Although Team Heretics were shaken by their loss to GIANTX, the team managed to bounce back by defeating Team Vitality in the tiebreaker for the sixth place in the League of Legends EMEA Championship (LEC) regular season. Ahead of this crucial match against Vitality, Team Heretics support Paul "Stend" Lardin took the time to speak with Sheep Esports to reflect on the loss to GIANTX, address the team’s current struggles, their progress, and his personal goals.

In recent weeks, Heretics had shown promising signs, but against GIANTX, the team looked completely out of sorts. What do you think caused that poor performance?

Paul "Stend" Lardin: "Honestly, I don’t really know what happened. We just weren’t having a good day at all. I also think our drafts were quite difficult, with very few tools to actually fight back. In both games, we were mostly reacting and couldn’t be proactive — we kind of got rolled over. Honestly, we’ll need to sit down together and really talk about what went wrong.

Kamil "Kamiloo" Haudegond told us that after your win against SK in Week 5, the team was already almost celebrating playoffs. Do you think there was some overconfidence, and that the GX loss served as a wake-up call?

Stend: We hit a point where, mentally, we were feeling a bit tired. And it’s true that we might’ve relaxed a bit after that. Against Fnatic last week, and GIANTX this week, they were clearly better than us. So yeah, we’ll really need to give it our all tomorrow against Vitality if we want to make playoffs — because it’s definitely not guaranteed anymore.

Between Winter and Spring, we’ve seen improvement from Heretics. Are you satisfied with the team’s progress so far, despite the recent results?

Stend: Yeah, I think not many people expected us to be fighting for a top 4-6 finish this Spring. Well, now it’s more like top 6-7, but I’m still happy we managed to step up. That said, I’m a bit disappointed right now because the last two weeks have been rough, and it feels like everything we’d built up kind of fell apart. The loss to Karmine Corp hurts, especially since we had the tools to win those games. But if we didn’t manage to close it out today, it means there’s still a lot of work to be done to become more consistent — and eventually aim for the middle of the pack or even challenge the top teams.

Is there any particular aspect that you feel is currently holding the team back?

Stend: I think we’ve collectively let our guard down a bit. You mentioned the seriousness during scrims earlier — honestly, that’s gotten much better than before. Our scrims are going well. But in the GIANTX match, I couldn’t really tell you why we looked so flat. We’ll try to figure it out before the tiebreaker against Vitality, and hopefully for playoffs too.

On your end, you’ve also made good progress. You went from Vitality.Bee to the LEC, and unlike some rookies who fade quickly, you’ve shown strong performances. Do you feel like you’ve proven you belong in the LEC?

Stend: Yeah, I’m happy with my debut in the LEC. I do think I have what it takes to stay here. At the same time, I know I’ve lacked consistency at times. Some days I play really well, and others — like today — I was kind of useless. In fights where I really needed to show up, I choked a bit. So my goal now is to keep improving and to bring more consistency to my gameplay.

Even if you make playoffs, it’ll be through the lower bracket, and the top 3-4 in the league looks really strong right now. How long do you think it’ll take for this roster to realistically compete with the best teams? There's still that glass ceiling to break through, right?

Stend : Yeah, I agree. The top 3-4 are clearly ahead of the rest at the moment. Right now, we’re kind of stuck in that top 5-7 block, which is also pretty tight. Honestly, it would be a lie to say we’re already ready to challenge the best teams in the league. The goal is to reach that level by the end of Summer.

You weren’t able to attend the roadshows in Madrid or Évry, unlike some other teams. Did that have any impact on your preparation, especially in terms of scrims or logistics? And has the tiebreaker being delayed to tomorrow changed anything for you?

Stend: Personally, I don’t mind playing the tiebreaker tomorrow instead of tonight. On the contrary, I think it’ll be good for us to mentally reset and talk about what didn’t work. It could really make a difference. So for us, it’s almost an advantage not to have to go straight into another game. That said, beyond the technical or schedule aspects, I’m a bit disappointed we didn’t get the chance to play on stage in Madrid or Évry. It looked like an amazing experience.

You’ve now been in the LEC for nearly two splits. You’re continuing to grow, but now that you’ve found your footing, where do you see yourself in a year? And more broadly, what’s your long-term goal?

Stend: For me, joining the LEC wasn’t the end goal — it was more like the beginning of a new chapter. I’m a competitor, and if I’m doing esports, it’s because I want to be among the best and to win. In a year, I see myself fighting for a Worlds spot, being part of a team that can seriously aim for that qualification. And I think, especially as a support, the top is within reach if you work hard. That’s clearly my goal — to become one of the best.

Where do you currently rank yourself among the other LEC supports?

Stend : I’d say I’m somewhere around the middle of the pack right now. But honestly, I find it really hard to compare supports. There are so many different factors to consider, and it’s not easy to say one player is definitely better than another. So if I had to place myself, I’d say around top 5 or 6, something like that."