BDS Adam: “What we want right now is going to MSI, and I think we’re really able to.”

The start of the 2024 LEC Spring Split marked the return of BDS top laner Adam “Adam” Maanane to the team’s starting roster following his behaviour-induced removal in the Winter playoffs.

After a victory over Rogue completed a 1-2 opening week, Lee Jones spoke to the Frenchman to get his thoughts on the slow start and what he thought was reported incorrectly around his benching.

Esports.net: What are your immediate thoughts on the back of your win over Rogue?

Adam: Super relieved that we didn’t go 0-3 for the first week, not gonna lie. It would have been a bit rough if we went 0-3, so a lot of relief going off right now.

Lee Jones: Your top lane opponent Finn spoke of Rogue’s stagefright letting BDS back into the game after his side had an early lead.

Could you feel Rogue’s hesitation during the game?

Adam: So we knew that we were behind and we knew that we were not supposed to have control of the game. But slowly we were noticing that they were giving us a lot of control and, at some point, they just gave it fully. So from this point, we knew that we had the advantage and we tried to not give it back.

I think they mis-executed their comp. I don’t think they recognized really well how they could end the game against us. And we tried to stall the game as much as possible because — in the end — we knew that we were a better mid game and teamfighting team than they were, so we tried to push this.

Lee Jones: You mentioned the relief at preventing an 0-3 opening weekend.

What do you think has caused the slow start for BDS?

Adam: I think we didn’t really know what to draft, first of all. And I think we also had two rough games because we were facing G2 first game, and in the second game against Vitality I think the draft was really not optimal at all.

We discussed a lot about it and now I think that we see a bit better how we want to play the game and what we want to draft – so this is really good coming from the second week, I would say.

Lee Jones: This is the first weekend back after your benching in Winter playoffs, and you’ve admitted that work needs to be done on anger problems moving forwards.

Do you feel like you’re taking the right steps to avoid any further issues?

Adam: Yeah, naturally. Obviously there were conditions for my return – BDS and me, we talked about it. But in the first place, what happened between me and BDS was already planned. I think it’s a bit unfortunate that what happened got exposed on the internet because I think the guy that did the article just wanted to harm me more than just making an objective journalism article. So this is where I’m a bit sad about it.

Now it’s really in the past, you know, BDS are happy with what I’m producing as work so this is why they made me come back and hopefully I will stay long again.

Lee Jones: The article you mentioned spoke of a number of behavioral issues and you’ve said that there are accusations made that you don’t agree with.

Was there anything in the article that you ultimately dispute or didn’t believe happened?

I mean, I don’t really want to talk about the article. But what was inside, there’s naturally a lot of stuff that is not written properly and some stuff that is also completely wrong. But I don’t think I want to talk much more about it.

Lee Jones: Looking ahead what’s the aim for BDS this season now, given recent splits have brought about top-three finishes and international competition?

Do you feel like targeting an LEC title is the logical next step?

What we want right now is going to MSI, and I think we’re really able to. So we’ll just do everything we can in order to reach this goal. If it means beating G2, well, hopefully we’ll beat them! But our goal is clear and everyone is on the same page right now. We want to go to MSI.

Lee Jones: There were claims last split that you were the best-performing top laner in the league.

Is that something you agree with?

I would say that even last year I was always one of the best-performing top laners in the league. I don’t think this has changed this year and hopefully I can keep proving my value as a player. This is also why I work; because I still want to be the best and I’m trying everything to reach this goal.

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