A conversation with the Immortals support, Treatz, about his return to professional play, his teammates and his goals during the 2023 LCS Summer.
After spending two years in LEC with SK, Erik “Treatz” Wessén returned to North America where he previously competed in TSM’s LCS and Academy squads. Despite not finding the most success in terms of team achievements, Treatz has been one of the more highly regarded support players in EU during his tenure there, even exceeding most expectations during the 2021 Summer Split when he role swapped to jungle.
He is now reunited with his former bot lane partner, Edward “Tactical” Ra, as they look to help Immortals find success in the postseason, something that eluded the org during their time in the LCS so far.
Returning to pro play after a split off
Welcome back to the LCS Treatz. How’s it been so far?
“It’s good to be back. The games this week were pretty shit, but otherwise, it’s been good.”
The offseason wasn’t smooth sailing for you. You had a late entry due to visa issues, then the walkout happened. How was the two week wait for you, not knowing what was going to happen?
“It was definitely a weird situation to be in, especially because we practiced so much on that patch and wanted to play on that week. So when there was a two week break because of the walkout and it felt like all the practice in that time was a bit different, I guess, because we didn’t know what was going to happen. Usually, you played towards a goal, like playing the first LCS game, etc., and those weeks were very strange. But I’m glad that it’s resumed now, at least.”
Another thing is you had a bit of a break in the spring split. You didn’t play. What was the offseason like for you?
“I did [took a break] after SK. I was still under contract with them and looking for opportunities. But because of what happened in the offseason, it was very late in the offseason when SK explained to me that I wouldn’t be starting anymore, I was kind of just kind of stuck there and didn’t really have an opportunity to join a good team. So in my head, I was just waiting for Summer and see what opportunities would come up. And then obviously Immortals with Tactical being on the team, it was an easy choice for me.”
You have a pretty good history with Tactical, winning the Academy back in 2019. How is it playing with him again after a long break?
“Yeah, it’s been a long break. We tried to keep contact, but obviously when you’re playing in different regions, it’s a bit hard with the time zones. But it’s always fun playing with Tactical. And he’s definitely a big reason why I joined Immortals because I knew that we would be a good bot lane together again. Like we were back in Academy.”
It’s not a secret Tactical struggled a bit in the last year or so, but since the Summer Split started, he seems pretty confident in himself and the bot lane you have. He has been the big carry for the team in your wins. How is it coming along so far?
“I think he’s someone that requires his support to be very aggressive and kind of dominant in the way that they play. I think he’s a very good player at following up plays and kind of being the late game carry. So when he’s in a good mental state in the game and feels like he can carry, he usually does that, and I think that’s something that I can provide to him and be very supportive of him as well. So in general, I think it’s just kind of knowing the person and getting to know them outside the game as well. There are a lot of bot lanes that just play scrims and then go home and don’t really talk to each other. But me and Eddie, we’ve always talked to each other about a lot of things like what we want to play, what we think of certain matchups, etc. So I think that’s an edge we have over other bot lanes in LCS.”
How about the rest of the team? How are you getting along with them? I’m assuming you met them for the first time.
“Yes, I did. The top side is also really great. I think the atmosphere we have in the team so far has been really good. I think a lot of the scrims have been really a great learning experience for us and we have a lot of fun as well, so I think that’s important. So in terms of the vibe and the atmosphere, it’s all been really good and obviously now the results need to follow it.”
It seems you are happy to be back. Do you miss the costreams?
“It’s fun to costream, but it’s more fun to play. I mean, it’s just different vibes, right? When costreaming a lot of League, you see patterns that you don’t see when you play. So I think there’s a lot of things that I saw while costreaming that I kind of miss when I’m playing and I don’t really see it the same way, so I think it’s kind of fun to see the difference.”
Today I was watching Yamato’s costream, he said you looked especially comfortable on Milio, a champion that fits really well with Aphelios, Tactical’s best champions so far. Do you think enchanter lanes are what you excel at as a 2v2?
“Back in SK, I definitely played engage champions the most, but I would say I’m really comfortable on every range support too. I think today in the draft, Milio looked really good because of the lane. We knew we’d have a lot of lane pressure against them and scale well, so it was kind of an easy choice. But honestly, I think we’re down to play any type of combo. We can play the really heavy engage stuff with Samira and Rell and stuff like that or play the Jinx Milio like we played today. I think we’re really good at playing everything and we’re not limited in terms of what we want to play.”
Talking generally about the Summer, you started out with two wins. Unfortunately, the rest of the games didn’t go your way. The playoffs are eight teams, so you’re not in that much trouble yet. What is your outlook for the next four weeks?
“Obviously making a deep run in playoffs is what I hope for. For me, playing best of ones, I know there will always be some wins that you get randomly and some losses that you get randomly and you have some bad games and some good games. So for me, it’s more about looking forward to playoffs and how we can perform there. We need the wins to get there as well, but I’m confident we will. So my headspace is that I’m trying to think how we can be the best team we can for playoffs and not really try to focus on every game and every win.”
So who do you think are some of the better teams in the LCS right now?
“EG looked really good because Jojopyun was kind of smurfing every game. TL and EG both started off really strong, but I feel like they won’t scale as well into the split. I think they’re very good at playing these aggressive champs that do well early on in the split. If you’re not a good team and coordinated team, they will kind of take over. But I think, so far at least, Golden Guardians and Cloud9 have looked the most impressive.”
Treatz and Immortals will look to bounce back from a four game losing streak in Week 3 of the 2023 LCS Summer Split. They have a tough schedule, facing Cloud9, Evil Geniuses and FlyQuest. Fans can catch all three games on the official LoL Esports website or the LCS Twitch and Youtube channels.
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