‘LOUD’ finally lived up to its namesake during the League of Legends Worlds 2022 Play-Ins Stage, putting up a thunderous performance against European powerhouse Fnatic. In an unprecedented 28-minute stomp, the CBLOL representative handed Fnatic its first Worlds defeat in a way that almost mirrored KaBuM Esports’ shock win over Alliance all the way back at Worlds 2014.
As a member of both Brazilian squads, who has only played at these two world championships, Thiago ‘tinowns’ Sartori can be considered a bad omen for European teams – a reaper who seeks to cleave through the region’s Group Stage dreams whenever he’s on the Rift with them.
Of course, there’s more to an upset-producing side than a single midlaner. With a team composed of some of CBLOL’s brightest stars and most promising talents, there are layers to this LOUD roster, a camaraderie between its squad members, and a delectable tinge of “Bot Gap” mentality that all contributed to the win.
After the match, we got to chat to tinowns about the victory, what makes LOUD tick, his eight-year journey to return to the LoL Worlds stage, and the young upstart in Diego ‘Brance’ Amaral who has quickly established his name in the lights at this year’s tournament.
The Loadout: tinowns, eight years ago you caused an upset by beating Alliance as part of KaBuM, and today you’ve recreated the feat by defeating Fnatic. I just want to start by getting your thoughts and feelings on the game, and how you prepared for it.
tinowns: “With the game style we showcased today, we showed that this is what we can do. It’s really overwhelming for us of course to get this victory, but I always believed that getting into our comfort zone is the best way for me to showcase what I can bring to the game.
In the last game that we didn’t have a good result in [versus Evil Geniuses] we were almost there – we could have won that game if we had made different decisions – but I was a little bit uncomfortable in my position.
So today the biggest thing that we changed was that we decided to get everybody into their comfort zone, playing champions that they were comfortable with, and just let it [the gameplay] flow.
I got a real sense of togetherness from how you played together today. What has it been like being a part of this team and being a part of LOUD this year?
Since back then [in CBLOL] we thought that we could actually be on the level of any other team, and that time was pivotal because we started doing things together more and being more of a brotherhood, like the family that LOUD has become to us. It’s just that, we became more than just teammates, we became like a family.
You finally made it back to Worlds after eight years. What have been the biggest changes for you as a player and as a person in that time?
Back then in 2014 when I was younger and at Worlds for the first time, I was there as a young guy just enjoying gaming. The biggest difference that we have for the tinowns of today is that I am in a much better position.
It has been eight long years of training and preparation to be the version of myself that I am right now, and be able to bear the responsibility and be able to represent Brazil in a proper manner, with a proper team, with the proper conditions. And I believe that I can show my best game, and [we can] bring all the potential that we have.
Thinking about potential, let’s talk about Mr. “Bot Gap” himself. Brance has only been with you for a short time, so I would love to know more about his impact on the team and what it’s been like playing with him since he stepped up from the academy team.
It’s something very new for Brazil to see such a huge potential coming up and ending up in a world championship. We’ve kept track of him [Brance] for a long time, we were watching how he performs, and would even give hints and tips here and there to help him improve and properly play his game.
We always saw the potential since the CBLOL Academy started like two years ago. There’s a lot of potential [in the academy system] now we keep track of, and Brance was one of them. He’s a very charismatic person, he’s always happy, and he’s always hyper. It’s really nice, and it feels so good to be able to call him a team mate, and to be able to play with him here at Worlds.
Even sitting watching at home I could hear and feel just how hyped the crowd was. What’s it been like playing in front of the Mexican crowd and hearing all that support – if you can hear it through your headphones that is?
I can’t help but be very grateful to everybody that has been cheering for us. Back in Brazil we are pretty used to playing with a big crowd – we are always playing very close to them – and you know the Brazilian fans are very passionate and very loud.
I believe that it’s nice to have this while we’re playing because it brings out more confidence which helps us out. Yes, I can hear it through my headphones, and it’s really good to have this Mexican crowd cheering for us. We also have some Brazilians trying to fire everyone up and make everybody even happier, and I’m grateful for this.
LOUD and tinowns will be looking to lock in their Worlds Play-Ins Stage Elimination Round spot later on today when they take on The Chiefs.