From soloqueue to Worlds, Splyce's rookie support Mihael "Mikyx" Mehle has slowly become a rising star in the European LCS. After an impressive rookie split that saw Mikyx display mechanical prowess on champions like Bard, Splyce managed to qualify for the 2016 World Championships, shocking many spectators and themselves. However, that victory was short lived as Splyce managed to only take one game off Royal Never Give Up. We sat down with Mikyx to talk about his time at The World Championship, what he himself could have done better during the group stages and how he plans to use this experience at Worlds to grow for the 2017 season.
Mikyx locking in Sion support during their last regular season game against Unicorns of Love. Screenshot from Riot Games Stream.
Unfortunately, you guys were unable to make it out of group stages. What have you and the team been doing with this free time?
Mikyx: Right now we are just chilling at home, adjusting our sleep schedules and playing some soloqueue.
You guys were placed into a very tough Group D. Was the team discouraged by the group draw?
Mikyx: No, not really. We thought it's gonna be more fun and more rewarding if we do make it out in a group with better opponents since it was everyone's first time at Worlds. Also, I was really looking forward to play all the botlanes in our group. It would be nice if we got an easier group and made it further though :D
Had H2K lost against Unicorns of Love in the EU LCS 3rd/4th place match, Splyce would have been the second seed coming to The World Championships. How far do you believe Splyce could go with a weaker Group C?
Mikyx: I am pretty sure we could also get to semifinals if we were to get placed in Group C honestly.
While you guys were underdogs, you were able to snatch one win as well as two very close games against Team Solomid and Samsung Galaxy. What issues kept Splyce from closing out those games?
Mikyx: I think it was mostly me playing very bad the first week since I was pretty nervous and shaking for like 20 min everygame. Well I guess we were all a bit nervous the first week since there was actually pressure on us unlike the second week where nobody expected anything when we were already 0-3 and would need to win all the games.
Image courtesy of lolesports
Well, you guys are a team of young players and this experience playing internationally will only help. With these nerves in mind, did the idea of switching to comfort ever come into mind? Like, I know you are well known for your Bard and Sion Support play.
Mikyx: Well, I played a ton of Karma and Nami in scrims so they were also kind of comfort champions but they were in the meta unlike Bard so I played those. I wanted to play Sion but unfortunately nobody played Zyra even one game in scrims or stage against us. I'm pretty sad everyone is playing it since I think Sion paired with something like Jhin does very well into it.
During Worlds, you played a total of five champions. However, I feel many people were hoping to see your Bard. Why do you feel Bard was not played as much this World Championship ? What made him less viable than Nami, Karma, Alistar etc.? In other words, why did Bard fall out of the Worlds Meta?
Mikyx: I feel like it is much more about laning phase now and Bard doesn't really win lane against champions like Karma, Nami and Zyra. I played it in scrims but on stage, Karma and Nami were open every game and they were the best so i picked them.
Speaking more about this laning phase meta, are there teams that you feel got far because of this win lane win game meta? Is it fair to say you are a team focused around scaling and macro?
Mikyx: I think RNG is a team like that, because if they don't get leads from lane as seen from our 2nd game I think they just don't know what to do. Yea I think its fair to say that, even though I feel like a lot of people undervalue our laning phase a lot.
I would definitely agree that your laning phase is underrated. While you guys were known for being macro focused, you guys were able to garner a lot of gold leads at 20 minutes. Since you guys got 2nd in the summer split, you have been invited as the European representative at IEM Oakland. Should you guys attend IEM Oakland, why will it be a different outcome?
Mikyx: I think we can do better at IEM because we got some experience at Worlds now and hopefully we won't be as nervous there since its not as big as Worlds.
Are there any regions that you are either excited or nervous to face?
Mikyx: Im looking forward to playing everyone and prove that we are not as bad as people think we are after our Worlds performance.
With less nerves and more confident play, what do you feel becomes the minimum placement for Splyce at IEM Oakland?
Mikyx: I think getting to IEM:Katowice would be nice or at least getting top 3 would be my minimum.
Besides nerves what do you feel teams were able to expose in your play that many European teams were unable to do? Is it an easy fix for Oakland?
Mikyx: I think our early game is still not that good and also teams we played against were just a lot better in lane and macro than EU teams, and I think we kinda can fix it for IEM:Oakland.
Even though you guys were eliminated in groups, Splyce still shocked the community by even qualifying for Worlds. How successful would you say this season was for you personally?
Mikyx: I think where we ended up was beyond my expectations. My goal was to maybe reach playoffs and just do well myself, so yea I'd say it was extremely successful for my first split.
Looking towards next year, what are two things that you would like to achieve by the end of the 2017 Season?
Mikyx: Well since we placed 2nd this split, I would like to go for 1st next season and get to Worlds again and put up a better performance than I did in this one.
Make sure to continue following Mikyx through his social media platforms and Twitch channel for daily posts and Sion support.
