When it comes to dedicated players, there are few in the North American LCS that can hold a candle to Omran "V1per" Shoura. His 4 years in professional League of Legends have only been shared between a small number of teams, and with his exciting style of play it's clear to see why his move to Dignitas has created excitement among fans. I had the opportunity to discuss the challenges he faces and opinions he carries as he hopes to fight for a key role in DIG's Summer Split roster, so read on to catch our conversation!

Alright Viper, let's get into it! To start off, aside from League of Legends, what’s been keeping you sane over the last few months of being indoors?

V1per: Honestly, aside from League I’ve just been watching Netflix, talking to friends, and trying to keep as much of a social life as I can… I don’t want to forget how to talk to people once this quarantine is over!

When you were announced to be joining DIG this season, both Flyquest and Team Liquid begged us to take good care of you; as a player with a long history on both of these teams, how does it feel to be joining Dignitas and have the chance to play against them this season?

V1per: It’s definitely weird to play against my former teams, but it’s always exciting to play against teammates you’ve played with before. I’m really looking forward to it, I’m just super excited for the season.

What has been your first impression of playing with your new DIG teammates?

V1per: They’re all really nice, supportive teammates; it’s been really chill, you know? We’re just trying to figure out what’s best for everyone, and what the best team is.

What are your personal goals and what are your team goals for the Summer Split ahead?

V1per: My personal goal is making Worlds. I’ve wanted to make Worlds for a long time, and so do the rest of the team, but we need to figure out our losing streak and understand what’s going wrong; once that’s figured out, Worlds will be our next stop.

In April, you expressed that you weren’t too pleased with your own performances but were keen to prove just how good you are as time went on; how are you feeling in your preseason preparation and do you feel ready for the season to come?

V1per: I still don’t feel like I’m performing as well as I promised myself I would. In the offseason, I played a lot of Solo Queue, tried to be smarter and more consistent about the game, and I came into the Split feeling very confident. Then I went on to the stage and the same issues that I was having before were still happening, so I’m now trying to figure out what’s happening and get my head in the right space. I feel like it’s not hard for me to do that, because I know I can improve, it’s just about showing it.

Do you think that playing on the virtual stage is different to playing on the stadium stage in terms of your performances and mentality?

V1per: I honestly thought it would be very different for me. I thought I could finally perform really well, without being nervous, but I feel the same playing from home as I do on stage and I don’t know how that works… It’s 100% different to a lot of other people though, it’s just like that for me, I let it get to my head too much.

What are your thoughts on the state of high-level League of Legends? Are you happy with the meta at this point in time?

V1per: Definitely not, man. Something needs to be done about Aphelios and Yuumi, a lot of games are being ruined by these two champions alone. Aside from these two, the state of the game isn’t too bad and I’m enjoying it otherwise.

There have been a lot of changes between seasons in many different teams. Do you think we will see a very different standard of play to last season or do you think it will stay similar?

V1per: I think there will be a lot of different styles that have been developed over the offseason shown by other teams. For us, I think we need to work on developing our own style and our own strengths by forging our own team identity. That’s the missing piece for our team right now, figuring out our identity, but we’re definitely working towards it.

Your proficiency on Riven is enough to make any team think twice about banning her, but how likely do you think teams are to experiment with their picks this season and will we see a cheeky Riven pick?

V1per: For sure. Riven always comes in hot at desperate times, you know? I’m definitely going to play her, but I personally want to perform on other champions before I do, which isn’t happening at the moment but I’m confident it will be happening very soon.

What would mean more to you: finishing first in the LCS/Academy or having the opportunity to play on an international stage?

V1per: For me, it’s making Worlds. I want to compete against players from other regions that I watch and look up to; the feeling of playing against really good players that are mechanically insane is super exciting to me.

And lastly, which player(s), that you haven’t played against yet, would you love to face off against?

V1per: Absolutely TheShy (of Invictus Gaming in the LPL) and Nuguri (of DAMWON Gaming in the LCK). They’re both insane Top Laners that are mechanically great, they play 1v1s really well and are just smart players. I went to Korea, but never had the chance to face either of them and I think they would be a great challenge.

Thank you for taking the time out of your day to answer our questions! Do you have anyone that you’d like to give a shoutout to?

V1per: Thanks to everyone who is supporting me, whether you’re stopping by my stream or cheering me on in games. It’s been rough for everyone on DIG recently, but you just need to stick around and believe in us, because we’ve got this.

We'd like to extend our thanks to V1per for taking the time to chat with us and wish him the very best for the Summer Split ahead. You can catch him on Twitter @hiitsviper to stay up to date with him in the midst of a crazy start to the season!