Securing a monumental upset over Fnatic, SK Gaming kicks off their League of Legends EMEA Championship (LEC) season with a bang, already surpassing the number of Nexuses they destroyed during winter. With the addition of two new members, the team is reinvigorated and continues to move forward with newfound confidence. In an exclusive interview with Sheep Esports, the team's new AD Carry, Tim "Keduii" Willers, talks about his arrival in the LEC, beating Fnatic, bringing the vibes to SK Gaming, and scrim results.

How does it feel to make your LEC debut after seven years in the ERLs, and did you expect to start off with a win, especially against Fnatic?

Tim "Keduii" Willers: "Honestly, no, I didn’t expect it. Our practice has been disgusting. We’ve had a lot of issues in scrims, so I’m not sure why we didn’t have many problems in the game today. At least the first game was really, really clean. But well, I think today was kind of just okay, you know? I was kinda happy we got Fnatic in week 1 because, I mean, I’m new to the LEC, right? But I’ve been watching the LEC for seven years, and I know they can start slow. We’re just lucky to play them now in week one. I think later in the season, they could have been much stronger, but today, they didn’t really show up.

How does it feel to face Upset in your first LEC match, especially considering you both have a similar background as German ADCs? Are you happy with your performance against him?

Keduii: He definitely has a lot of connections to the German scene. He started in the LEC very early and didn’t really go through the German League much, but obviously, I’ve watched him play for a long time already, and when I started, I was really impressed by him. I kind of wanted to be like him one day, but that was some time ago now. Nowadays, I see him more as a competitor, though.

Do you think you might beat Upset to your first LEC trophy, considering he still hasn’t won one?

Keduii: [laughs] Yeah, I think he was kind of unlucky, actually. Just like me, unlucky, not getting into the LEC.

Given SK's performance last split and the challenges of joining as a rookie, was it a difficult decision for you to accept the offer? Did you consider whether it was the right move for your career?

Keduii: For sure, I thought about it for a day or two, but I kind of felt like I needed to show myself in the LEC to be an LEC player, you know? It’s kind of hard. I feel like I showed myself so much in the ERLs. Every year, I’d feel like, "Okay, I guess I need to do this or that differently." But after 2024 with BDSA, I didn’t know what I had to do differently anymore. I was at a loss for words. I didn’t know what I could do to actually get a chance in the LEC. I get that people might undermine me because I've only played on the ERL level, but there were no ways for me to even prove them wrong because no one had given me the chance to play in the LEC. So yeah, I’m just very happy I finally got it after all this time, and now I just want to play well, play well, play well, so I can maybe stay here, win a title, or even go to Worlds.

Defeating Fnatic 2-0 in your first match is an impressive way to prove yourself. Where do you see SK going from here? How do you feel about the team's potential, especially considering how different the team looks from Winter?

Keduii: I don't want to go too fast and celebrate just yet. It was just one best-of-three, and I think Fnatic played really, really bad. That’s what I’m telling the team every day because our practice is horrible. As long as we just keep having fun, enjoying the game, and obviously all trying to get better, as long as we keep up the motivation and happiness, just enjoy our time, I think we’ll be a good team. We need some time. This winter format was unfortunate for SK. I’m happy with this format now. We have more time to prove ourselves. And obviously, starting with a 2-0 against Fnatic gives us even more time now to scale up. We just need some time.

Given that you're reuniting with JNX (Janik Bartels), RKR (Steven Chen), and your coach Garih (Mauro Garih Vidal) from BDSA, do you feel the same team atmosphere and magic as back then?

Keduii: Well, as I’ve said a few times now, our practice has been disgusting lately. It’s hard to have a really good atmosphere when you lose so much in scrims. But outside of the game, when we’re eating, having fun, or just talking to each other, then yeah, the atmosphere is insane.

I would say I’m one of the people responsible for this—I think I bring the vibes to the team. That’s why I really value being friends with my teammates. It’s really, really important, and that’s what I try to make happen with all of them. I talk with them as much as possible, inside and outside of the game, so we create a bond, and then the improvement comes naturally. And yeah, right now, the vibes are insane after this win, but I can tell you, they were not so insane before this game.

This is your first time playing with a Korean bot lane duo. How has it been working with Loopy (Kim Dong-hyeon), especially in terms of breaking the language barrier and getting on the same page?

Keduii: I always thought about playing with a Korean support one day. I thought it must be really cool because Korean players are really good individually. And if you can bring them outside of their zone, where they can be themselves, things are great. Usually, I heard Koreans have a hard time adapting to teams and getting to know each other easily. So, that’s something I’m trying to do with Loopy every day. I just want to become really good friends with him—just bros. For now, I really like it. His English is really good, in my opinion. I thought he wouldn’t understand a lot, but when I talk to him, I feel like he understands much more than I expected.

I just want to keep up the vibes with him in particular. I feel like it’s really hard for him because I replaced his Korean ADC, and now he’s kind of alone. But I don’t want him to be alone, you know? That’s why I’m there for him every day. I talk to him, I do stuff with him, I go eat with him—I just try to spend time with him so he doesn’t feel alone. I actually think he’ll feel happier this split than he did in Winter.

Moving to SK meant leaving Doss (Mads Schwartz) behind in the LFL with BKR. Since you’ve played with him so many times before, were you sad to leave him? Do you think he could have a place in the LEC again someday?

Keduii: I was obviously very happy about the chance to play with SK, to finally get into the LEC. But I definitely felt bad for BK ROG Esports—not just for Doss, but for the whole team. I really liked them. Honestly, even if we deserved our final placement, I feel like that team had so much potential. We just played really, really horribly for some reason, which I still don’t understand.

So, I’m kind of sad that I left them, especially because I had a LFL resident status, so they had to find a resident ADC for the team. But I think they found a solid ADC in Booshi. Shoutout to him—I hope he helps the team play better than they did last split.

About Doss—obviously, I know that he’s good. He has this mindset of grinding the game so much. He plays so many games, and I know he can reach the LEC if he just keeps doing what he’s doing. All of the other players on BKR are really good as well. If you’re watching the LFL, I’d watch out for them because they’re going to prove people wrong.

You're facing BDS in Week 2. They had a rough start against Rogue—what are your expectations for that match?

Keduii: I'll get to play against Parus (Polat Furkan Çiçek), which is really nice. Given our relation from BDS Academy, I know he'll probably love to play against me as well. We just like to flame each other for fun. Aside from that, I just hope our practice will be better now ahead of this match. I hope we play similarly to how we did today but improve on our mistakes. I don’t know what else to say—BDS is kind of like every other opponent, except that they have Parus, so I want to play against them.

Do you have any final words for the fans before we wrap up?

Keduii: Shoutout to the fans. I hope everyone keeps supporting SK, and I hope I’ll be a big reason for this."