Simon “fredy122” Payne, the head coach for Rogue’s League of Legends division, has shed some light on what he thinks will be crucial for European teams ahead of Worlds 2022.
The British coach explained LEC teams must focus on the early game if they want to make an impression on the international stage. “If you can’t play early game, then you can’t play international,” Fredy122 said in an interview with Inven Global.
This, he underlined, was one of the biggest problems for Rogue over the past several seasons. But many teams in the LEC have been facing the same issues for some time now and have been “picking scaling and hoping” they’ll survive the early game against the top teams from South Korea and China. “For the region to fully improve, a lot of teams need to start picking more early-game comps,” Fredy122 said.
Fredy122 also believes MAD Lions and Rogue have been focusing on playing for the early game this season, which is why they’ve been able to stay on top of the standings for the majority of the 2022 LEC Summer Split. “I would agree with their statements that I think this split, they’ve [MAD Lions] been playing early game, so that’s good. And as in general, we’ve always tried to push towards more early game.”
Fredy122 reassured Rogue’s fans they’re trying to “snowball games from early game,” which is key if for a team aiming for international success. If Rogue make it to Worlds 2022, this is “gonna be a big help.”
MAD Lions are currently on top of the LEC standings with a 10-5 record and are the only team to have qualified for the playoffs at this stage. But Rogue are just one game behind them and sit in a four-way tie for second place. Both teams will play three games in the upcoming superweek to close out the regular season.
Worlds 2022 is scheduled to take place in North America from Sept. 29 to Nov. 11. A total of 24 teams, including four European teams, will attend the tournament.
