Team Liquid continued to roll through the 2020 League of Legends Championship Series Summer Split with a win over 100 Thieves. TL, now 3-0, won the match in relatively convincing fashion, but not without a few hiccups along the way. Team Liquid's error in the late game led to a lost teamfight and priority on Baron Nashor for 100 Thieves. 

100 Thieves securing Baron might have been its foot back into the game, but Mads "Broxah" Brock-Pedersen had other plans. On Graves, Team Liquid's Jungler showed no hesitation in entering the Baron pit and stole it from 100 Thieves. The ensuing scrap between both squads saw TL victorious with both the gold lead and the Hand of Baron buff, and the 100 Thieves nexus shattered less than a minute later. 

Broxah spoke to Inven Global's Nick Geracie after the victory over 100 Thieves to break down his Baron steal, Team Liquid's improvements in synergy compared to the Spring Split,  and working with Joshua "Jatt" Leesman as a Head Coach. 

Broxah, let's talk about that Baron Steal. What was going through your mind leading up to that moment, and what were the team communications like when you went for it?

I feel like we were in full control most of the game. We had really good macro and we were outscaling them, but we had some moments where we messed up and had some hiccups. I think it started with the third drake: We got caught and gave them an opportunity to do the drake. I tried to steal it, but I messed up and I was angry at myself for pretty much the rest of the game for missing the smite on that drake. *laughs*

When we gave them another opportunity and I saw them starting Baron, I told myself 'I don't care what happens: I'm getting into that pit and I'm going to steal that Baron.' Once we actually got there, I stole the Baron, we killed all of them, and pretty much ended the game off of that. I felt really happy.

You more than made up for the drake, I'd say, and your performance on Graves overall was pretty strong today. TL first picked Graves for you today; can you explain what he offers in the meta for you to prioritize the champion so highly?

I think Graves fits into the current jungle meta really well. There's a lot of really farm-heavy jungle champions being prioritized. You want a jungle champion that has a strong early game, can play for the objectives, and farm really quickly. Graves pretty much covers all of that.

All in all, Graves is a different type of jungler in the sense that you don't have much gank pressure, but if you play good macro and play well around the pick as a team, it can snowball pretty hard. That's what we saw here in this game.

How do you feel like your individual play thus far in summer has measured up to your play in the Spring Split?

I am really confident in myself individually, but that was also the case last split. One of the main things that will really help us in this split —  and that has helped us secure these three wins already— is the fact that we have much better synergy between all of us.

We have much better team play than the previous split where we were playing as five individuals, but now that we're all on the same page, we can play as a team and it makes it easier for everyone to step up and look better individually as well. I'm really excited about our growth in that regard, and I'm really happy to see it. I think the way we play as a five-man team is only going to get better and better with more time.

Team Liquid has a new Head Coach in Jatt, and it's also his first time in a coaching position. How has it been working with Jatt this summer?

So far, working with Jatt has been a really great experience. Jatt has provided a lot of structure to the team and comes from an outside perspective after watching Team Liquid in past-seasons. He has his own perception of what TL did well and what we did poorly in the Spring Split, and he's bringing that to the team with a lot of knowledge. We've slowly started adapting both in and out of game.

I'm really happy with what Jatt has brought to the team so far; structure definitely being one of the main things.

When our team interviewed Cloud9 Support Vulcan in week 1 of the Summer Split, he said that Team Liquid was the team to most likely challenge them for the LCS championship. Do you feel that TL is at that level, and if not, what must the team improve on to achieve being able to take down C9?

I've always believed we have a really good chance of beating Cloud9. Even when the entire team collapsed in Spring Split, I kept telling everyone and myself 'No matter what happens, as long as we continue working as a team and focus on synergy and team play, it's just a matter of time before we turn things around.'

We've now had some weeks leading up to the Summer Split to prepare, and as time goes on I am pretty confident we will be able to challenge C9. Hopefully, we're already where we need to be when we play them next week.

Thanks for the interview, Broxah. Is there anything you want to say to the Team Liquid fans?

I want to say thanks to all of the fans for sticking with us this season, especially the ones who haven't moved over to TSM and have remained TL fans. Spring Split was a big disappointment for everybody in Team Liquid and all of ours are really hungry, extremely motivated, and doing everything we can to make sure Summer Split is going to be ours.

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