We spoke with G2 League of Legends star and veteran top laner Sergen “BrokenBlade” Çelik, who had a respectable showing on the Rumble pick, as the Summer Split champions are slowly finding their footing after a rough start in the first week.

After dispatching Shifters in Week 2, we got his thoughts on a plethora of topics, including Alphari working with Myrwn, the changes to top lane in Season 16, and more.

BrokenBlade on Top Lane Changes, Warwick, and more

Q) While not much happened in the 1v1 with Rooster due to it being a K’Sante vs Rumble matchup, I’ve heard a lot of positive things about him from other LEC top laners, especially in the laning phase. What do you think of him as a player?

BrokenBlade: I think Rooster is definitely a strong laner. He is one of the better ones we have in the league. I already knew this last year when he came into the league that he was really strong and was playing a lot of ranged top laners a little bit like Canna as he likes to play ranged top laners as well. I do think Rooster is strong, and even today, despite there not being much to do in this matchup on either side, you could tell he played a decent laning phase. 

Q) Alphari joined Movistar KOI as an assistant coach to help out Myrwn even more. We know he has worked with you before. Do you believe Alphari can help Myrwn become an even stronger player this year?

BrokenBlade: Well, I do think that whoever gets to work with Alphari should feel lucky. He wasn’t just a good player; I don’t think being a good player means you are a good coach, in a way. However, the way he does things is very good so I think he should make Myrwn better as a player. 

I think they are both very different players, as Alphari leaned more towards playing meta champions and would play them really well, while Myrwn isn’t like that. It was similar to me as I was also not really that type of player, so it’s going to be interesting to see Myrwn’s development with Alphari, as I was the one being coached before by him, and it was definitely a cool time. I have learnt a lot from that time, so it’s going to be exciting to see for sure.

Q) What do you think of the current quality of the teams in LEC, as it feels like no team is unbeatable and any team can beat anyone on a given day?

BrokenBlade: Yeah, I think you put it well. So far, at the beginning of the Winter Split, there are only two teams that aren’t looking the greatest, which are the teams coming from the ERLs. I don’t think you can give them a lot of hate for it. I think Karmine Corp Blue is being competitive in some of the games for sure. I feel like a lot of the teams are really battling it out every game, and it’s really cool to see. 

The challenge is to always keep this performance up throughout the yea,r and I think many teams crumble when it comes to the middle of the year or the Spring Split. It’s going to be exciting to see. 

Q) Talking more about the changes in Season 16, top lane definitely emerged as a big winner due to the changes. Do you think this allows you to flex your champion pool that usually has weird carry picks like Olaf and Yasuo?

BrokenBlade: It definitely makes it much more viable to play a stupid champion, which is what I would call it, like Warwick, Olaf, and Darius which are champions that can just run you down in lane. The past two years, when you would counterpick, you would just get lane swapped, which is just not laning against a top laner, you know. You are not really counterpicking anything but rather playing 1v2 against their bot lane which was really unfun. 

I feel that the changes are not even necessarily for solo queue in a way, but were really good for pro play and the viewers. For me, the biggest difference between solo queue and stage was that there were constant lane swaps going on. If I were a viewer, I wouldn’t be able to relate to the game state. I think this change is great for viewership and also for me, as I don’t have to lane against bot laners, so I am really, really happy with the change. I feel like I have much more impact in the games.

Q) Do you feel like getting more experience and getting to hit level 20 is a bit too powerful?

BrokenBlade: (laughs) You know, I am going to say that I like arguing with Caps a lot regarding this. For what top lane had to suffer for the last three years, this just feels right. I feel like top laners deserve to be strong for one year maybe. They can nerf it after a year but let us be strong for a year and I’ll take that.

Q) This is the second year for G2, and you are with Skewmond and Labrov. The team had Yike and Mikyx for two years before replacing them with the former two. Do you think there is added pressure this year to exceed expectations, as the organisation has clearly put faith in the roster?

BrokenBlade: I mean, there is always pressure. I feel like, especially in esports, you never know what will happen so you have to always give your best. I feel like there is no other choice anyway. I feel like if you are a pro player on a team and you don’t give it your all, you don’t deserve to play. For me, I was never in the mindset of chilling for a year. I think that is just not what it means to be a pro player, at least for me.

For me, it doesn’t change anything. I don’t see anyone differently, and I don’t see myself differently. I know this year is important, just like any other year. I want to do really well because I feel like we didn’t have the greatest start last year in terms of winning the splits in Europe. We ended on a higher note than we did in the last two years, which was good. However, I wanted to do better, and I know we can do better. I know that our ceiling is hig,h and we just have to get there.