Interview with Siigari, the Solo Top Eve Machine

Professional League of Legends players are usually the topic of interviews. However, I thought it'd be interesting to interview just a normal League of Legends player. I guess it'd be a bit premature of me to say that this player is "normal". Instead, David 'Siigari' Pietz is a far from normal League of Legends player.  The reason why he is so far from the norm is because he mains Evelynn and did so pre and post nerf.

Gracious to his fans and viewers, Siigari let me interview while he was streaming and gave me some insight into his seemingly unorthodox main.  Thank you for taking time out of your day to let me interview you. Also, please check out his stream "Evelynn's Rebirth" if you get the chance to.

When did you start playing League of Legends and when did you decide to main Evelynn?

Siigari: I started playing League in July 2010. A friend of mine said to try it out saying that it was like DOTA. I liked the look of the game and how it was a real-time strategy game. I played Eve in early 2011 right before she got nerfed. I played her as an AP jungle hybrid. I wrote a long guide on her and fell in love with her as a champion.

What qualities about Evelynn drew you to her and what makes you continue playing her to this day?

Siigari: I liked the fact that she could bring a different kind of game to the enemy team. If you are stealthed, you are seemingly always missing and the enemy has to play it safe. You can go missing and start to make your own meta game inside of a game. I love mind games. Throw a few all chat messages and mess with the opposing team to get under their skin.

What are your thoughts on pre-nerf and post-nerf Evelynn?

Siigari: Pre-nerf: When she had her stun, it was a lot. If you successfully mess with the opposing team’s heads – if they try to counter you, it won’t happen. It is dependent one’s personal ability to mess with people. Her kit was good. The heal on her ultimate allowed for constantly ulting. Her stealth was unparalleled and you could do whatever you wanted. She was very strong.

Post-nerf & rework: She is removed from her old style of play. You can still kill people and be in stealth. But when you don’t have “I have a stun advantage” – it feels different. Nothing more satisfying than landing AoE on entire team. There are a lot of things I miss.

When and why did you start streaming?

Siigari: I started streaming League of Legends last year. I streamed because I wanted to share with the community and did it because it was fun. I was a DJ for 12 years and streamed then. I felt used to it and wanted to be a part of the community. Initially, I thought “she’s terrible”. I took her, played and practiced her, and adapted her to make her what she is now - a solo top Eve machine.

I remember watching your stream one night and you got to around a couple thousand viewers and you seemed really excited about it – how’d it feel to have so many people watching you stream?

Siigari: It felt really good and I was kicking ass. Doubly awesome. When that happened, it was after my partnership with Own3dTV. When you are a no-name player with no platinum or gold rating and you are able to have that many viewers at one time – it tells me that I have something to offer the community.

What do you think separates you from other Evelynn players minus your prior dedication to her?

Siigari: I am not a troll and I pick Eve. On a League of Legends post–queue timer, over a 100 people dodged in 3 weeks. They all thought Eve was a troll and that she had no place top. I’ll pick up and carry with Eve. They’ll pick Eve and jungle where she isn’t really strong. I took old knowledge of what Eve could do and psych’ed out opponent.

It’s the whole “holy crap, I just died and how did this happen?” mind game. After the kill, the game snowballs in my favor. Your team is excited and the enemy team gets frustrated at each other. You have just broken down the morale of the other team with that one kill.

When it comes to ranking, do you think Evelynn helps or keeps you from raising your elo?

Siigari: Ranked stats (at the time of the interview) –  won 191 and lost 173. As long as you win more than losing, your elo will go up. I think Eve is going to raise my elo. It may be a problem to get your team to get behind you. This may count against me at some point. If I continue to hone my skills and surround myself with good people to duo queue with – my ranking will go up.

Why do you always buy so many health pots?

Siigari: Short engagements – 15 sec of mass health regen. When you are running health potions, you are an active tank – armor, magic resistant – health regen is up. This is more than philo stone. Health pots give health in small chunks – mini tank on demand.

If you could do one thing in the whole world, what would it be?

Siigari: Go into space. I’d take off in a rocket and just be in orbit. I am fascinated with it. I’m a licensed pilot and I fly out from an airport in Oregon. I like flying and like getting up in the sky – if I could go higher, that’d be awesome. Space, zero gravity, and a great view.

How did you come up with the name “Siigari”?

Siigari: I made it up. Two different words. I played Homeworld and the objective of the game was to get home. The home planet is Hiigar and I was in the Soban faction – mixed – Siigari. I used it for my online presence.

Is there anything you’d like to say to the League of Legends community?

Siigari: Give Eve a chance. She is totally underrated. If you love something enough, you can turn it around. I’m trying to do with it Eve. If someone wants to play Eve, give them a chance because they may be actually really good with her.