"I Won't Stop Until I've Won Worlds" — Caliste on KC's Summer Playoffs and His First World Championship

Busio told me he didn't like the term 'wake-up call,' because it implies you weren't giving your all. Do you agree?

On the day itself, of course we give it our all — if a guy isn't giving his all, he shouldn't be on the team. I'm not saying we didn't try hard every day. I think we worked, we just didn't work the right way. So it's not a wake-up call in the sense that nobody's working or resting on their laurels.

It's more a small electroshock: there was clearly an evolution from MKOI across the whole split, while we were more on a downward slope.

What we were doing wasn't working for us. We need to find a different recipe, or change what we did this Summer that didn't work, to get back into good form like at the EWC. We have our highs and lows, and we were in a low — we need to find a high again for Worlds.

Going back chronologically — how did KC feel during the regular season, after beating T1 and the 3-0 on your road trip? Did you ease off a bit to avoid burning out?

We were fairly happy with our EWC performance, even if there were disappointments because we really saw ourselves going all the way. We made the final, we'd beaten Eastern teams, and we felt that the further we went, the better we played. The EWC was really 'we messed up at MSI, we have to make up for it.' So we were happy but disappointed with the final. Then straight after came the road trip in Évry, the Adidas Arena — we played MKOI, Vitality

You had to readapt to the meta shift away from the mage meta. Did the mage meta suit you well, and did going back to the older meta slow your momentum?

I wouldn't say the mage meta should suit us — we're not really a great mage team, it's not what fits us most. We're more of a teamfight, early-game, mid-game, fighting team. The mage meta was much more focused on jungle-support rotations and 1v1 bot. If you tell me it was our best meta of the year, I'm a bit surprised.

We were really disappointed with MSI and we mega try-harded that mage meta — how to use it, what works, the best picks. But we prefer a more classic meta.

The end of Winter was basically the meta we have now — Ashe/Seraphine, Ezreal/Karma, duos on botlane — and we were really happy playing that. So when we saw it coming back, we were like, great, this is something we're good at. I honestly can't explain why we looked more comfortable in Winter than we did in Summer on this meta.

Coming into playoffs in Madrid, were you still in that more chill atmosphere, or had it shifted after the 9-0 regular season?

From my point of view, we didn't come into playoffs with a chill mindset — the first match was a Worlds qualifier. Everyone was really on edge about qualifying and not repeating last year's mistakes. Everyone really had it at heart to qualify and beat GIANTX, especially since it was GX, so we had a big card to play — we were clearly the favourites. Losing that Worlds qualifier against them was unimaginable.

You won against GX fairly easily, but it was far from perfect...

We won, we qualified for Worlds, but we lost a game and it wasn't the cleanest. Okay, we qualified, but for me it was owed — that qualification is really thanks to the 3-0 in the first week and a good regular season that let us be first to pick our opponent. Normally, KC and GX both at their top level, you expect KC to clearly dominate GIANTX three games in a row. It didn't happen because we weren't at the level we should have been, they were pretty good at punishing us.

I just feel we didn't have a good progression throughout Summer.

Then G2 the next day. On stream you said the 2v2 bot wasn't a problem against them. Didn't you feel a bit dominated in the 2v2 that day?

From memory we played the 2v2s pretty well, though you can always play them better. The only game where I struggled to find angles was the Lucian-Milio into Yunara-Lulu. Historically we've always won that matchup on both sides, and especially on Lucian-Milio we always found good angles and dashes. But G2 are really, really strong in that matchup, and on Yunara-Lulu in general — I think it's their top priority, their best bot lane by far in the laning phase. So I had a bit of trouble. But the other games we were fine. Against G2 it's often spicy, a lot of trades, but both bot lanes are at a very high level — there's no harm in saying KC and G2 are the top two bot lanes in Europe. There's a lot of respect and skill-checking, and both of us just play their matchup at a very high level.

Was the 2v2 a reason for the stomp in Madrid, for you?

No, I wouldn't say that, because we weren't going 0-5 in lane — most of the time we were even or maybe slightly behind, but there was no massive gap.

Walk me through the two weeks of prep for Nice. Was there a bit of complacency after Madrid?

After losing to G2 we were all disappointed — we just keep losing to G2 and we're fed up. Against G2 almost none of us were at the level. There were clearly aspects of our gameplay to rework.

We're supposed to be a very strong individual team and we weren't at our standards.

We did manage a good game three — Skew kind of gave it to us with his invade, with all due respect, but we closed the game out. Then we made mistakes, weren't sharp individually, and got stomped. I really had it at heart to beat them in the final, because we'd lost to them twice 2-3, Winter and Spring. We drew conclusions on what we'd want to do or not do against G2 in draft and gameplay if we played them again. Overall, we felt everyone just needed to step up again, because we weren't at our standards.

Melzhet said you're a sum of very talented individuals, which gives you agency in chaotic games, but that against more structured teams like G2 or KOI this week-end it becomes harder. Do you agree that you struggle more on the map, structurally, than the other top teams?

