Xpeke is no stranger to the Worlds final four
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xPeke on H2k’s Worlds semi-final and hopes for EU

As H2k make the final four, we talk to the EU star who led Origen to the semis last year.
Written by Ben Sillis
5 min readPublished on
Enrique ‘xPeke’ Cedeño Martínez is no stranger to Worlds. Back in 2011, he won the very first competition as part of Fnatic’s League of Legends squad, and has been prowling the scene ever since. Who better to ask about Europe’s chances of taking the crown in 2016?
Last year the Spanish veteran advanced as far as the semi-finals as part his new team, Origen, only to be removed from the running by a seemingly unstoppable SKT T1. Flash forward to 2016 and London-based H2k finds itself in a similarly daunting position. If the European team manages to best Samsung Galaxy in the semi-finals, it will face off against ROX Tigers or SKT T1 in the very last round. In essence, H2k must defeat two of the top three South Korean seeds in order to take the crown.
As the only non-Korean team in the final four, there will be myriad voices cheering them onward, but can they achieve the seemingly impossible? We caught up with xPeke to get his thoughts on the conflict between regions, and to get an insight into the mindset needed for H2k to cope with the pressure of a continent’s hopes resting on them.
Three South Korean teams face one European group in the semi-finals of Worlds once again. Do you see a repeat performance for Europe this year?
xPeke: I got the feeling Korean teams this year are gonna be a bit more dominant. Last year both Origen and Fnatic came in prepared with our own playstyles and knew what to do. Sadly we couldn’t get that last push to put a better fight but still I’d say last year was perfect to at least reach the finals for one of us. This year even though I think H2k can make it over Samsung Galaxy, I think Samsung Galaxy will take it on a close series.
Check out H2k in action below: 
H2k must be under a lot of pressure. How did that feel when you were in the semi-finals last year?
Last year there was pressure and there wasn’t pressure. We really felt we could put up a fight. When facing SKT we all thought a win would be almost impossible, so we didn't really get nervous. We came in the first game confident to play our game and it was extremely close, but after losing that first game our morale went down, and I guess we didn’t have enough mental strength to fight the other games.
Which team do you think is going to win?
I feel that SKT will win. RoX seems strong but they played far worse games in the group stage. That being said, I still think either of them could take it.
Who for you has been the star player of Worlds so far?
I’ve really liked Peanut from ROX and Bang from SKT. I think they always play superbly.
When it comes to regions, it’s been an interesting year so far at Worlds, with Russian and Chinese teams performing well. Do you think they could reach the semis/finals or even win in future?
Every region is going to keep improving and changing styles. I think Russia making it this far was a surprise and I don’t think it’s likely to happen again. As for other regions like the EU or NA, I think it’s about time that we catch up. We are just a few steps behind.
What advice would you give to H2k in the face of such fearsome competition?
Just go and have fun. They’ve reached semis, which is great and now they should just give it their best and remember that win or lose they already it made it further in the tournament than expected. No more pressure.
Watch Xpeke take on rivals in the video below:
Do you think the EU region has more to prove than the others?
Not at all. The EU has nothing to prove from here, it’s more about the fans and the NA/EU rivalry. I think that with time and with the right group of people, we can compete with Korea.
What do you think makes teams from South Korea so good at League?
Everything: infrastructure, the players, the work ethic, the mentality. All these things make it possible to have so many players performing at a high level.
Do you think it’ll be much more of the same next year, or do you think the Western world will finally catch up in skill?
It’s hard to tell but hopefully next year is the year the gap closes.
Some players have been talking about changes they’d like to see with the LCS format from next season after this Worlds ends. Do you think any changes need to be made?
You never know what is the best, but I agree that having more international competition could help every region to adapt and more accurately measure their skill.
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