With Worlds just a few months away and our DigSmite team so close to qualifying for HRX, we got the chance to sit down and talk to DigSmite's support player Jeppe "Trixtank" Gylling about how things are going in the Dignitas camp and how everyone is feeling about nearly being confirmed for Worlds.

Phase 2 is well underway, how do you guys feel about this phase compared to last phase?

Trixtank: At the start of the first phase, we had a good grasp of the meta from the get-go, that’s why we started off so strong. I think right now, with Worlds coming up, we had a rockier start to this phase, but we’re slowly getting our grasp and our footing. Right now, we’re just finding our identity in the new meta and, as it looks right now, we’re slowly getting there, so I think the end of Phase 2 should be good for us, but we also have to look at holding some strats for Worlds.

The team had two big sets recently against PK and Splyce how do you feel the set against PK went?

Trixtank: The set against PK was surprisingly easy, PK is considered to be a top 4 team, as are we. It was pretty one-sided honestly, even in the fourth game which was a little bit tense, I feel like we could have done something different in picks and bans and that’s what we agreed on after the game and that would have made that game easier to play out. Overall, the set went really smooth honestly.

How do you feel the set against Splyce went?

Trixtank: Splyce went okay, honestly. We kinda knew their playstyle. I do think we needed some balls because Aror, their support, has a top prioritisation pick of Herc and I’m a well know Herc player. I mean, we hadn’t played it in a while, but I thought I could just take it away from him. We decided not to go with it because we didn’t feel to comfortable when we haven’t practiced with it. I think if we tried to take that pick away from him, then the set could have been really easy. Obviously didn’t end up too free, it was a close set and there were a few things we could have done differently in the game and picks and bans.

The league has just recently given everyone a bye week. What did you guys do during that week and how did it affect your schedule?

Trixtank: We kind of got cooked a little bit, because we had two weeks off before the bye week as well. That meant we had three weeks where we didn’t really have to do anything, so we just scrimmed throughout those three weeks. We made sure our mechanical level was on point the first two weeks. We just kind of scrimmed didn’t really go with any specific strategies, then the last week we scrimmed double bot every day and tried everything we had to. It’s nice to get a breather sometimes, but three weeks is a little too much and you kind of get out of the grasp. You don’t want to scrim super hard every single day if you have two weeks off. People will figure out your strategy if you do that and work on how to counter it and then it’s not new anymore. That’s why it’s kind of frustrating when you have that long of a break. One week, though, is nice to just re-energise and you don’t need to worry about strategies that week, then you can go hard for the next week.

So not much WoW grinding then?

Trixtank: The boys have been grinding that for sure, I recently started as well, but you have to keep it on a low.

The team sits second in the league currently and is close to securing their spot at Worlds. Has the team shifted their focus towards Worlds already?

Trixtank: If we had to choose between the top four teams which is PK, Splyce and Rival (us included), we’d go up against anyone and at this point we’re going to be facing one of them. Which means we really don’t mind about the seeding. We are mostly just looking towards Worlds. We have a couple of things that we have been talking about that we tried against teams that aren’t going to qualify for Worlds and that can be a good strategy. We haven’t gone into depth with it. It’s something we don’t want to start wiggling around with too much because we have a really good feeling it could be strong, so it’s something we don’t want to pull out in this phase and just wait for Worlds to explore it more.

I think that’s important because with all the top teams, it can go any way with any team as long as you have the better strategy. That’s why we're holding it for now while we're basically secured.

You lot have spent plenty of time living together. Has the dynamic changed over the year and how would you compare house life now to the start of the season?

Trixtank: Honestly, we get along really well socially. I think we're one of the teams that has gotten the best out of each other. We’ve gotten on really well socially compared to other teams. At the start it was very new, we have Nate who we’ve known for years, Me, Harry and Fred, and Tyler is new. We hadn’t really gotten to talk to him, but he fit in really well from the get-go. The dynamic right now is smooth. Everyone is doing their job in the house, everyone is cleaning up after themselves. The house is looking great. I’ve seen pictures from other teams where their's doesn’t look that clean, so I’m really proud of the team with how we are handling the living situation. Everyone is taking responsibility, which is great.

How has the overall US experience been for you so far?

Trixtank: For me this year was mainly about going out and seeing new things. The experience has been great. We’ve been on the water, we’ve been eating all the American food that you can get, almost tried all the junk food as well. It’s also been a year where I’ve been able to focus on my fitness and body transformation which has been really nice, so far it’s been great out here and I’m really liking it.

What are you most looking forward to for the rest of Phase 2?

Trixtank: There isn’t much that I’m really looking forward to in Phase 2. It’s only Worlds that I’m really thinking about. As I said, we are basically qualified. Well, logically we are qualified but on paper we aren’t. I’m mostly looking forward to playing the rest of the games and seeing how teams end up and seeing who behind the scenes is the best team and getting started for Worlds practice.

With the recent drama surrounding the SML and content creation, what are your thoughts on the whole situation?

Trixtank: I think the situation is kind of screwed up currently. I think it’s really unprofessional, there are people in the SML who take it very seriously and I know that there are a lot of players that will be picked up for next year. With some of the bigger streamers who don’t take the SML seriously to come out and kind of piss on these players and on the pros, it’s just unprofessional and the fact they didn’t show up for the games there’s no reason not to do it and trolling their games. No matter how much money is in it, I think you should always try your hardest and there’s no reason to behave that way about it all.

Fun little question to end the interview if you could change one thing about the current meta what would it be and why?

Trixtank: The one thing I’d change about the meta is the fact that the support can start anywhere he wants to. For a consistent competitive environment, it’s not good because if you get a good start, you obviously snowball the game as it is pretty snowbally right now. A bottom team can win against a top team and I don’t really like that, I think if you have the better players, if you have the better strategy, and have the better communication then you should win any time of the day.

Right now the support can start in Duo, he can start in mid, he can start at speed, he can start in solo and if that one strategy that you thought of, to where the support starts, works out, then you get an early lead and snowball the game and just end up winning. So I think, slowing down the snowball. Maybe make speed spawn at 30 seconds so you can’t really invade that much or so you can go for counter-invades as well. Personally, I do like the meta, but I don’t think it's good for the consistent competitive scene.

Finally is there any shout outs youd like to make to conclude the interview?

Trixtank: Shout out to Dig, shout out to all the fans watching and shout out to the sponsors who help us and making this dream of living in the US and having a good time, making sure were healthy and good and have the things we need over here. Shout out to everyone helping with that, because so far, our experience has been great over here and we have not missed anything.

Thank you to Trixtank for taking the time to talk to us, make sure to follow him on Twitch and Twitter to keep up to date with everything Smite and Dignitas.