Clash of the titans : [MSI]Trixi

Presenting Part 1/2 of the series : [MSI]Trixi

So, thanks for agreeing to this interview Trixi. Why don't you start with an introduction of yourself?

-"Hai, I'm Kalle "Trixi" Saarinen. I'm 20 years old and studying for my BBA degree. I play HoN for fnatic and I also like turtles."

You guys have gone through some roster changes lately, and since the addition of the trio from iLx, your role in the team seems to have changed from always being the solo carry player to most of the time a support / carry in the trilane. How has the transition been?

-"To be honest I'd still still prefer playing the solo carry role but certain sacrifices have to be made in order to make things run smoother. It's mainly because we don't play the heroes that I used to play with in the old fnatic lineup (valk/fa/solo slither etc). That is also because of the change in metagame as the iLx guys are very fond of trilanes and playing with a sole carry. As for playing different heroes that I used to, it isn't really a problem. I'm a versatile player and I can play anything from supporting to ganking to carrying. Also I'm at least decent on every given hero."

After the games with KD-Gaming and Loaded unfortunately your team's unbeaten streak using your full strength roster is over, it seems like teams are beginnning to figure out how to beat your team's usual set-up or at least give you a run for your money, how's the team reacting to that? Are there any new strategies in the works?

-"The games against loaded were not really countering our general strategy. It all came down to a couple of picks. The first game we lost they had people roaming in the middle which enables our trilane to free farm until a hero comes back to the lane. N0tail seemed a bit tired in the middle as he got ganked even though misses were called. That made pebbles get an early Portal Key and that pretty much won them the game. As for the second loss it all came down to my personal sloppy mistakes as well as choosing bubbles to go to top lane in the first place. Again, if we had chosen a couple of heroes differently but still have the same strategy I think the outcome would have been better. We haven't tested any new strategies in practice but we have had our little skype discussions about running some things differently. We'll have to wait and see."

There has been talk and some posts in the forums regarding Hellbourne side having more advantages due to being closer to Kongor and other various factors. S2 has already stated there are no immediate plans to change the map as the Legion side has various small advantages as well. Seeing that this theory worked for your CSN series with Loaded, what are your thoughts regarding the matter.

-"I think if teams were more advanced and knew how to think outside the box properly the differences might not be so big. No team decides their strategy around the side they are playing in. There are pros and cons in both sides but legion is not as bad as people make it out to be. For example the legion jungle is better. You are able to do triple pulls in the bottom jungle. People also tend to think that Hellbourne has two pull spots in the toplane which is false. The other pull spawn is easily pullable by Legion to counter the enemys pulls. Kongor is of course a big advantage to Hellbourne, but as I said this could be taken into consideration when you are picking or in your general game strategy. For instance you could try to pick a team with a bit of pushing capabilities to take down towers thus enabling you to take kongor when the time is right, too."

There have been rumours lately regarding an irc log involving Rexi saying that there has been a clash of opinions within the team. Any comments on that?

-"It's just normal Rexi behaviour. He's not that involved in the team anymore because of the army as many might have guessed. Some of the issues he pointed out are valid but those are his personal opinions from watching the games we have played. He probably hasn't played any games with the iLx guys so he sees things differently than they might be. So there hasn't really been "a clash of opinions". It's his personal opinion about the gamestyle we have been running with."

We're finishing soon so I'm gonna ask you some pre-World Cup stuff, I'm pretty sure with so much money and glory on the line Fnatic would strive to go all the way, who do you see as your main competitors for the world title?

-"Loaded is the team that I'm mostly concerned about. They just beat us so they're going to be a hard nut to crack. I'm not afraid of going up against any of the teams as I think they are all beatable for us. There are a lot of clans that I have no info about so maybe there are some pros in hiding."

I believe that's all I need. Thanks again for your time. Gl hf at the World Cup. Any last comments?

-"Shoutout to everyone who cheers for me, maybe someday my Valkyrie will make a come back. Also thanks to fnatic and our sponsors: MSI, SteelSeries, Bigfoot Networks, UGAME and SLAPPA. Peace out."