For me, no — but I totally agree with his point that factually, from Madrid onward, MKOI and G2 had better map movements and a better mid game overall. I think we were really good in the mid game in Winter-Spring, and this Summer we were less good. Everyone evolved and got better, and we were more on a downward slope. So we lost a bit of our individual level and our mid game — it's a bit of everything, we lost a bit of everything and were less good.

Zeph talked about your way of working by reducing communication. Isn't that the ceiling of that method — that restricting communication doesn't help you play the map as a five?

It's obviously harder to make team plans when there's no communication. But on the other hand it helps individually, so it's a pro and a con. I've already said [to the team] that as an ADC it's complicated, because everyone does their own thing, so at some point you don't have much agency — when I want to swap, it's obviously hard since I can't talk to my top laner. But it's the team's and coaching staff's decision in the end. Factually it helped us a lot for the EWC.

For me it's not really a communication problem — I think we communicate well.

It's just that factually, this Summer, we weren't good enough and didn't work the way we should have. We didn't find the keys we should have, like MKOI did. We need to find the right way to work, what to work on, our draft priorities...

The elephant in the room — not having a big vocal leader, plus two Koreans speaking approximate English. Doesn't that make it harder to play the map and have a clear direction?

Honestly I don't think so, because if we had five Europeans all communicating as much as the other three, we'd go right back to the problem of communicating too much — that's exactly why we did that exercise, to clarify communication and make it clear, fast and decisive. The Koreans communicate less than a European, sure, but they give the necessary information and what they want to do. Their English level is clearly more than enough to say what they want in the game.

For me the real thing isn't the amount of communication we bring, it's the game vision and the quality of the plays we propose and see — or don't see.

Game one against MKOI looked won on paper and started the bad momentum. How do you explain not winning it, and do you feel you individually had a part of the responsibility?

We were in a really good position — honestly the game is normally over after level one, because they took a really bad trade bot, lost their summoners, and got 2v2 killed at level three, which isn't supposed to happen early in that matchup. But then we just didn't have a good mid game or good teamfights.

I usually call the teamfights and take responsibility for how we want to play them, and honestly that's one of the reasons we were less good this Summer — I dropped that habit of telling my team how I want to play the teamfights.

It's something I need to take back and rework. In game one we were clearly in a good position coming into the mid game with our comp, we had the dragon, the gold lead. Our teamfight wasn't good, our mid game wasn't good, our map movements — we made bad decisions, like the moment at Baron. We just made bad decisions.

Was it a macro or micro thing? People talked about the cleanse moment with Busio in the last teamfight — was there a disagreement?

No, I think we'd agreed, I had to QSS if there was a CC. Honestly I don't remember every detail exactly. I just know I saw a Seraphine ult coming in my head, so I was thinking either I cleanse to have the tenacity for it, or I wait for the Seraphine ult and QSS both at once. I think that was it. But honestly, game one we have to win through teamfights with our comp — we didn't teamfight well, didn't make good decisions, and made individual mistakes.

What was the main conclusion from your post-match discussion?

Concretely, it's not even a slip-up, it's a bit of a disgrace.

All the fans come, spend their money, their time, invest in coming to watch us play, and we get 3-0'd at home. It's a bit shameful — my family was there, so I was even more gutted. We all talked, said what needed to be said. Good foundations were laid for the Korea bootcamp and Worlds. We know it's a marathon, everyone will be tired, everyone's almost at the end, huge stress and pressure — everyone plays their career at Worlds.

That bootcamp can be double-edged if managed badly, which is why we laid a lot of groundwork for the future.

Now we're in the present and can only think about the future. So let's try to make up for this humiliation — although, honestly, I don't think it's possible to make up for it unless we win Worlds, and even then…

Can you identify the moment it shifted — from a team that beats T1 and dominates the regular season to one that hits wall after wall in playoffs?

There's no exact moment — it's a continuity of events across the whole Summer.

In my opinion it's the mentality and the work that didn't follow all season. There were bad habits and they punished us.

You get punished when you have bad habits, or play badly at certain moments, or don't improve on certain things or champions. When you play against better teams, you get fraud-checked — you're not good at this, not good at that. I don't have the exact moment, but we just needed to correct things better whenever something wasn't going well.

Aren't you a bit scared it's too late to relearn how to play the map, or to rework your processes, right before Worlds?

Honestly no — if you're scared going into Worlds, there's no point being there.

We already showed right after MSI that we can get back to a big level very fast, in 3-4 days at the EWC. This team has a lot of talent, in the coaching staff and the players. Like I said, we have highs and lows, and we went through a low. It's hard to go lower. It's up to us to lock in, take the work back the right way, give everything like we did at the EWC — and we even have more time than we did there.

On a positive note — you were voted Summer MVP. Is that a source of pride, given all the expectations around you since you arrived?

Of course I'm happy.

But honestly, if I could have traded the MVP for the LEC trophy, I'd take that every day.

Regular-season MVP is nice, but regular season and playoffs aren't the same game — you can beat up on weaker teams in the regular season. Still, I'm happy, because I did have a very good level in the regular season, and my goal after the EWC was to at least maintain that consistency and level through the meta shift. In the regular season I was always solid, could get a lead or be useful in teamfights.

