benjyfishy: “We had talks post Kickoff to discuss feelings & what to change for Stage 1”

While 1-0 ahead and 10-0 up on map two, it seemed inevitable that Team Heretics were about to conclude a dominant, statement win over GIANTX. But the comeback pulled off by the latter to turn the map around and win 13-11 to take the series to a third map meant that a total collapse for Heretics was on the card.

Thankfully for them, the downward momentum did not continue and the side was able to get things back on track to win the third map. This win puts them on a 2-0 record for the early weeks of VCT EMEA Stage 1 and sees them go top of Group Alpha. We spoke to Team Heretics superstar benjyfishy following the victory.

Hotspawn: Let’s just go straight for the obvious one – what on earth happened on Split?

benjyfishy: It was really good until it wasn’t, you know. I’m not too sure exactly what happened. In terms of the reason why we went so good to so bad, I believe it was just nerves and panic. I think we were scared of losing, and even me, I think I was one of the culprits as well. We were scared of losing, you know, because VALORANT is such a momentum game.

We had so much momentum, we get stopped a little bit, we lose pistol, we lose a few rounds and then it’s kind of like; “Oh, wait, we’re kind of slipping”. And, yeah, I think that’s kind of what it was — just panic. I can’t really put it down to anything else. I think we just played badly.

But up until when we started losing, I think we were playing perfect VALORANT. This first half of Split was unbelievable from us. I think that’s what we expect from ourselves, you know, it was just- yeah, it happened. It’s a learning experience.

What was said behind the scenes before the third map to not let that downward momentum continue?

benjyfishy: I think our coaches talked a lot about remembering how good we were playing on the Haven and also at the start of Split and realising that’s us, not what happened at the end of Split. That wasn’t us, that wasn’t us who was playing. I think if you got too much in your own heads about that loss, then we would have no chance on Lotus.

I think it kind of shows our mental strength of the team. We’ve got a lot of experience now. We’ve had losses like that before. We had one in Shanghai against G2, where we were up 11-2. So I think it’s the fact we’ve got experience. We basically tried to just not think about it as much as possible. And I think we did a good job at that, to be honest.

Ignoring the back half of Split then, do you think today was the best Team Heretics we’ve seen so far this year? 

benjyfishy: I think it is, yeah. I think the. If we exclude the Split, that’s the best we’ve played this year. Kickoff was rough for us when we were not the team that we have been last year — the team that we’re meant to be. And I think today we showed our capabilities. I think if we carry on going at the rate that we’re improving, I think we’re going to be better way better than we were even last year. 

Obviously there’s a lot of other teams that have also improved. They’re also really good. So no match is easy. Even against GIANTX, people thought they were bad, whatever, like they got stomped by Vitality before, but they’re still a really good team. There’s no free games in VCT. So we just focus on ourselves and carry on improving and that’s what we’ve been doing. And it showed for most of today.

Why do you think the team started slowly this year? You’d think that keeping the same 5-man roster should mean that you’re stronger at the start of the season when other teams are still synergising.

benjyfishy: I think it came down to a lot of reasons. I think, in general, [during] Kickoff we weren’t super happy as just an environment. It wasn’t the greatest. I think it’s natural that you can’t always be happy and I think we’re playing our best when we’re all in a good mood. 

We were sick for like three weeks during Kickoff where scrims were hard — we had to miss some days, coaches had to step in to play for players. It was really hard. So on top of being sick, the atmosphere was bad. We’re living in rainy, cold Berlin. So wasn’t the nicest thing to live with, you know, just to be in.

We had a lot of talks after Kickoff just to kind of discuss everybody’s feelings and what we wanted changed for Stage 1. And I think right now we’re in a really good state, environment. We’re happy. The weather’s good in Berlin, thankfully. If it was still cold, I would be very mad. But, yeah, everybody’s feeling good now, and I think that was a big reason why Kickoff was quite bad.

Well, now that you’re back on track, what are the realistic aims for the rest of the season?

benjyfishy: At the start of Kickoff, we were like:

“Yeah, we’re gonna win everything, this is the year we dominate”.

And then Kickoff happens…. Now we’ve got to bring it back down to earth a little bit. We’ve still got things to prove to people and to ourselves that, you know, we’re still one of the best teams in the world. I think we proved it today by how dominant we were, excluding Split, of course.

But, yeah, I don’t like thinking about the future too much. In my head, I focus on one game at a time. Today I was focused on GIANTX. I’m not thinking about Toronto, for example. I’m just thinking: “Okay, one game at a time”.

I think that’s why we did really good also last year during international events because we kept getting knocked down to the lower bracket. And when you’re in a lower bracket, you lose and you’re flying home the next day. So it can be a lot of pressure, but if you just take it one step at a time, it kind of makes you calm and not overthink things. So I try my best to live in the present.

Lee Jones: I know I’m a day late, but happy birthday!

How do you reflect on having already spent 6~ years competing in esports — longer than many pro careers — while still having just turned 21?

benjyfishy: For me, I’m just proud of where I’m at. Even when I was a kid, my dream was to be a pro gamer. And the fact I’ve been able to live a third of my life now in pro gaming, it’s a blessing. I just try and live my life the best way possible and the swap from Fortnite to VALORANT was a big part of that. I wasn’t super happy towards the end of Fortnite. I wanted to enjoy my job and that’s why I made the swap.

I’m really proud of myself, to be honest. How much time I put in. I think it’s a very hard job to do and to be good at for a super long time. So, yeah, I’m just proud of myself.