Santorin and TSM adapt for Summer
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It may be the beginning of a new split, but Team SoloMid's jungler Lucas "Santorin" Larsen doesn't have any time to dwell on mistakes. Instead, he and his team are quickly learning from them and adapting.
"We were so far ahead [against Cloud9] and we shouldn't have been able to throw that game," Santorin says, almost laughing in disbelief. "We lost because we were running into chokes against Rumble. That was stuff we, in-game, were talking a lot about. We were saying we shouldn't run into chokes, but we ran into two or three. That's something we really have to improve on and make sure it doesn't happen again."
He says that while upsetting, TSM immediately knew the mistakes they'd made. Once the team got home, they didn't waste any time before watching the VOD to prep and make sure they didn't repeat the same things on Day 2 against one of the NA LCS' newest teams, Enemy Esports (NME).
Yet, even though they're the rookies of the Summer Split, NME still gave TSM a run for their money in the first half of the match. "These guys, new to the scene, new to the stage, they put up a really good fight, so I feel like they definitely played better than I expected."
As for his own team? "We died a lot for no reason and we didn't rotate the way we should have, so the game dragged out a lot," Santorin explains. "But we knew that the second we hit late game team fights we were going to win."
TSM had put together a team fight composition that would have been a nightmare for NME to attack into late game. But it was during the earlier parts of the game that the newcomers gave TSM trouble.
Santorin mentions how Cuong "Flaresz" Ta's Hecarim was able to run rampant in the early game. It started when the horse killed Søren "Bjergsen" Bjerg in mid, stealing a crucial Blue Buff. "All we had to do was call that Hecarim was missing! So that started snowballing. Then Hecarim got fed, because he got Blue Buff. Suddenly he was 4-0 and killing everyone, and that was the only thing we couldn't let happen."
Despite Enemy hitting a scary mid-game power spike on Hecarim, TSM kept their heads in the game. They locked down four Dragons before shutting Enemy down at Baron. Together with Bjergsen constantly threatening NME's back line on Viktor, TSM finished things up and walked away with their first win of the Summer Split. "I feel like a team is not a good team unless you can play from behind, so we're really trying to make sure that we can," Santorin says.
TSM's also working on a few other aspects of their game lately, like focusing more on top lane and their communication issues. "We have definitely gotten a lot better at communicating, mainly because we're playing more to top side now too. So Dyrus is calling more stuff, because he's getting used to me. If he calls me, I'm going to come, and that's how we're trying to get better at the game, by using our top lane too."
He continues, "Because we're playing to top lane now, it's way easier for me to gank. Normally I'd always be bot side or mid side, which means it was really easy to predict when I was going to gank. So I feel like it's getting better."
For the next few weeks, Santorin also says TSM's going to focus practice more around lane swaps, a tactic they've recently strayed away from. "I feel like we were really good at lane swaps at some point, but because we never practiced it again we forgot how to do it. That's one of the reasons we didn't win against Cloud9. Lane swaps are a really huge thing. If we can't play lane swaps, then every team is going to lane swap on us and we're going to play behind at the start."
And while things are going better in terms of communication, Santorin still feels the team has a ways to go. "Just looking at this game [against Enemy], Hecarim got a mid lane kill for free which never should have happened, so that's my standpoint. That should never happen. If that still happens, then we still have something to work on."
Team SoloMid may have stumbled a bit out of the gate this Summer, but it's clear they have a great handle on what they need to work on going forward. This isn't a team that's happy when they win, but rather one that's filled with hungry competitors who are fiending to learn from the games they've played. We'll see how far it carries TSM to their ultimate goal of winning the 2015 World Championship.
Leah Jackson is a web content editor at Lolesports. Her favorite champion is Gnar! Feel free to follow her on Twitter for esports banter and corgi pictures.
New Enemies?
He says that while upsetting, TSM immediately knew the mistakes they'd made. Once the team got home, they didn't waste any time before watching the VOD to prep and make sure they didn't repeat the same things on Day 2 against one of the NA LCS' newest teams, Enemy Esports (NME).
Yet, even though they're the rookies of the Summer Split, NME still gave TSM a run for their money in the first half of the match. "These guys, new to the scene, new to the stage, they put up a really good fight, so I feel like they definitely played better than I expected."
As for his own team? "We died a lot for no reason and we didn't rotate the way we should have, so the game dragged out a lot," Santorin explains. "But we knew that the second we hit late game team fights we were going to win."
TSM had put together a team fight composition that would have been a nightmare for NME to attack into late game. But it was during the earlier parts of the game that the newcomers gave TSM trouble.
Santorin mentions how Cuong "Flaresz" Ta's Hecarim was able to run rampant in the early game. It started when the horse killed Søren "Bjergsen" Bjerg in mid, stealing a crucial Blue Buff. "All we had to do was call that Hecarim was missing! So that started snowballing. Then Hecarim got fed, because he got Blue Buff. Suddenly he was 4-0 and killing everyone, and that was the only thing we couldn't let happen."
Despite Enemy hitting a scary mid-game power spike on Hecarim, TSM kept their heads in the game. They locked down four Dragons before shutting Enemy down at Baron. Together with Bjergsen constantly threatening NME's back line on Viktor, TSM finished things up and walked away with their first win of the Summer Split. "I feel like a team is not a good team unless you can play from behind, so we're really trying to make sure that we can," Santorin says.
Here I Come!
TSM's also working on a few other aspects of their game lately, like focusing more on top lane and their communication issues. "We have definitely gotten a lot better at communicating, mainly because we're playing more to top side now too. So Dyrus is calling more stuff, because he's getting used to me. If he calls me, I'm going to come, and that's how we're trying to get better at the game, by using our top lane too."
He continues, "Because we're playing to top lane now, it's way easier for me to gank. Normally I'd always be bot side or mid side, which means it was really easy to predict when I was going to gank. So I feel like it's getting better."
Playtime's Over
For the next few weeks, Santorin also says TSM's going to focus practice more around lane swaps, a tactic they've recently strayed away from. "I feel like we were really good at lane swaps at some point, but because we never practiced it again we forgot how to do it. That's one of the reasons we didn't win against Cloud9. Lane swaps are a really huge thing. If we can't play lane swaps, then every team is going to lane swap on us and we're going to play behind at the start."
And while things are going better in terms of communication, Santorin still feels the team has a ways to go. "Just looking at this game [against Enemy], Hecarim got a mid lane kill for free which never should have happened, so that's my standpoint. That should never happen. If that still happens, then we still have something to work on."
Team SoloMid may have stumbled a bit out of the gate this Summer, but it's clear they have a great handle on what they need to work on going forward. This isn't a team that's happy when they win, but rather one that's filled with hungry competitors who are fiending to learn from the games they've played. We'll see how far it carries TSM to their ultimate goal of winning the 2015 World Championship.
Leah Jackson is a web content editor at Lolesports. Her favorite champion is Gnar! Feel free to follow her on Twitter for esports banter and corgi pictures.
