Manager and strategic trainer Unicorns of love Dmitry Invi Protasov shared his impressions of the Play-In stage 2020 World Championship and told how the collective’s everyday life in China is. In a commentary for Cybersport.ru, he said that the team’s plans from the very beginning were not only the passage to the main stage, although for the CIS this is already a high result. Invi noted that they will have to fight for victories in the group stage with eminent lineups.
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“The Play-In stage was about as expected. We wanted to fight for the first slot in the group. The only thing – I was sure that I would have to do it with LGD, not PSG. Well, the emotions from going further are not so bright simply because our initial goal in the tournament is much higher.
We practically did not encounter big difficulties during Play-In. The only difficulty was our performance. We played very badly against R7, and the tie-break with PSG ended unpleasantly. They were supposed to register for the main stage two days earlier.
The atmosphere in the tournament is amazing, just like in any international championship. A lot of faces flicker familiar and new, all insanely friendly and cute. Plus the stage is fantastic. And even the absence of spectators does not spoil the atmosphere. At the same MSI, the auditorium was not very large, so the difference will be noticeable only in the playoffs and in the final, where there are usually a lot of spectators. Unfortunately, we haven’t gotten that far yet, so there’s nothing to compare with. ”
In Invi’s opinion, getting into Group D is not the best deal for Unicorns of Love. The team will have to meet twice with DragonX, FlyQuest and Top Esports in matches to one victory.
“The draw was not the best way for us – the group included opponents with very big names. I will not hide: insanely difficult games are coming. But I think we have done well enough over the past year to show something else in the main stage of the tournament, and not just in the Play-In. “
Worlds 2023 is taking place in China. For viewers from the CIS, broadcasts of the first matches begin in the morning. Due to the two-week quarantine, which each of the team members spent in a separate room, jetlag for cybersportsmen is no longer a problem. Now UoL has settled in another hotel, where they can communicate with representatives of teams from other regions.
“During the quarantine, we did not see a single living soul. For two weeks they were in their rooms at the hotel and could not even intersect with their team. Everything is a little easier in the new hotel, we often meet guys from other regions, sometimes we exchange a couple of phrases with them. We talk about mutual acquaintances, sometimes about matches, sometimes about relations between regions. There are plenty of topics.
Waking up is absolutely not difficult, because our earliest games started at 17:00 local time. And before the start of the tournament, we had two whole weeks of quarantine to get rid of the jet lag and get used to the local time. So it’s okay. There was only one funny story: on the third day of the tournament we played two competitive games, Nomanz found out about it only an hour and a half before leaving for the studio. A bit lost in dates and didn’t get much sleep that day.
You can feel the support of our guys from all over the world! It is incredibly pleasant when they cheer for you and write words of support. Personally, I was very pleased when very old acquaintances, even absolutely not connected with League of Legends, congratulated me. Guys, you are all very cool, we appreciate you! “
Team training Unicorns of Love is standard. But most of the CIS cybersportsmen did not manage to get used to the single rating queue on the Chinese superserver. At the moment, all members of the roster play on the Grandmaster and Challenger ratings, but at first the winrate on the accounts of the mid, forester and topper was less than 50%.
“We play either one block of screams of five games, or two of three, depending on who we play with. Absolutely nothing new. <...>
I don’t think you can get used to the chaos in SoloQ in such a short time. Only Gadget feels like a fish in water, the rest of the guys don’t feel very comfortable in such conditions. “
The next Unicorns of Love match at the 2023 World Championship will take place on October 3. The team will meet with the Korean team DragonX. You can follow the schedule and results of the tournament in the report.
Photo of Unicorns of Love from a studio in China:
Unicorns of Love. Source: flickr.com/photos/lolesports. Author: David Lee / Riot Games
