking at the matchups, seeing how other players approach them. Actually, I have been playing a lot of 1v1s since I have so many champions to learn in such a small amount of time.







I got to talk to Duke a couple weeks back. He had told me then that Vitality was facing confidence issues. What was your first impression when getting into the team?

Before I joined, I had heard about the mental boom issues and the lack of leadership from the players, or the fact they were struggling to win scrim blocks. The first scrim we played together was a victory and the mood went instantly up. I think the situation now is relatively good even though we lost this weekend, we performed decently, we were just unable to snowball.

"I have really learned how to deal with losses a little bit better than others, so I try to help players to go through it."

Has the negativity in the beginning affected you in any way?

No, I am used to it.







I’m sorry that you are… *laughs*

I mean, I have been on so many, I guess you can say…. “Bad teams” *laughs*, I have really learned how to deal with losses a little bit better than others, so I try to help players to go through it. Even when losing in scrims, I try to be nice to them, be logical and look at what all of us are doing in a more cheerful way.







So given all we just talked about, what are your personal expectations for the short split you are having?

I am expecting at least some wins. The first day we underperformed really hard and I felt really uncomfortable on stage. Against Excel, which is not a bad team, I think we performed fairly well. I am expecting at least two or three wins, I would be happy with that.







And moving on, would you like to have a chance at staying with Vitality or continue playing in the LEC?

The future is unsure. I don’t know if they would want to stay with me or not, that is a completely different question, but if they do want me to stay, then I need to think about it, but I would see it as a possibility for sure.

Even though our performance was not the best, I really had some nice messages from fans. I really appreciate them.