Photo: LoL Esports
Fans League of Legends Everyone has a favorite team and favorite players. But there’s one player in the LEC we should appreciate: Russian jungler Nikolai.zanzara“Akatov. Always in a good mood in bright interviews and on screen, she brings color to the competition and does not shy away from little victory dances for our greatest happiness.
But despite this image of a happy citizen, the situation is especially difficult for the actress. from Astralis now. Level athleticAstralis will still miss the playoffs, and even if they have been better for a few weeks, this start to the year is disastrous. However, at the political level, it was a bit difficult to become a Russian citizen at this stage. The conflict caused a stir and Zanzarah received several hateful messages on the networks. It’s hard, but Jungler gets up and repeats his call: nobody likes war.
French transcription of the interview
Hello Zanzara and thank you for being ready for this interview. Congratulations on your victory, and before I start, I need to ask you a quick question. How was the dance at the end of the play?
Astral Zanzara: It was a little victory dance. I was happy to win, especially since the game was clean from start to finish. We really expected such a victory this year and we feel good!
Astralis can no longer qualify for the playoffs in this segment. Is the game easier or more difficult under these conditions?
Obviously simpler. We all saw in the team that we couldn’t play at our level in the playoffs. After a very bad start at 0-9 we had no illusions. After that, we played game after game, trying to do our best as if we were starting from scratch to get as many wins as possible.
I had the opportunity to speak to promisQ with your support a few weeks ago and was very impressed. Have you won a few games since and want to know if there’s a happier vibe in the team?
The atmosphere is much better. Winning helps us but at the same time we understand our style of play better, know what to do and make life easier and more enjoyable even when we lose. For example, when we lost to EXCEL last week, I was happy with the content. We have improved in training and it shows in the competition.
During gameplay, around minute 17, I noticed you were trying to unplug the Rift Herald with the Trundle Pillar. Is this a secret technique that really works?
I think the attack is unstoppable, but I figured if I put my ice pillar down then, it might slow down the Herald and we’ll have time to take him down. But in the end, he never got out and he just jumped over the obstacle. I had a little hope, but I can say that I tried anyway! (Laughs)
You’re also famous for having a weird champion pool in the LEC. Has it always been like this throughout your career?
I do not believe. I get why you think I have a weird champion pool, but after all, the only popular champion I haven’t really played with is Lee Sin. I can play the rest in training or in official competition. I don’t particularly like the non-meta champion game, but I do like the champion game to take on the enemy. Taking Trandl as an example, I play him mainly because he’s a good match with Xin Zhao. Also, I know Trundl well where the opponent shouldn’t be seen often. The same idea was true for Scarner. This type of champion pool can be a huge advantage in the draft phase.
Speaking of Skarner, you haven’t played him yet this year. The Champion is no longer valid in your eyes or is it simply because you do not have the possibility to release this character?
Skarner doesn’t quite fit our style of play and I think he’s quite nervous. Turbo Chemtank was as tight as Dead Man’s Plate, and those are two key things for the champion. Now we like to play aggressive early in the game and Scarner is usually limited for that. Also, I’ve been playing Trundle a lot lately. He is very powerful in the starting game and his strength is impressive. Wins most 1v1s and 2v2s.
There are still 3 games left in the Spring Split, then comes the Summer Split. What are your goals for the rest of the season?
We want to look good in the last three games and show the public that we are not just the last in the LEC. We beat Rogue, beat Fnatic and finished the SK Gaming streak, no free play against us! The goal is to maintain this good standing for the summer season, while we aim for the playoffs and why we aim for the world.
Finally, I want to quickly address one last point. You wrote on Twitter that you get a lot of bad messages just because you’re Russian. Without the details of the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, how do you assess the situation? ხარHow are you?
It is mentally difficult, not only because I receive messages that are not at all positive, but because I know many people who have been affected by the current conflict. I really don’t want to talk about politics but I don’t like the way the situation is affecting people right now. It is difficult for me, but even more difficult for people close to the conflict. I hope everything will be resolved quickly and that we can also enjoy League of Legends.
Thank you for these words to our French community. Finally, do you have a prediction for the LEC Top 6 and First 1?
The Top 1 is hard to predict and I felt like Snape got it a little wrong. But we have to keep monitoring the team with Fnatic and Misfits Gaming. I would probably add G2 too. Vitality and EXCEL will be in the top 6 for me, but no more. Finally, the MAD Lions will end up like us outside the BDS and EXCEL playoffs.
Source : Millenium
