sumke, Lightning Strike: “We will probably be the ‘underdogs’ [this season]”

Ahead of the third Brawl Stars round which will decide the first playoffs team as well as the first eliminated squad, we took the time to talk with sumke, one of Lightning Strike’s players. sumke had a lot to say about the team’s recent two matches against Balkan Talents and Salada de Frutas, so without further ado, you can read the interview below:

Is this your team’s first time in the A1 Adria League? How is it, playing in a regional Brawl Stars tournament of this caliber?

So far we played a couple of qualifiers under a different name and/or roster, and I hope that this roster will achieve the most. It is really competitive, a lot of good teams, every match is interesting, we are really eager to play each match and we are playing fully focused.

You started off the group stage with a clean win over Balkan Talents. What made you such a better team than BalkanTalents? What were their main mistakes?

Yeah, we had an excellent start in the SWISS group with a win. Our Balkan Talents opponents played really well. They started the match with a win on Heist and during the second Heist match, we were losing with over 50% more than a minute. We stayed focused and didn’t give up until the very last second when we won by just 2%. They could have easily taken the match, but a little bit of luck helped us win that set and later on win the third one, in which we were the better team.

The next mode was Bounty, we had the advantage, so we made a mistake and lost, then they changed the composition which was not good, if they stayed the same they might have beaten us, we won that match, and then the third Bounty game with the same compositions, this time we figured out a mistake from the first game, corrected it, and routinely defeated them and then the total was 2-0 for us in the sets.

The last mode was Brawl Ball, we played Brawl Ball with more confidence, we had a big advantage. In the first Brawl Ball match we read their draft, we had a counter with Piper against Bella, we broke down the most important walls, then scored a goal and kept control until the end and calmly brought the match to an end. As for the second match, also the last one, this time they had a counter, they had to win that match to have some chances to come back, again as in the first, we scored a goal, kept control and in the end won. I think that individually here I and my two teammates played quite well, which was crucial in the victory, and in the end, we got Balkan Talents with a 3-0 overall result.

Next up in Round 2, you unfortunately lost to Salada de Frutas, the favorites for this season. What factors make Salada de Frutas the dominant force they have been this entire season?

That’s right, we lost against Salada de Frutas 3-0. There are many reasons for the defeat, we did not practice enough together and analyze the maps, our compositions were not good and we did the bans badly as well. I don’t have much to say on the game grab, they were more dominant in both matches and deservedly won, the big mistake on Siege was that we didn’t ban Piper or Brock, because we know that Andrey and John are great with them, although the first Siege match we lost with 76% when we had a bad defense in the second push, in the last push we got a robot and went “all in” and in the end we lost by 1%, only one hit to win was missing. It can be said that we got karma for a similar victory against Balkan Talents. Siege’s next match was much better for us and we won, so that the third game of Salada would turn on the “machine” again with great shots by the whole Salada team and deservedly win. There is only regret for the 1% defeat, because it would be 1-1 in sets.

We took the Hot Zone first, we predicted them and had a counter, then they got with our small mistakes in the second and in the third they predicted us, we made the mistake of taking Emz instead of someone else and that cost us a possible “comeback”. So it was 3-0 for Salad in the end. I was expecting a slightly longer fight with some 3-2 result for us or them, but we weren’t ready for Salad at all. Salada were the best in the qualifiers and now they have a 2-0 score and one win against Winx Club separates them from the Top 4. Factors that make them much better than others are individual skill, as a team they work quite well, have good synergy, invest a lot effort and time in the game, before each A1 matchday they play a lot of scrimmages, analyze matches and are constant.

Which four teams do you think will make it through to the playoffs?

In my opinion, I am 99% sure that Salada and Winx Club will make it through, and as for the last two places, Omert4 will probably be one of them and I hope that we will be one of them as well. Ahead of us is in my opinion the most important match against Mayoi which we must win if we want to get to the Top 4.