H2K Febiven: "In half a year, I would be equally as good as [Froggen and xPeke]"

This article was originally published on GameSpot's sister site onGamers.com, which was dedicated to esports coverage.

Greetings Febiven! In early 2014 you burst onto the scene as a highly mechanical player, favouring Zed and Riven. Lately, however, you have moved away from your roots and have comfortably performed well with traditional mage picks. How would you assess your evolution as a player?

First of all, I think the assassin meta and Zed in particular are slowly coming back. His strenght was already showcased in OGN and hopefully I will be able to come back with the Master of Shadows and put up results.

You, top laner Odoamne and AD Carry Hjarnan have been the core of C9 Eclipse and H2K, dominating the Challenger scene since early 2014. What makes this trio so successful?

We are all mechanically gifted and good individual players in general. When you pair good strategy with excellent mechanics you are bound to get results.

SK Gaming Prime and Unicorns of Love made a big splash during the Challenger Series playoffs going toe to toe with your team. How good are those two actually?

I think they are a bit behind with regards to not only mechanical skill, but overall as players. What gives us the edge is our superior teamplay, given the amount of time we have stayed together. If I have to assess them, I would say that they can be considered good, but we are definitely better.

H2K was paired with Copenhagen Wolves for the Promotion/Relegation match. What are your chances of winning the series and would the trip to LA be a problem for the team?

I believe we can take the win from the Wolves. Already practising and scrimming for a month has yielded results as we are in the FACEIT finals. Our teamplay is getting better with each day and when you think about it, we still have 2 full weeks to continue preparing extensively for the matches in LA. As for the trip, I personally am very excited to be going to the USA so I do not think it would negatively affect us.

In the final against SK Gaming Prime, H2K had a dominant 2-0 lead, but then proceeded to not ban Maokai - a very strong top lane pick at the moment. People started speculting that you may not be taking the series seriously or were toying with the opposition instead of finishing. Any merit to those rumours?

Maokai was definitely not the problem in those matches. To begin with, we could have easily defeated them with a 3-0 scoreline just by playing properly. For those games in specific, I would not blame picks or bans for our lossess. In game 3 we were snowballing, but made crucial mistakes such as being caught out. Had we been more patient and played our composition right, we would have won the series much earlier. Come to think of it, I would say that our mistake was leaving Kassadin open. I tried to hold him off as Ryze, but people getting caught out got him snowballing.

How are things working out with coach Woong? What are his duties and how does he help you prepare?

It is sometimes really hard to communicate with him, because he doesn't possess the best English speaking skills out there. However, he has been of big help in strategy discussion and also the pick/ban phase. The team sorts out any individual misplays or any type of mechanical issues so you can say he is a purely strategic coach.

H2K and C9 Eclipse have historically struggled with finding permanent players in the Jungle and Support positions. Is Trashy the right player for H2K?

I think Trashy is the best jungler I have played with because he is open to discussion about every aspect of the game and his style of play. On top of that, he is incredibly skilled which helps a lot.

You have been a dominant Challenger mid for awhile now. Has there been interest from any LCS teams towards you?

I did get offers from teams occupying the bottom half of the LCS, but I flat out refused. I believe in the H2K line-up, we have incredible potential and the right constellation of players. I think we can get into the LCS.

Let's say H2K does get into the LCS. Where would Febiven be in the mid laner power ranking?

Without a doubt, Froggen and Peke are a level above me. I have time as I am very young so I think in half a year I would be equally as good or better than them for sure.

In a recent Reflections interview, the SHC coach LS, stated that Bjergsen is better than Froggen because he can always rise to the occasion while Froggen will maintain a good level, but will rarely go above and beyond. Do you agree with that statement?

I definitely do not agree with that. To me, Froggen is better than Bjergsen, because he knows way more about the game. In addition, he has brought a whole new level of consistency to the table, something which Bjerg has not. Finally, Froggen and Alliance are better than TSM.

You have played with k0u during your time in C9 Eclipse. What is your opinion on the latest happenings around the Norwegian jungler?

k0u is a really difficult person, because he swaps teams a lot and he is never confident when playing in a continuous line-up. Apart from that, k0u is indeed a very skilled player and if he motivates himself and stays dedicated he can surely reach a top 3 jungler status in Europe. With his motivation issues in mind, I think if he finds the correct mixture of players he could go on to be great, but I do not feel that the answer is Gamers2.

Thank you very much for your time, Febiven. The last words are yours.

I would like to thank all of my fans, my team H2K and all of our sponsors. Wish us luck in LA!

Image courtesy of readmore.de and gamek.vn