In playoffs it didn't follow, so I'll do better and work harder. For me the MVP is an extra more than anything — it's not a trophy.

You'll play your first Worlds — the competition you always dreamed of. What does it do to you, thinking back to the 14-15-year-old Caliste playing at Lyon Esport?

I'm very happy and hyped to play my first Worlds. It's the event everyone wants to play, everyone wants to win — 99% or more of pro players, their goal is to win Worlds.

But there's no point going just to get knocked out in play-ins or play badly — you might as well go on holiday and give the spot to someone else. It's a good first step, now I have to do all the rest, which is much harder.

I'm very hyped to go to Korea, play against the best teams, then go to the US, play in different cities and stages.

Did you always know you'd end up there?

Knowing I'd end up there — no, that would mean knowing my path. But deep down I knew I'd get there because I was going to work like crazy, and I'll keep working like crazy.

My goal is to win Worlds, and I won't stop until I've won it.

Why would that determination leave? I haven't won, and it's the first year I qualify — I have to keep working, and I work even harder, because I'm still a bit far from winning them.

What's the plan for Worlds — you're still going to Korea despite the play-in schedule gap? There's a big debate about the double jet lag of the Korea-then-NA bootcamp.

We leave on the 27th, so really in 2-3 days. We're going, in military-service mode — full focus, full try-hard, while being careful about health. When we went to Korea for MSI we weren't jet-lagged, so we'll see. Whatever you do, you'll be tired — it's the end of the year, more stress, you've given everything for ten months. The double jet lag can be scary, but everyone's in the same boat.

The most important thing is your level on League of Legends — you can be a walking corpse, as long as you play well.

The real issue would be going somewhere and not playing good teams or not improving — that's suicide. But we'll play good teams. We can't stay in Europe scrimming nobody and then go to the US saying good luck. We could go to the US and scrim NA teams, but we feel we need stronger opponents to learn more and get stronger.

We already have good scrims lined up — we're really going to scrim the top teams in the world.

Maybe we get our faces smashed, but at least we'll take something from it, see how the best teams draft and play.

Is that the point — having the meta a step ahead, like what you lacked at MSI?

Yes, clearly — playing the same cards, the same drafts as the Asian teams. It's about seeing what they do. Most of the time they have a good read. We're not saying we'll just copy-paste their gameplay and drafts — we're saying we'll go there, play against the best teams in the world with a good mentality, train every day against them, and try to improve as much as possible for Worlds.

Does the play-in scare you a bit, with the PTSD from MSI?

There's a bit of PTSD, I can understand some are scared and some trust us right now. Like I said: if you go to Worlds and don't believe in it, there's no point being there. We fully believe — we know we can be a very good team, just as we know we can be a very bad one. But we were at our lowest, losing to MKOI, so now we just want to wake up, be the best possible version of ourselves, be really strong and make our fans proud.

I'm determined to make my first Worlds memorable.

What's your objective at these Worlds — a result you'd be satisfied or proud of?

Satisfied would be getting through the Swiss stage. And a good result would be semifinals. If we go out in play-ins, that's a failure.

If we play badly, don't show a good face, scrape through play-ins and go 0-3 or 1-3 in the Swiss and go out like clowns, then I look at the year and there was no title and a bad Worlds, so it's not great.

But if we put up a good Worlds performance, it's actually a very good sign — because this roster is expensive and designed to win, but it's only its first year.

Compare it to G2, in their second year: G2's first year they were strong, but not as dominant as their second year. So year two of this roster should be really dominant. In this year one, remember that at the start of the year one of the goals was just to match G2 in Europe — we didn't really succeed but we made two finals in 2-3, had good regular seasons. There were no titles, so it's a failure in that sense, but if you look at the overall picture and the peaks across the year, it points to good things. So if we do bad at Worlds, I would consider the year a failure but if we do well, I would not. As is often the case, a good year depends largely on the performance at Worlds.

Which teams or ADCs do you most want to play there?

I'd love to play BLG, to play Viper again internationally. On the end of everyone's playoffs, he was clearly top one or two. The best ADCs in the world decided to wake up for Worlds, so I'll have my work cut out — Gumayusi, Ruler, Viper, Peyz, Smash, that's five very nice names, slot in Hope and that's the top six-seven in ADC right now pretty clearly.

But if there's one team I really want to play and beat, it's BLG

A last word for the fans before you leave for your final sprint?

I want to thank the fans who support us despite the loss to MKOI. We're just as disappointed as you, and I'm personally sorry — being French, it's easier for me to notice the families, the people who pay for tickets and hotels, who make the trip.

It costs them money, time, energy, and we didn't win a single game in Nice — it was really catastrophic. My family was there, my mother paid a lot to come as well.

So sorry for that. I really have it at heart to make you proud, to have a good Worlds and show we're not taking the piss out of you — that we really want to win and make you proud, and that we're not taking the piss out of Kameto either, who put a lot of money into this project. As I said don't have unreasonable expectations, but do expect us to at least have solid Worlds. A big thank you for the support — we'll need it, it's the last stage of the year. We're going to give it everything.