His team’s star performer so far at Worlds, MAD Lions KOI support Álvaro “Alvaro” Fernández played a crucial role in his team’s 2-1 win against PSG Talon to book a spot in the Swiss Stage. We were able to speak to the Spaniard immediately following the victory.
Esports.net: Both yours and Supa’s bot lane performances received a lot of praise today.
How pleased are you with the way you played?
Alvaro: I’m really pleased because I think we, especially me, stepped up. I was giving a lot of confidence to the team.
I will say I’m not still pleased because I’m the type of person that is really competitive and also always wants more. I just want to look for the time that we’re going to face people in the Swiss stage and I think we need to train a lot.
Lee Jones: A couple of times today, MDK got very early leads but let them slip.
Why do you think that was?
Alvaro: I think we take this early [lead] because I think we are a really practiced team in early game. We are kind of aware of what we want to play for as a team. But then when these slips start coming into the game, I think it’s because we are not really aware of some of the parts that are happening in the game.
Alvaro: For example, I remember the game when we are fighting bot and they are flanking from top side and from bot side. I think there, for example, we were not really confident and we were not pulling the trigger on one of the both places. And I think we had one of these slips every game.
Image credit: Riot Games
Lee Jones: Speaking of strong early games, how about Elyoya not buying items in game two?
What was it like when the realization hit?
Alvaro: I think everyone was too focused on what they had to do individually, because we were talking about; “What can they do? Level one, we need to be here. We need to work here”. And then when he’s doing the red, he said: “Oh, I don’t have items”.
I’m like: “No, there’s no way”, I press tab and I’m like: “Okay, I will just try to play as best as I can in bot lane so I can have the best impact”.
But I think he didn’t get punished that much, even if he had to base and everything, because the enemy did a full clear into top lane. So at least it was not the worst because he realised and he just didn’t die to the buff. But it was a bit of a scary situation.
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Why do you think you specifically have been able to play so well so far at Worlds?
Alvaro: To be honest, I’m not sure. I know how capable I am of my skills and I know that I’m even better than this. I’m not showing everything. I think I’m playing decent anyways, but my problem is that it’s mostly something that I need to still find; why it’s happening and how I can replicate it again.
But I think it’s probably related to mental. It’s something that we have been working with both my staff and my psychologist, and I think it’s something that is probably way more deep in my brain and it’s something that happened already since I was a child. Like since childhood I probably have fears and it’s something that you need to go really deep. So right now I don’t have time to fix it, but at least I’m happy that right now I’m doing it. And I think it’s something that I will need to reflect for the next year so I can be a better player.
Image credit: Riot Games
Lee Jones: There’s been a lot of focus on MDK’s LEC winrate before Worlds started, with many feeling that the team doesn’t deserve to be here.
Have you felt like you’ve needed to perform to prove that you deserved to qualify, at the very least?
Alvaro: To be honest, there are always haters. For example, right now, people are gonna say that PSG is playing bad and we don’t deserve to be here. They are gonna say it.
I think in your life, you just don’t need to listen to these people. Of course, you can take the things that will work for you from them. Like, for example, there is feedback that even if it’s not in the best way, you can take it. But I think the people that they were complaining about the winrate, they didn’t really realise how the league was going because we were the third best team in the league. We almost won against Fnatic and we almost got to finals. And at that specific moment, we were the strongest team.
I even joked that coming into Play-Ins is going to make us have a bit better winrate, so maybe we can finish in a positive winrate this year. But yeah, I think for me it was not an extra pressure because I was just thinking on what we could do as a team and I already knew what we were able to achieve.
Lee Jones: There were little outside expectations for MDK at the start of the year, yet now you’re in the Worlds Main Event.
What’s the objective now you’ve made it to Swiss?
Alvaro: For me, my objective — and maybe it’s a bit of a risk — but it’s making it to top eight. I want to go to Paris and play a best-of-five. I think in best-of-five we are a stronger team when it comes to mental as well, and preparation for the drafts and the games. But I think for me, I just want to improve and play the best individually as I can and I want to play the best that we can as a team.
I just want to, at least, enjoy the experience and take everything that we can from it. But my expectation is going to be going at least top eight and then fighting for everything that we can.
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