CLG are winless and tied for last in the LCS right now, but bot laner Fatih “Luger” Güven believes good times are on the horizon.
CLG put together a promising performance in Lock In just a few weeks ago, but as the LCS regular season has begun, they've lost some of their form. Currently, they sit at 0-3, tied at the bottom of the standings. CLG's AD Carry Fatih "Luger" Güven spoke to press following their week 2 loss against Golden Guardians.
Luger reflects on CLG's rough first games
Counter Logic Gaming came into the 2022 LCS season ready to turn a new leaf. For the last few years, they've been the bottom-feeders of the LCS, failing to string together any good performances. This offseason, they completely overhauled their management and roster. The community reacted to the moves positively, and CLG were being touted as a strong underdog for 2022.
"Right now, we are going pretty good," Luger said*, when asked about the team's poor start. "We've just lost some games the first weeks, and right now we lost today to GG. But I mean, we are pretty good, and going to keep pretty good. I think we've improved a lot as a team, and our communication is pretty good. I think next game, you guys are going to see a good CLG."
Asked about his own individual performance, Luger was more critical. "Today, I played kind of bad. My one mistake I think maybe lost the game, because we were the strong side bot lane. So I just made mistakes and made something bad happen." Like with CLG's performance as a team so far, though, Luger believes better is coming. "I think, if I show myself to the stage, I can do good things in the LCS. I believe in myself."
A question came about CLG's drafts. Many of their team compositions, in Lock In and in week 2 against Golden Guardians, were focused around Luger as the sole hypercarry. Were CLG looking to switch that up, given their lack of success so far? Luger said that they mostly draft this way because they feel the meta demands it, but things could certainly change.
"Right now, the meta is kind of going from both sides. For a lot of teams, and us too, focusing bot lane is a high priority because of Jinx, Aphelios, you know, there's many OP champions in the meta. So yeah, let's see the new patches and maybe we can change and adapt."
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Looking ahead
Throughout the press scrum, Luger was in high spirits, laughing along as he answered questions. When asked why, he said that though CLG was having bad games, it wasn't worth getting down on, and that they know they're better than they've been playing.
"I mean, [things are] going good in in-game synergy, and people are nice. Our improvement is good and I think our circumstance is pretty good against some good teams," said Luger.
"Sometimes of course we have bad days, and something weird can happen. But I mean, it's going pretty good. Even today's game, weird things were happening. I just, I think, kind of threw by losing my flash and cleanse. But this happens, and we need to focus on our other games."
CLG will face the 2-1 Dignitas to close out LCS week 2, and will meet top teams Cloud9 and Team Liquid in week 3.
Stay tuned to Esports.gg for the latest League of Legends news and updates.
*Luger's answers have been edited for clarity and grammar.