Finn on Rogue’s “will to do everything” to win an LEC title in 2024

Having found himself without a team ahead of the 2024 season, top laner Finn “Finn” Wiestål has now returned to the LEC having signed for Rogue for the second time in his career. We spoke to the Swede after a loss to Team BDS resigned Rogue to an 0-3 start in the Spring split.

Let him cook! – Credit: Wojciech Wandzel

Esports.net: What are your immediate thoughts following the loss to BDS?

Finn: It was our game, it was in our hands and we managed to play like we were 5k gold down while being 3k gold up which is mind-boggling to me. It’s for sure something we have to go over and I think this game kind of shows how much we have to work on.

I think in the other two games we were really behind in the early game and I think it’s hard to play mid game macro when you’re down in the game. But to some degree, when the game is in your hands like this then you kind of need to just win the game. Gotta do better than that.

Can you take the lead over BDS as a silver lining, something to build on?

Finn: Yeah I mean, I’ve seen us getting leads against like good teams in scrims. The early game for sure might be an issue but,..

I think we just need to get rid of the stagefrights we have right now where it feels like when mid game comes we just kind of freeze. Whenever the map is dark we’re too scared to regain control and it’s just hard to build upon something when we don’t take that first step in the game and it’s very frustrating to play.

Lee Jones: You’ve joined Rogue now after being teamless during Winter.

Were there other options last split that could’ve seen you competing then?

Finn: I was in talks with many teams, but in the end, no deal actually went through. So I found myself without a team in winter and I was like – ‘okay, now there’s kind of two paths… I can go into the caster/analyst or I can give it my all and try to come back to the league and really give it my all to keep being a pro player.’

I thought about it a lot and I decided that I still have so much more to give as a player. So I went to Korea, I played 15 hours a day for a full month and as it turned out there was a spot available for me at Rogue in Spring. So, coming back, I’m just here to do everything I can to make it as far as possible.

Credit: Wojciech Wandzel

When talking to Rogue about joining, were there any specifics they asked of you to come on board?

Lee Jones: For example, saying they wanted you in to play a certain style or help lead them to a certain position.

Finn: I think they didn’t, but the kind of player I am is someone that brings communication and plans in game, someone that is not afraid to pull the trigger, but also someone that hopefully can bring a little bit more stability to the mid-game rotations. That’s what I was brought on for mostly. Just making sure the map plays itself and me knowing where to be makes the map easier to play for everyone. So that is, for now, the building block we’re standing upon. I think in scrims we’re doing really good, or not really good, but we’re doing good for sure compared to being able to do a show on stage. So there is just, yeah, a whole lot of things to do.

Did you think about sticking broadcast work and focusing on that moving forward? Or were you certain that you wanted to continue playing?

Finn: I really enjoyed the broadcast, working with the other guys on the desk and the casters is great. I think there’s so many good people and I feel like it’s a new avenue for me to explore if I was to go down that route. I felt like I was kind of a kid again where it’s like – ‘oh, I need to work on so many things, there’s so much to learn’. And that was really exciting because when you’ve been playing the game for as long as I have, you’ve seen all the problems happening over and over and over and you’ve learned all the lessons.

Obviously as a player, there’s still so many things I can learn and that is the beauty of it. But to come into a new field so blank was very exciting. But in the end, I still have so much passion for just playing and I really, really, really want to win LEC before I hang up the coat.

So I will do everything I can to reach that goal for now.