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Hello everyone! This time I am with Danil, our jungler. And my first question is: What are your thoughts about Gambit's performance at Gamescom?
Diamondprox: Apart from the match against Lemondogs, we did pretty well. It didn't go well, since we did a lot of mistakes and didn't ban Zac. Other than that we did quite well.
Many community members were discontent, since you didn't ban this champion. Why did it take you so long to acknowledge that Zac is a first pick material and that you shouldn't have given him away?
Diamondprox: I wouldn't say that he is so imbalanced. Darien can counter him with Nasus and others. He fit their composition well, therefore it is easier to ban him than to build a composition that can counter him.
Summer Season was really intense as standings were tight throughout it. In the end, three teams - Fnatic, Lemondogs and Gambit have advanced to S3WC. Do you think that it is an objective outcome?
Diamondprox: I believe that the outcome is objective.
As far as I have observed, junglers at this particular tournament were putting emphasis on protecting and assisting their core players, for instance, Bjergsen in NiP and Froggen in EG. What was your own play based upon?
Diamondprox: My play wasn't based upon aiding lanes that we were carrying, but upon aiding lanes that required my assistance. For instance, if we have an vulnerable duo, Ashe and Sona, I'd rather stand by their side. If Alex is playing TF, who has 400 ms and a long-range stun, I might come by to land a kill. All of it is situational.
Why do you think enemy junglers recently were attempting to gank Darien less frequently?
Diamondprox: First of all, he started playing more safely. Should he be ganked, he most likely will just lose half of his HP and will burn his Flash in worst case scenario. Enemy jungler's presence on top lane will allow us to punish another lane or will give me a chance to counter jungle him.
In my view, your breaking point at this tournament was after the first map against EG. Having lost that game, your position became unfavourable. What happened after that game that allowed you to win this match?
Diamondprox: We banned Zac. That easy? Diamondprox: Yeah.
You have a couple weeks left until S3WC. I've asked this question to your teammates, but I am interested in your opinion as well. What do you think you should work upon to get in an optimum shape?
Diamondprox: We should avoid giving away free solo kills, thus we should move around the map more carefully, especially our support. We should align our actions for particular strategies. Sometimes some of us don't want to push, stop farming or engage, when it is necessary. Things will get better, when we won't require communication, only actions instead, in order to understand each other.
Don't you have an in-game shot caller, whose calls prevent you from following different objectives?
Diamondprox: All of us try to contribute. Whenever I am not busy, I try to remind others even most simple stuff, that you might forget while playing. Others, when they are free, can inform me about enemy jungler entering my jungle or five champions moving towards my Red Buff, when I am farming it. Information flow saves one's life.
Many community members and Alex Ich believe that Darien performed most solidly among five of you at this tournament. Do you agree?
Diamondprox: Yes, Darien did great at Gamescom. He did only a couple of mistakes, but you can forgive him for that, as all of us are people. He did a brilliant job.
What can you say about your own performance?
Diamondprox: As for my own performance, I guess it is easier for someone else but me to evaluate it, provided that they have decent analytical skills. I can say that I did an acceptable amount of mistakes. I like my performance on Lee Sin, even though we lost that game. I played one of the games on Aatrox way too passive against Lemondogs, other than that I like my own performance, especially on Evelynn.
Recently a lot of community members were accusing you of playing way too passive. They say that you farm jungle way too much, instead of attempting ganks. Is it a conscious choice of your team or your response towards what is happening on different lanes?
Diamondprox: If taking enemy Wraiths, Golems and sometimes Wolves is being passive, then I don't know how to respond to it, guys. It's not cool to think that making a fruitless attempt to kill, while wasting half of your own HP, means being aggressive.
You have a new player, who just a month ago was playing solo queue, but now will be representing you at S3WC. Do you think he is prepared for it? Should the rest of you step up and indicate flaws in his play as you are way more experienced?
Diamondprox: Definitely. One should always support new players. He has never been at large events, has never sat in front of thousands of people. I don't think his hands were shaking so hard before. Therefore we have to be tolerant towards him, but at the same time we must give him suggestions that will help him to do his best.
Let's talk a bit about the upcoming tournament. Five participants have already been determined, nine teams are yet to qualify. Do you think that Koreans, whom everyone has feared of, still remain the main threat?
Diamondprox: I believe so, but I don't think that they will overcome every single opponent. By the time S3WC starts, every European team will get into shape, since "lovely" LCS is over, that has in fact drained all of our energy and prevented us from practicing. I think that teams like Fnatic are able to give them hell.
There is a lot of hype around the teams that won Summers Splits in EU and NA, since they weren't part of Spring Split. Provided that C9 advance to S3WC, what do you think of their chances at this tournament?
Diamondprox: I put my trust in both of these teams. I hope that they will achieve great results. But I doubt that they will avoid making rookie mistakes at S3WC, so I hope that their management will inform and prepare them for everything, so they will perform alongside us against Asian teams.
I know that you don't like making predictions, but taking into consideration your current shape and the time you have left until the tournament, what would you consider to be an acceptable performance at S3WC?
Diamondprox: If our preparation will be appropriate, if we will take into account all of our mistakes, if none of us will show off, I believe, we can reach the Grand Final.
Reaching the Grand Final isn't only a great achievement, but also an honour to play in front of such a huge audience. Let's wrap up. What would you like to say in the end?
Diamondprox: I would like to thanks our fans, who were supporting us online, and those, who attended Gamescom. There were in fact a lot of Russians here and the event itself was cool. I am sorry for those, who weren't able to make it here. I would like to thank Darina, who arrived here to cheer and support me. I wouldn't be able to cope with it without her.
Thank you for watching this interview. It was Diamondprox, our jungler.