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Hello! Right now we are inside Spodek stadium in Katowice at IEM Season VIII Finals.
Last year you secured a very important victory in this city. That was your first tournament as a part of Gambit Gaming team. How seriously did you approach preparing for IEM Katowice this time?
Darien: I am not sure whether we took it responsibly or not. The prize is relatively big. The result isn't really important in terms of Season 4 Championship.
But winning would be nice and would allow us to consolidate our last year's result. I hope that we won't start this tournament the way we did the last time. We'll do our best.
If we are talking about the preparation process, it is worth to mention that you moved into your gaming house earlier this week. Could you say a couple of words about it as well as your training regimen.
Darien: Our boot camp is quite ordinary, it's not a penthouse, but it's suited for training.
We are just getting started, beginning to exploit an advantage we previously didn't have. It allows us to stick together. We'll come up with something.
LCS resumes after this event. There are three more weeks left as well as playoffs. Do you as a team intend to go back to your boot camp or do you have other plans?
Darien: Yes, we intend to return. We might take a couple of days off to go home, but we'll spend the majority of time practicing together.
Let's return to the topic of IEM Katowice. Last year it surprised a lot of us with the volume of its audience. There are even more people this time. Does it affect you? Do you get nervous? Do you try to perform even better in front of this huge audience?
Darien: I have a lot of experience when it comes to this. It's hard to count the amount of tournaments we have attended by now. You can say that an audience is like a background for me, but it's still pleasant.
I don't get nervous when I am playing in front of someone or in front of no one, whether the game is important or not. There is a place for grief when you lose, but I have already overcome being nervous.
Imagine, if you win a game, you stand up and take your headphones off. Don't you get inspired by the crowd shouting, clapping and supporting you?
Darien: Well, of course it's pleasant, I think. It's hard to say. Winning is the best way to get animated. I am pleased both by the live and online crowds.
In your first game you are facing TPA. That's the team that prevented you from advancing to Season 2 World Championship final. You face them at this tournament no matter what. Did you put an additional effort coming into this game to make sure that you can pay them back for overcoming you previously?
Darien: To be frank, I am not sure how well our Chine opponents are playing. Having watched the games played by the Chinese right now, Fnatic vs iG, if I am not mistaken, they seem to be in a good shape.
If TPA is their best team, I am not sure about iG, since I am not following their scene. I am paying more attention to the Korean scene, since it's more accessible. It's harder to follow the Chinese teams, since they get less exposure. They might not have played lately at all, I am not sure.
We'll play the way we usually do, don't think a lot will change. We'll run over them using our skill.
It's your first tournament on 4.3 patch. Will it force significant changes to the way you play?
Darien: It's a tough question. I don't even remember what kind of changes 4.3 had, since we have been playing on this patch for a long time outside of tournament games.
I don't remember what kind of changes were implemented in 4.3, therefore it won't have a large impact. We have been practicing on 4.3 patch, while playing official games on 4.2. I think it's going to be easier for us in a certain way.
I hope that one can still build Manamune on Aatrox and Deathcap on Shyvana. An article about you on lolesports was based on responses provided by you and your teammates. All of them said that you are quite stubborn. If you hold an opinion, you stand by it until the end. Doesn't it prevent you from finding a compromise with your teammates?
Darien: Each one of us has his own opinion on how the game should be played, we are different people after all. That's the point of being an individual.
I think the point is to combine the best parts of our views together.
Thank you for this interview. Is there anything else you would like to add?
Darien: I would like to give a shout-out to everyone who is supporting us, and to everyone who will join Gambit's side after we accomplish a victory.
Thank you for watching this interview with Evgeny aka Darien.