After the brutal match between RNG and Pentanet.GG, PGG’s top laner “Biopanther” sat down with the press for an interview.
So far Pentanet.GG has had a rough Rumble Stage, going 0-6. Will we see OCE turn this one around? Biopanther gives us some more insight on what’s going wrong in the games.
Written below is the transcript of the Biopanther interview. In bold font are the questions from the media, while in the standard font are Biopanther’s answers.
Once again, Oceania surprises everyone and gets a good result on the international stage. How do you see your region evolving?
Well, for me, getting out of groups was the main goal, and us taking games now will just be a bonus. But I feel like people will have to look at our region and see that even though when you look at OCE, most of the players had to leave, and went to NA, but we see that there is still potential in our region, and there are still players that should be looked at and picked up for other splits upcoming. So it just adds that extra eye that we should be looking at OCE as a region that not all the players have gone, and we should see these players as a huge opportunity for the next split.
The rumble stage has been a step more difficult than groups. How are you and the team keeping positive from game to game?
Our atmosphere is always amazing. It’s just that I feel like our team loses confidence when a lot of things go crumbling, and there’s a lack of direction. And our coach having poor timings, because he’s in Australia so it’s 10 hours behind. So it’s very hard to communicate with him, and work drafts where if everyone has issues, it’s very hard to solve. Because there isn’t that person that’s a mitigator. One person thinks they’re right, one person thinks they’re wrong. So that’s been our problem, and why we’ve been losing so much. It’s just that lack of cohesion. I think that individually we can compare to these teams, but I feel like we need to play as a team and keep improving.
Which top laner have you had the most fun facing, and which has been the hardest?
It would have to be both Xiaohu. Both those answers would be Xiaohu. I feel like his champ pool is just really good for MSI. He plays a small number of champions, but he’s very proficient at those champs, and he just has an answer to every draft, and he’s just very proficient in his laning. He’s always consistent, and I think that’s why I respect him so much. He’s just a player to watch out for because he uses every piece of the puzzle of his teammates, so his mid, jungle, support, whenever they have timers, he just plays and uses them really well. Their team synergy is just amazing, and I think Xiaohu is just really, really crazy.
Talk to us about the Yorick pick today.
Well, the Yorick pick was more so like, we should’ve picked Jayce at 4, but we banned it, so we looked at the draft, and I was like “I have to pick Yorick here. It would have to be Yorick or Irelia, but I was more confident on Yorick.” The pick is very good, it’s just that Cloud9 really punished us on our timers, and our mid 2v2 wasn’t able to exhilarate a lot of pressure. They kept running to my lane and killing my maiden off cooldown, and that really halts my champ. We should have had a huge, huge lead and using my pressure to break open the map, but they just neutered me, and the rest of the map just kept falling behind. But I felt like the Yorick pick was really really good in that game. It’s just that we didn’t play around with it, and execute it well.
What’s one thing you learned during MSI that you could actually bring back to Oceania for the second split of the LCO?
I think, knowing our team’s synergy and goals, I feel like our team kind of got through the LCO like “Oh, we’re just better players” But like now, the better player status doesn’t really matter. You being better than your opponent doesn’t last long, because they just use everyone really well. That’s what I mean. We’re not using every teammate really well, like my jungler, my midlaner, my support, we’re not setting up a lot of plays. That’s something we get punished for, and they use all their timers really well. They’re really consistent with that. Just having that more aggressive, teamwork attitude to the game is probably what I’m gonna take back to OCE.
So last year, soon after the Legacy miracle run in Worlds 2020, we received the sad news that Oceania would not have an official league anymore. So how do you guys keep motivated towards this year and the next seasons?
Well, for me, it’s always been about being the best player I can. And for sure, around me, the OPL died, and we lost the infrastructure, but we’re starting really slow, and this is gonna be a huge point for the LCO to really grow. The OCE scene will be shown love and respect because we are bringing the heart and soul from our region. We’re doing everything we can, even though as players, we’re not getting as much money, or enough support through staff, or anything. It’s mainly just players playing their hearts out, and doing what they wanna do. This is what their dream is. So, we’re just trying our best, and showing we are still a region that should be watched out for, and we can do the best that we can. It’s just crazy that we’re able to get this far, and I just wanna keep doing the best that I can with the rest of the games left.
We’ve seen a lot of interaction from Pentanet.GG social media with other wildcard regions such as Brazil. Since you are the only wildcard region to get through the group stage, do you feel any pressure representing these minor regions?
I don’t feel the pressure, but I feel like we need to show that we are the region that is gonna carry the flag to the major regions, and show that minor regions shouldn’t be slept on. A lot of those opportunities, like back in the group stage, minor regions like Brazil, could have got out. It was really close with a lot of those games. That’s why even if we made it out of groups, we should always see these regions as super contenders because there’ll be one day that Brazil will come out, and everyone will be behind them and supporting them no matter what. It’s always an amazing story because it’s like an underdog story, which everyone loves and supports. For me, doing the best that I can for everyone, and showing that wildcard regions can have a chance at big international events is my goal.
