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Interview with ANX Kira on his Worlds experience
Worlds 2016 started off as an incredibly shocking and exciting event and Albus NoX Luna was at the center. Through hard fought matches, Albus NoX Luna managed to qualify for the quarterfinals; the first Wildcard team to have ever done so. Michael "Kira" Garmash, is one of the key components of the roster. Formerly mid laner of Hard Ransom, Kira made a name for himself in the qualifiers for the 1v1 tournament for All Stars 2015. Since then, Albus NoX Luna was formed from Hard Ransom's roster. Dignitas Novalas caught up with Kira to discuss his series against H2K and his Worlds experience.
After a hard-fought path into the quarterfinals, ANX lost 3-0 against H2K. What do you think went wrong in the series?
Kira: We tried to play the worlds meta and failed. It’s not our playstyle so we need more time to train it or ignore it and play our game.
During your tenure at Worlds, you’ve laned against Huhi, Perkz, Kur0, and Ryu. Who did you have the most difficulty playing against 1v1?
Kira: I think it’s not about the players but about the champions. Usually I had pretty good matchups, but the most pressure I had was from Kur0 Syndra, because he had really good sustain on mana and still was able to harass me when I was Vlad. Ryu’s Syndra was pretty good so my Zilean lost to it.
What were your realistic expectations going into Worlds this year?
Kira: I predicted 0-6 or maybe 2-4 and this 2 wins would've been vs CLG. I thought that MSI situation will not happen again and I was right about CLG, but not about G2. But, at the first game my team (PvPStejos) showed me, that we have chances and a miracle can happen, so I tried my best in next games.
Albus NoX Luna has earned many fans due to their recent successes. Did you expect the level of support that you’ve received?
Kira: I was a fan before I started to be a pro player and I know the feeling when the underdog is starting to win against major teams. You starting to cheer them because it’s really fun to see when an Ant can kill an Elephant. So I expected that we will have a lot of fans, but I was really surprised about the number of the fans, I couldn’t imagine that there would be so much people.
Prior to coming to Worlds, your teammates have stated that you didn’t receive many scrims. After your successes in weeks 1 and 2, were more teams willing to scrim?
Kira: Yep, we started to scrim with more than just INTZ. But still not enough (but I think it’s because of ourselves).
Albus NoX Luna displayed phenomenal macro play, at least from what many expect from a Wildcard team. Since the team didn’t receive many scrims, how did you practice and perfect your strategies?
Kira: I think it’s because our shotcallers are really smart and in scrims that we played, we tried our best even in situation when we lost already 10k gold and we even won that games, so we had a lot of experience in macro situations and PvPStejos did a lot of work in this stuff by his own.
Your team has single-handedly proven that the wildcards shouldn’t be underestimated once you qualified for quarterfinals. Do you believe that Riot should provide more seedings for Wildcards or a direct seed to Worlds for CIS?
Kira: It’s pretty hard question, all depends and everything can happen. Of course, I want to see a direct seed for CIS but still I like to play with everyone because it’s different styles and more experiences. But still yeah, better to have direct seed, so you will not need to travel so much and be exhausted by it.
Now that your team is out of the tournament, who do you expect will take the summoner’s cup?
Kira: Koreans. I think SKT.
If Albus NoX Luna was in the EU LCS, where do you expect your team to have placed in the regular split?
Kira: In my opinion, in the first week Top 9-10. And in the last week, Top 6.
Now that Worlds is over, what are the team’s plans for the future?
Kira: To go on vacations and rest from LoL for a while! And of course, get Challenger jackets!
How do you feel about many fans comparing Albus NoX Luna to Moscow 5?
Kira: When I remember M5 and watch ourselves, I see sometimes some close things, but for me we are really different. So I don’t agree with them on 90%.
From Worlds, what was your most memorable moment?
Kira: 1st game vs RoX our fight in jungle and dive at bot, it was really bad from me. I did some really stupid mistakes but it was my first time from me do them, so if I played good we will win, that’s why I memorise it. And of course, my first good call (and maybe last) to do Elder Drake.
What do you think you’ll take away from the Worlds experience?
Kira: I think, mechanically, all midlaners are close to each other, except special players. So now I need to get my champion pool bigger and understand more teamplay moves.
Do you have any last words for the readers/fans?
Kira: Thank you for cheering us guys, I hope you liked our game (when we played it). We will try to level up this style and do even better next time!
Make sure to check out Albus NoX Luna on their social media for updates on their team and Kira!