BBL Rosé: “NRG are easy to read […] they’re playing the game one way”

Their rise through EMEA Kickoff was a shock for viewers, seeing as BBL’s roster — signed entirely from PCIFIC — had no tier one experience prior to this year. But the gamble paid off as the organisation won it’s first VCT trophy and qualified for VCT Masters Santiago as first seed. After playing their first game at the event, a tense 2-1 loss to world champions NRG, Hotspawn spoke with BBL Esports IGL Eren “Rosé” Erzan for an interview.

Hotspawn: Firstly, this is your first loss of the year.

How does it feel to be so successful that you’re just losing now?

Rosé: “It feels amazing, but that’s not a big thing for us. I think we were winning today also, but we made so many mistakes in micros and we lost. When I see this game after the match, I think this is a win for us, because we need to watch the mistakes and we’re going to fix that and improve ourselves for the next game.”

Hotspawn: Talking about today’s game, that third map was so close. How did it feel when Loita clutched all of those rounds for overtime: the 1v2 with the Guardian?

What was the atmosphere like?”

Rosé: “He’s doing this amazing. That’s why I’m not getting surprised every time. If he gets a clutch, I just say “Oh nice, let’s go for the next, let’s think about the next.” Because I know he can do that every round.”

Hotspawn: NRG are the champions, so a lot of people weren’t expecting you guys to do so well.

What do you think was the biggest mistake from today that you need to fix?

Rosé: “I think we felt too much pressure when we were playing the first map. After that I think Split and Abyss were good for us. We did lose 4v2 on Split in overtime. We’ve just been afraid of peaking them. We just hid and they came to us and killed us. If you know they are there, you have to play together, kill them and take space. We have to do that, but we didn’t do that today and it cost the game.”

It’s all or nothing for both @FURIA and @BBL_esports, as they face-off in an elimination match in the #VALORANTMasters Santiago Playoffs Lower Bracket. Which #1 seed will be sent home first, Americas or EMEA?

Tune in tomorrow at 2 PM CLST / 10 AM PT at https://t.co/io2c23u0BL! pic.twitter.com/OiD0zlJWbv

— VALORANT Champions Tour (@ValorantEsports) March 7, 2026

Hotspawn: Your next game is going to be against FURIA. The crowd today was cheering for you, but I think FURIA will have a lot of hometown support.

Are you excited for that match?

Rosé: “Of course I’m excited and I think it’s going to be a good match because they’re similar to us. I would like to play against koalanoob because he played on the same team as my friend Ruxic in NAVI. As I said, it’s going to be a good match and I think we’re going to win.”

Hotspawn: Looking at the other teams in the bracket,

Who do you think looks really strong at VCT Masters Santiago so far?

Rosé: “Paper Rex.”

Hotspawn: You think they’ll get another trophy?

Rosé: “I don’t think so.”

Hotspawn: You’re going to stop them?

Rosé: “Yeah. If we are still alive in the tournament, it’s not going to happen.”

Hotspawn: I was curious, having been matches against NRG by default,

Would you guys have chosen to play NRG today?

Rosé: “Our coach said he was going to pick NRG anyway. We analysed them, we watched their game. It’s literally readable for us, and that’s why Pearl was our pick. If we could play without pressure, we were winning that, I’m pretty sure about that. But for the first half, that was a fault for us and we lost because of that.

“But that’s why we picked NRG, because I think their gameplan is too easy to read.

Hotspawn: Talking about Americas teams versus EMEA playstyle,

Which region do you think is the strongest right now?

Rosé: “I think Pacific and EMEA. Americas indivially good players, like aspas, zekken, but their game is not good, as I said about NRG — they are playing the game one way.”

Hotspawn: Coming to you in particular as an IGL,

What is the biggest challenge when the meta keeps changing?

Rosé: “As an IGL you need to create something different from other teams. And you need to be a good leader when the game is tough — when the game is going to overtime or you need to play with pressure. You cannot stay under pressure. I think I did bad today with that, but I’m going to improve myself. I’m good at reading the game and giving good calls.”

Hotspawn: There’s a lot of discussion about IGLs needing to frag. Do you ever feel that pressure?

Rosé: “No, because my teammates say, “You are a good fragger like us,” because hwen we play pracs, sometimes I’m top fragging, and they say, “You aim mad for an IGL.” I think that’s why we won against Fnatic also. Boaster is an insane IGL about reading the game, giving good calls, I’m pretty sure about that, but he needs to be good [at] aiming also because this game is about aim also.

Hotspawn: I played on the Istanbul server and you guys are crazy.

Why are Turkish players so insane? 

Rosé: “I think it’s genes, you know, blood. Our people have literally solid aim, but sometimes they don’t know how to play with the brain. This game also needs awareness and good reactions for what is going on on the map.”

Hotspawn: Everyone has been running double duelists. As a scan initiator player, especially after the initiator nerfs,

Do you ever feel like it’s harder to get information?

Rosé: “For me, no. Sometimes the game style needs to change. Because If you play the same style for three years, everyone knows what you’re going to do and they will be prepared for it. With the recon nerfs, teams cannot rely on reveal abilities as much, so you need to take risks and gamble sometimes.”

Hotspawn: Do you think Viper is very strong in the current meta?

Rosé: “I don’t think so, Viper is not too good. She got nerfed in the last updates. I think she’s still playable, but I’m not sure about the best. I think Omen is the best smoker right now.”

Hotspawn: You guys have stayed together as a team for years.

Was it ever hard to keep the roster together?

Rosé: “Our chemistry is perfect, that’s why [we stayed together]. Some players — Loita, lovers rock — had offers from other teams, but they knew that if they went to other teams the chemistry might not be good. It’s a gamble.

“Everyone in this team knows we’re gonna beat everybody in the world when we play internationally. That’s why we stick together. And our main goal is being a family, working so hard, and beating everyone.”