"So many people learn from Baus": League of Legends pro Oscarinin reflects on Los Ratones after Fnatic’s Red Bull partnership

Following the recent association between Fnatic and Red Bull in January 2025, I caught up with the Toplaner, Oscarinin, on April 15 to candidly discuss the League of Legends team’s current form. The interview also covers the recent storylines that have been developing in the competitive League of Legends scene. Although it was short, Oscarinin had meaningful things to say on every topic.

Even though the team couldn't qualify for the First Stand 2025 event, Fnatic is putting together a pretty good performance in the League of Legends LEC Spring split so far. Having taken down teams like GIANTX, Karmine Corp, Vitality, and Rogue, the squad is in a great spot to make the playoffs.

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Oscarinin on Fnatic's Red Bull partnership, League of Legends' meta shifts, Los Ratones hype, and more

Oscarinin and Fnatic are having a great LEC split so far (Image via LEC)

Q. First of all, a big congratulations on your recent win over Vitality. Also loved your Gragas performance in game two. With Fnatic currently 3-1 in the Regular Season, how do you feel about how you and the team are playing so far this split?

Oscarinin: So far, we were pretty good at some games, but also inconsistent, I'd say. I think some games we played were not to our standard, and that is not really how we want to perform on stage. And if we don't keep up the level, not going to win probably.

So, I think for now, we are trying to be consistent against every team. We are also improving a lot, so slowly we will get there. I think this split is looking good.

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Q. With Week 3 of the LEC Spring Split wrapped up, which teams stand out to you as the biggest threats for Fnatic heading into the rest of the season?

Oscarinin: I'd say Karmine Corp, G2 Esports, and KOI are looking the best for now.

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Q. The Red Bull partnership is a big moment for Fnatic. How has it felt being welcomed into that ecosystem, and apart from the branding, how do you think the connection to the League of Its Own event could impact your development as a player, on and off the Rift?

Oscarinin: I think the League of Its Own is a really nice experience. I watched it on Twitch, and it looked super fun to play against T1 or just every partnered team with Red Bull. It's super fun to have a big crowd and play, even if it's just a showmatch. Everyone has a lot of fun, and the fans probably love it. So that's really nice, and I am looking forward to it.

And about the partnership, I am really happy with Red Bull. I also started buying it because I didn't buy it before, and I think it's really nice. So yeah, I'm really happy with the partnership.

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Q. Where do you think the LEC stands right now regarding fan engagement and global visibility compared to other major regions like LCK, LPL, and LTA?

Oscarinin: I think the LEC viewership is kind of the same as always, but it's not really going up I'd say. I think the LEC or maybe the teams could do way more to engage with the fans. I think we don't do as much in the league in general.

I don't think we have that many things to make the fans feel happy with the league and be excited to watch it. We could do way more honestly, and LEC could have way more viewers than they have now for sure.

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Q. Riot has made important changes to the game recently. And early-game lane swaps are largely out of the meta right now. Do you feel like returning to more standard laning has greatly changed the way your team approaches the early game, or has it even influenced your overall identity as a squad?

Oscarinin: I think it impacts every team and if you are a good laning team, like you have good laners, it's really beneficial for the team. Before you couldn't really lane and have impact in the 1v1 and get advantages by yourself.

Now, I think that it's actually really good for us (Fnatic) because I feel like everyone is really good in their lane and we are getting a lot of advantages and snowballing the game.

So yeah, I am really happy with that because lane swaps were really boring to play. I am really happy that they (Riot Games) killed the lane swaps and we can lane now and play nicer champions like Gwen, as before you could only play tanks.

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Q. What do you think about the Fearless Draft in the LEC? Are you, as a team, finding the new system in your favor?

Oscarinin: I think that is probably super fun for the fans because in the end, they were watching every single matchup being played five times in a best-of-five. So, it was probably not as exciting to watch Azir-Viktor five times in a row.

For us, the players, it's harder obviously because we have to play more champions and keep in mind every champion that's out. Maybe with the bans and with the champions that are out, there is one champion that is completely broken. Maybe if the opponents pick it, you're a bit cooked. So, you have to keep in mind every pick that enemy can play and that you can play.

But overall I think it's a really nice change, because now everyone has to play a lot of champions and not just one-trick five champions and that's it. It's nice for the league, for the viewership, and also for the players. It's actually a challenge that you have to play many, many champions to show a good performance.

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Q. I’d love to hear your thoughts on Ambessa’s kit. Does she seem like a real game-changer for Toplane, or more of a situational pick?

Oscarinin: I think Ambessa is for sure really strong and super broken in good situations. But I don't think she's gonna win the game alone, or you can just blind it, and she has no counters. I feel like she actually has some counters that are pretty good in the meta.

I think you just have to find a good situation for Ambessa. Probably, she is game-breaking if she has a good matchup and a good comp around her. But, you don't really just first-pick it and win the game just by itself.

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Q. Do you play any other games besides League of Legends to chill or reset your mind?

Oscarinin: I like playing chess, and sometimes I play Valorant. When I am playing the LEC season, that is about all I play; I don't play many games. But when it's off-season, I play way more things. Right now, I kind of play League of Legends the whole day. Also, I watch anime when I am not playing.

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Q. I’m sure you have heard of Los Ratones. Their story has definitely been fun and exciting; Caedrel’s squad has gotten so much attention. Based on what you’ve seen so far, do you think they’d be able to hold their own if they were up against the LEC teams in an official match? Or do you think the top competition will expose some of their gaps in gameplay?

Oscarinin: I think Los Ratones are obviously not a bad team, since they won the EMEA Masters. Maybe in the LEC, they could do decently, for sure against the lower teams.

But I think against the top teams, they would probably get pretty gapped in lanes, or just in macro. I think it's just hard to keep up just being the first of EMEA Masters with the first of LEC. But for sure with that team they could compete decently in the LEC.

And I think it'd be really good for the viewership and everything since Los Ratones has been an insane movement I'd say. With Caedrel and every streamer on the team, I think they moved so many people, and it'd be great to have a team like that in the LEC for sure.

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Q. As a fellow toplaner, what are your thoughts on Baus and his unorthodox playstyle?

Oscarinin: I don't like everything that Baus does obviously, because I think some things are really punishable in a competitive game. But some of the things he does are really good and not many people do them.

I actually saw a bit of Baus' gameplay and took some things he does. The proxy that he does is really good and I don't think many people use it when they can. Just the little things like that, or maybe, the Sion just trying to proxy and ulting out.

I think so many people just learn from Baus, because he is really creative. Also, with the picks and everything, he's playing so many off-meta champions. I think he is really good mechanically, but he's kind of a flipper sometimes. He needs to expand the champion pool a bit.

Baus is actually a pretty good player and he was always really good mechanically in the solo queue. It was annoying to play against him in the solo queue.

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Q. My last question. What are your overall impressions about the new Botlane duo, Upset and Mikyx, and their synergy with the team?

Oscarinin: I am really happy with everyone, and with the bot lane. I think they are pretty different from last year with Noah and Jun. Being European, we can have better conversations about how we feel or how we want to play. It's easier to just talk about those things.

Also, I think they (Botlane) are really aggressive and good in laning. They are usually just winning 2v2, and the game feels really easy. They have been in the league for so much time and know how they want to play.

They share their ideas to the team, in-game and outside. I think it is super important in a team. You can actually be in the same page with everyone, just sharing your ideas. So yeah, they are both really good and I'm super happy with them.

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This concludes the interview with League of Legends Fnatic's Oscarinin on April 15, 2025.

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