CLG Contractz looks to EG: “I wish it was Sunday already”

In an exclusive discussion following CLG’s playoff encounter with Cloud9, veteran jungler Juan “Contractz” Garcia provided detailed insights into the team’s strategic approach and individual performance during the 2023 Spring Split postseason.

Contractz brings extensive LCS experience, having initially made his mark as an aggressive rookie before evolving into a seasoned leader. His current tenure with Counter Logic Gaming marks a resurgence, with the squad achieving an impressive fourth-place regular season finish. The interview explored his preparation methods, team challenges, and anticipation for upcoming critical matches.

WIN.gg: Following your competitive series versus Cloud9, the individual games appeared more competitive than the final 3-1 result suggests. What’s your current mindset following these matches, and what strategic considerations occupy your thoughts as you advance through the lower bracket?

Contractz: From my perspective, I established a comprehensive understanding of the opposing jungler’s intended routing patterns and preferred gameplay approach. I believe I accurately predicted his movements throughout the early phases. Nothing particularly surprised me, as events unfolded largely as anticipated, and I maintained advantageous positioning during numerous early game pathing sequences. Our collective difficulty throughout the series involved identifying optimal midgame timing windows and determining which lane pressure points to leverage. Cloud9 consistently outpaced our tempo transitions. Their dragon control and Baron Nashor setup execution proved substantially more effective than ours across all games. Beyond the 20-minute mark, we encountered significant challenges in creating engagement opportunities, securing favorable angles, and reestablishing vision control. This represents a crucial area requiring focused development.

You expressed confidence in your early game routing strategies, and we observed two distinct champion selections during this series featuring dramatically different gameplay impacts. Elise, offering pick potential and diving capabilities, contrasted with Wukong’s teamfighting emphasis. How do you approach adapting to these contrasting strategic frameworks?

Fundamentally, Elise represents a champion that enables substantial pressure application beginning at level three. You maintain multiple opportunities to pressure the opposing jungler, facilitate dives, and consistently apply map pressure. Wukong functions as a champion where you adopt a more measured approach. You can identify advantageous situations when they present themselves, but otherwise focus on efficient farming until reaching level six, then transitioning into objective-focused engagements. Honestly, they represent two distinctly different champion archetypes, but I feel comfortable executing any strategic approach. Whatever the match demands, whatever my teammates require, I believe I can adapt my gameplay accordingly and effectively.

Your adaptability across these diverse playstyles emerged as a significant strength for this CLG lineup during the split, where you substantially exceeded external expectations. Having competed with numerous different roster configurations, how do you assess this particular team’s composition and the performance levels you’ve achieved throughout this Spring Split?

Reuniting with the complete team has been tremendously enjoyable. I’ve genuinely appreciated developing the collaborative synergy we established last year, and I believe we’ve made substantial improvements since last summer’s playoff appearance. We’ve definitely evolved into a more fundamentally solid team compared to our previous iteration. Generally speaking, maintaining that established connection from last season, combined with our enhanced communication capabilities, has created a strong foundation. We’ll continue building upon this progress, with the entire competitive year ahead generating considerable excitement. I’m anticipating Sunday’s match with strong confidence in our performance capabilities.

Your individual performance as a jungler has received significant acclaim this split. What factors do you attribute to your exceptional performance this competitive year?

During the offseason and throughout this entire split, I’ve dedicated considerable effort toward developing more innovative approaches. Concentrating on routing strategies, effectively applying map pressure, and optimizing these actions for maximum impact. I believe I maintain strong understanding of how to leverage advantages, which minion waves to capitalize on, and I possess clear comprehension of strategic map priorities. I continue reinforcing these concepts daily. My primary focus involves maintaining extreme goal orientation. Approaching each competitive week and extracting lessons from every match, whether regarding alternative pathing options or different engagement execution. These incremental improvements accumulate significantly over time. I ensure maintaining productive habits that I consistently develop each day.

This Sunday you’ll compete against Evil Geniuses, who experienced performance decline after transitioning to remote play while your team stabilized during the split’s concluding stages. How do you evaluate this upcoming matchup?

Clearly, their health challenges for several weeks would understandably impede progress. You’re not effectively advancing, concentration becomes challenging. Having experienced similar circumstances, I can certainly empathize and understand their situation. However, when they’re performing at full capacity, when they’re executing effectively, they represent a formidable opponent. We cannot underestimate their capabilities, so we’ll concentrate primarily on our own performance and refining our midgame macro play that presented difficulties this series. If we accomplish this, I believe we maintain strong prospects for macro execution success.

This week featured All-Pro ballot announcements, with considerable discussion across broadcasts and social platforms regarding perceived insufficient recognition for your team. What are your perspectives on the All-Pro selection process?

From my viewpoint, All-Pro recognition holds minimal significance. The primary objective all LCS competitors pursue involves championship titles, qualifying for Worlds, reaching MSI. In my perspective, these represent the exclusive priorities that truly matter.

How are you approaching the competitive challenges awaiting in the lower bracket?

Several accomplished junglers remain in this bracket, including River and Inspired. These players have demonstrated consistent performance across multiple splits, evidenced by River’s strong showing with Golden Guardians last year, while Inspired maintains reigning MVP status. I’m absolutely prepared for the competitive tests, recognizing substantial quality opposition throughout this bracket. I genuinely wish Sunday’s competition was already underway, to be completely transparent.

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