VCT Masters Berlin is not going according to plan for F4Q. The South Korean squad is down 0-2 in their group, having lost to both G2 Esports and F4Q. However, they’re not out just yet. In the second half of the double Round Robin their group has to play, F4Q has a chance at redemption.
F4Q team captain FiveK realizes his team needs to step up, but he's hopeful about the lessons they're learning as a squad. Image courtesy of Colin Young-Wolff for Riot Games.
Team captain Yoo “fiveK” Sung-min joined for an interview after his team’s series against Sentinels. He shared his thoughts on the series and on F4Q’s overall performance so far. FiveK also discussed his role as team captain, and the growth he foresees for his lineup.
Hotspawn: Welcome, FiveK. Unfortunately, you lose the series against Sentinels today. What are your first thoughts after the series?
FiveK: The first thought is obviously: How are we gonna win the next match?
Hotspawn: Sentinels is considered to be the strongest team, so how did you head into the series?
FiveK: Well, first of all, we thought it was a big opportunity for us. Next time we face them, I think we can play better.
Hotspawn: In this series, we did see Breeze for the first time in the tournament. What did you think about Sentinels locking in the map?
FiveK: We’ve spent a lot of time preparing for Breeze. We felt that we were ready, but TenZ was very strong on the map today. I think that was the deciding variable today.
Hotspawn: While you lose the series 0-2, the first map was pretty close. Is that a small consolation?
FiveK: So for the first map, we analyzed the team a lot. But instead of trying to out-think them and outplay them, we tried our best to put the best version of ourselves in the game. For the second map, I do think that there is much more space to improve on.
Hotspawn: A very funny moment in the series was when you all of a sudden started singing the South Korean national anthem. How did that come to be?
FiveK: [Laughs] We didn’t really do it with too much thought. But we thought that, by singing the national anthem, we could get more support from our fans back home.
Hotspawn: Acend was also singing on stage, but they chose “We Will Rock You”. Did they inspire you to sing too?
FiveK: No, I never heard of it.
Hotspawn: You’ve completed your first half in the double Round Robin of Group D. How do you reflect on it?
FiveK: Our main focus would be minimizing the little mistakes that we made as a team. By saying that, we’ll try to focus on reducing the mistakes and play better as a team for the next match.
Hotspawn: Are there any things that you, as team captain, could improve on?
FiveK: So, as a leader, I’ll try to make a better agent selection with the team. Because we have so many younger players, it was my responsibility to relay the coach’s messages into the younger ears without hurting their feelings and mentals. We have lots of proud players in the team, so whenever we have feedback, I tried to directly communicate with them without hurting their mentals, but still get the messages across.
Hotspawn: Now about something else: Vision Strikers, the other Korean team in the tournament, has qualified for VCT Champions with their latest victory. What are your thoughts on their performance?
FiveK: I feel that Vision Strikers, as a team, has perfected their play. They have become a very solid team. From the experiences that we are going through at VCT Masters 3, I know that we will perform better in the LCQ [Last Chance Qualifier]. We are confident that we’ll make it to Champions as well.
Hotspawn: Alright FiveK, is there something you’d like to say to the fans who’ve been supporting you in this tournament?
FiveK: Thank you very much for the support.
F4Q plays their next series against G2 Esports on Tuesday, September 14th, at 3 PM CEST. You can watch the series live on the official VALORANT Twitch channel.
