On the eve of Team Liquid’s opening match against LNG in the Swiss Stage of Worlds 2024, Eain "APA" Stearns—one of North America's rising midlane talents—reflects on his rapid ascent in the competitive scene. After an almost perfect year in the LCS, he is now poised to compete on the biggest stage of his career. In this exclusive interview with Sheep Esports, APA shares his thoughts on Team Liquid's preparation, overcoming adversity, and the challenges of facing the world’s best midlaners.

You’ve had quite a journey—from Ohio to Los Angeles, then Korea and China, and now Europe. How does it feel to be here in Berlin and gearing up to face all these teams?

Eain "APA" Stearns: "Yeah, it’s always exciting to visit new countries, and this year alone, I think this is the fourth country I’ve visited. Overall, it’s been a really cool experience. I'm excited to go into Worlds and face LNG in our first match.

Speaking of LNG, they’ve had quite the drama-filled run, especially with Scout. What’s your take on the upcoming match? Are you excited to face them, and are you planning to send Scout back to China?

APA: We've been reviewing a lot of their games and prepping for them as much as we can. You get the most prep time for this match compared to any other Swiss match because, normally, it's just day after day. We're using this time to prepare thoroughly. I think we're doing our best to analyze them and apply that to our meta-read, and hopefully, it'll go well.

Do you think momentum plays a big role in these early rounds?

APA: In general, it feels so much better to start off 1-0. It's almost like a sigh of relief compared to starting 0-1. Everybody definitely wants to start off 1-0 rather than 0-1.

Considering how Team Liquid’s season ended, especially with that infamous minion incident in the LCS Finals, how are you feeling heading into Worlds? Is there a sense of wanting to redeem yourselves?

APA: There are two things. First, I like to think that the way we lost used up all of our bad luck, so hopefully, we'll have some luck on our side going into this Worlds run. Secondly, I was talking with CoreJJ about it, and no one's going to remember that we got second place in the LCS as long as we have a very strong Worlds run.

Bwipo has been beating you a bit in the yapping game lately as well. Is there a bit of rivalry as well there against FlyQuest and Bwipo?

APA: I mean, definitely against FlyQuest, not specifically Bwipo, but FlyQuest as an org. I think this year they've been our biggest rival as a team.

What’s your view on the gap between teams like Team Liquid and the top Eastern teams? Do you think this could be the year NA makes a deep run and redeems itself?

APA: Our macro as a team is solid, but the biggest challenge will be surviving the laning phase. Eastern teams are very good at squeezing out every last bit of advantage there, and that's where most teams struggle. For us, the laning phase has been one of our strong points with lane swaps and strategies like that. I'm confident that if the game reaches the mid-game, we can keep up with them because of how solid our macro is. But I'm worried—if I get run over by Scout, or we face Bin and Impact gets pressured, or just... any of the most talented players—we might lose hard in lane. That's my main concern right now. But if we make it to the mid-game even in any given match, I'm very confident that we can take the series.

You’ve got a unique background with 14 years of wrestling and eight years of football. Are there any players at Worlds you think could take you on in wrestling, or are you the undisputed champ?

APA: There are some bigger guys here. The first one that comes to mind is Bwipo. I don't think I've seen Bin in person, so I'm not sure how big he is. But I know Chovy is... I think he's taller than me. So yeah, some people are probably bigger than me, but when it comes to the physical aspect, I think I have some leverage.

Ziggs has been a strong pick in the bot lane and banned a lot. Has this affected your champion pool, or are you still confident in your picks?

APA: It was getting banned even before he became a strong bot laner, so it doesn’t change much for me.

We did some digging and found an old tweet of yours from 2018 where you were supporting Fnatic. Care to explain?

APA: [laughs] I've always supported Western teams, even before I was a pro when I was just playing solo queue for fun. During all the international tournaments, I would root for the Western teams to win. I’d be happy when G2 won, or when Fnatic, TL, or any of the good Western teams had success.

So, you’re all for smashing them on stage now, but still cheer for them when they’re not facing you?

APA: Pretty much, yeah.

Is there a specific midlaner or team you’re eager to face at Worlds?

APA: I've yet to face any of the regional GOATs in actual matches. I’ve scrimmed against them, but I haven't faced Caps, Chovy, or Knight in a match yet. It would be really fun to compete against them all on stage.

If you could take down just one of those players, who would it be?

APA: The most obvious one is Chovy. If you can take him down, that’s pretty impressive. He’s widely regarded as one of, if not the best, players in the world right now.

Do you think teams from the West can challenge top teams like Gen.G, Hanwha Life, or BLG?

APA: I think the narratives are often really misleading. For NA, they said it was a clear top three, and then Cloud9 didn’t even make Worlds. For Gen.G, the focus was on them being untouchable, yet they always lost in the finals. So I believe the narratives are consistently overhyped. You can definitely make them bleed.

Yeah, like people saying that paiN Gaming is better than Cloud9...

APA: I mean, that one might be true.

Yapping and banter are things that seem to be missing from the League ecosystem in general. Do you think players are a bit afraid of being able to boast and be able to flame each other like this? And is it something that in your eyes is missing a bit in esports in general?

APA: I think most players just don’t like it. A lot of people believe it distracts them from focusing. Being on a team with a bunch of Koreans, I think it’s just not part of their culture. I know that when I was going into the T1 match at MSI, I talked to several people about not doing it because it’s a very rude thing to do to Koreans.

Spawn mentioned he wants Team Liquid to become the "G2 of NA." At what point do you think G2 might want to be the "TL of EU"?

APA: [laughs] I don't think we're at that point yet. I mean, G2 has still won every regional title, while we lost in our finals. They've been doing that for years. For the longest time, G2 has been at least top two in the EU, if not straight-up number one. TL, with him and hopefully with me, is a top dog for as long as we can be. But for now, G2 is still G2.

I know your parents are super supportive. Are they coming to Worlds?

APA: I'm not sure. But my mom has plenty of ideas about going to Paris for the quarters and semis. I’m not sure if they’ve booked tickets yet or if they were just tossing around ideas, but they are definitely very supportive parents to me—probably the most supportive parents I know.

Are you fighting for them, I guess, at Worlds then?

APA: I mean, it feels mean to say no but...I would say I'm definitely fighting for myself first."