Interview with RivaL Deathwalker - Solo Lane Extraordinaire

Adrian 'Deathwalker' Benko is a Professional SMITE player for Team RivaL. He currently lives in Croatia and is a Solo Lane main for the team. He began his SMITE career in 2015 with Men of Aeron and has since went on to win various events and tournaments including 2018 SMITE Masters.

When you made your move into playing SMITE professionally in 2015, you were a jungle main for a couple teams before switching over to solo – what made you decide to do that? 

Deathwalker: Jungle felt too stressful. It felt like too many things relied on how I played the game out and at the time I wasn't very good and many of our losses got me thinking about how I lost us the game. I guess you could say I wasn't confident enough to keep on playing jungle but I also had a good feeling I would do well in 1v1 scenarios which is solo lane, so it was the best switch I could've made.

You joined up with RivaL in March of 2017. What has it been like so far being a part of the organization and what was the initial chemistry like when you joined up? 

Deathwalker: Initially we joined up with RivaL because we weren't too happy with our organization at the time (CycloneGG) and RivaL felt like a safe option. It turned out to be exactly what we hoped for. It was a trustworthy organization and with time we became friends with a lot of the members from RivaL and are working together on growing as an organization while also having a lot of fun along the way.

You and RivaL are currently battling it out in the Fall Split and are 3-2, tied with two other teams. What are you and the team doing to make sure you are playing at DreamHack Atlanta in November? 

Deathwalker: We need to simply try our hardest, give it the best we've got, and I'm sure we will qualify for DreamHack Atlanta. We've done it before, we can do it again!

You’ve taken 1st in multiple events and tournaments, including 2018 SMITE Masters. What are your goals for the next year? Which event do you want to take the most? 

Deathwalker: Obviously winning the World Championship would be the goal for next year, but also if there are going to be any EU LAN events next year, those would be really nice to win, since it's an unexplainably nice feeling to get to play in Europe.

It’s no secret that you and KaLaS are BFFs. If one of you decided to leave SMITE professionally, would the other follow? What do you enjoy most about playing with KaLaS? 

Deathwalker: I'm not so sure if the other would leave if one did, but if one was to leave I can safely say that it's not going to be nearly as enjoyable for the other considering how long we already played together. I always have a good laugh playing with KaLaS because he is very troll, he makes a lot of things randomly funny. It is nice to know that an IRL friend also has the same passion as I do for gaming and it makes playing in a team with him more comfortable.

What has been the high point of your SMITE career? Any lows? 

Deathwalker: The high point of my SMITE career was probably between DreamHack Valencia and Worlds 2018 where I was hyped up to be the best in my role. Nowadays I'm not hyped nearly as much as I was but am more respected instead. I wouldn't say I've had any lows other than when I joined the SPL, but that's normal.

As a solo main, what tips do you have for other solo players out there to potentially reach your level of play someday? 

Deathwalker: Solo lane is quite tough to master, it's all about the little advantages and turning them into big ones. You also feel lonely at times since you're the only one at that part of the map which can be demoralizing in your first attempts at teamplay. The best tips I have is, other than playing the game a lot, is to have a good idea of how much damage you can deal and take so you know when exactly you need to play defensive and when to play aggressive. Also, always watch out for those annoying junglers which want to ruin your game!

Are there any solo players that you highly respect or look up to? 

Deathwalker: I looked up to Dimi in Season 2 and 3, but right now I don't look up to anyone. If anything, people probably look up to me right now. I highly respect Variety and maniaKK, especially Variety - he is the toughest solo lane opponent for me right now.

If everyone on RivaL had to switch roles at random, who would you hope would take the solo spot and which role would you hope to get if you couldn’t solo? 

Deathwalker: If anyone would switch roles with me it would probably be Vote, but that's also the best option because ADC is my favorite role after solo.

What do you enjoy most about the current state of SMITE?  What changes to the game would you make if you could? 

Deahwalker: SMITE right now is at its most balanced state. This season has been the best as far as character variety goes. You could almost play any character in their respective roles and do completely fine. Obviously there are going to be top picks that are better than the rest but that's normal for any game. The only thing that bothers me is SMITE's exposure and Twitch viewership - it's not nearly as much as I'd like it to be, but it is what it is.

For the last question, something easy – if you couldn’t play SMITE for a whole month, which game(s) are you playing to pass the time? 

Deathwalker: Either WoW or HotS (main game) and then some random games that I find at the time that I would find really fun.

Thank you so much for taking the time to answer some questions for us!  Is there anyone that you would like to give a shoutout to? 

Deathwalker: Shoutouts to the SMITE subreddit for always giving us pros an enjoyable read when we have nothing to do.

Check him out below for more awesome stuff!

Twitter: twitter.com/Dthwlkr

Twitch: twitch.tv/Deathwalker79

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