Perkz hits back at early LCS doubters: “I’m not here to prove anyone right or wrong”

Perkz has hit back at “doubters” after a mixed opening week in LCS Lock In with Cloud9: the mid laner didn’t move to the North American league to “prove anyone right or wrong” in 2021. Instead, he’s just enjoying the “new adventure.”

Luka ‘Perkz’ Perković’s big-money move ⁠— he signed a rich $8m deal with C9 in November ⁠— was the shock swap of the offseason, as the Croatian left G2 Esports after five years, eight LEC titles, and a Mid-Season Invitational victory.

That switch put all League of Legends eyes on the newly-minted Cloud9 star as he made his LCS debut in the preseason ‘Lock In’ tournament last Friday.

Things didn’t quite go as expected; Cloud9 tumbled to a 21–10 loss to Evil Geniuses, with Perkz recording seven deaths just a day after boasting he “wouldn’t die once.” It was a rough start to life in North America, but one that Perkz doesn’t think changes anything.

“Obviously we lost [on Friday], and that blows, but it doesn’t change anything for the season,” the Croatian promised in an interview with Dexerto. “We’re doing pretty well in scrims, and ⁠— in general ⁠— everything is going pretty well.”

C9 bounced back with two wins, rolling over FlyQuest in an almost-perfect game, before Jesper ‘Zven’ Svenningsen and Robert ‘Blaber’ Huang dismantled Immortals in a 19–4 battle to close out their weekend. Perkz never really got rolling, however.

His quiet performance on Zoe, paired with “tank-duty” against FlyQuest, and that ⁠— in Perkz’s words ⁠— “kinda int” Yone game, has seen LoL fans asking questions.

After all, Perkz is one of the biggest LoL stars in the world. He’s pocketing the second-highest pay packet in North America’s history, and was dubbed a savior for the LCS in a way no other international signing has since Bjergsen in 2013.

In true Luka Perković fashion, though, he doesn’t care.

“I don’t actually mind what other people say. I’m not here to prove anybody else [and their opinions] right or wrong. I’m just here for my own personal growth. Doing the best I can in a new adventure,” the Cloud9 mid laner admitted.

• Read More: Evil Geniuses shape as Lock In favorites after Week 1

“I don’t really care what the analysts or [other] pro players say because it’s irrelevant to me. I know we’re going to do well as a team. That’s it.”

There’s only one thing that matters to him: getting on the same page as his Cloud9 teammates, and figuring out how they want to play League of Legends.

Perkz has spent the past five years playing on G2, alongside fast-paced, aggressive European stars. One ⁠— Cloud9 bot laner Zven ⁠— is by his side again. The others, like Jankos and Caps, are still back in Berlin, and Perkz is trying to remember that.

“I just went over the game [the Evil Geniuses loss], and in some moments it looks like I’m really inting, but in my head we wanted to engage there,” he explained.

• Read More: 7 things to watch in LCS 2021 as ‘new era’ begins

“If there is no play, it ends up me going 1v5 ⁠— and that’s what it looked like in the replays ⁠— and it’s super int. Maybe that’s the problem, we could not engage, which means I am inting, or we didn’t pull the trigger when we should have.

The team “wasn’t on the same page,” Perkz added, but said he has faith they will figure it out as Lock In continues: “This team is a really good match for me.”

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For now, though, Perkz is just “living the American dream.”

That is, he’s settling into Cloud9 life. He has his bedroom and clothes looked after by the organization, and he has his food prepared. He has the freedom to work out, eat healthy, and “totally focus on League of Legends.”

• Read More: Biggest winners & losers after LCS free agency

“I feel like I’m a little baby. It feels good, but also a bit bad at the same time,” he laughed. “C9 is really taking care of us, and that’s great. We have so much support behind us. I’m a big fan of how everything is going.”

Cloud9 returns to action on Friday (3pm PT) against Dignitas.