Fnatic’s back-to-back international runners-up medals — while disappointing to have not lifted any trophies — shows that they’re a world-class side. Their return to regional play in VCT EMEA Stage 2 has seen that good form continue, with no signs of dropped heads and in spite of their intense schedule. After their latest win against KOI, Hotspawn spoke to Fnatic’s duelist Kajetan “kaajak” Haremski for an interview.
Hotspawn: Congrats on the win against KOI.
What are your immediate thoughts on the series?
Kayak: To be honest, quick, simple game — nothing to add. We played good. I think that’s it. It was one of these games [where] you don’t have to do much and you just win. We played good, we reacted good, we called good, we played together. Nothing to add.
You’ve had deep runs at both Masters Toronto and the Esports World Cup, travelling between each. I can’t imagine there’s been much time to recuperate.
What was the prep like ahead of VCT EMEA Stage 2?
Yeah, so for the first KC game, we came back from Saudi and we had two off days, I think, then we had two days of prac and we played officially against KC. So we couldn’t change anything, just some small simple adjustments.
So I think it was the hardest game because we basically didn’t have any practice. So we couldn’t change anything, KC could prep us and antistrat us really good, which I think they did. I mean, maybe not the best, but they had they had some really good solutions. So I think the first game was, I think really hard.
But after that, we had one or two off days again just to rest up because we had [a] really intense one or two months — two internationals. So big time when it comes to being exhausted and stuff. And yeah, this week we just had the first full week since I don’t know when, but yeah, basically this week we just started prac.
Touching on those finals, I could imagine many teams losing confidence after two disappointments like that, but Fnatic’s vibes still look impeccable — something players have spoken about throughout this year.
How has the team morale been over that period?
Yeah, I mean, nothing changed to be honest. We lost two finals, but I think we don’t think much about it. We just move on and we still think we are the best. There’s some stuff to improve, and there is also a new map pool. So we still need to work hard, but I think everyone in this team knows that we can be the best in the world if we just keep working hard.
We just need to get, I think, two more wins, or one more win, to secure Champions. So after that it would be really nice because like we can just insta-prepare for Champions, you know?
In an interview with Esports Insider before the Toronto final, you said that “whether I win or lose, I don’t really care” as your focus is only ever solely on performing well and not thinking about the rest.
Do the global final losses change that mindset at all? Does it make you think about winning one of those specifically?
I think I still have the same mentality after the loss in Toronto. I had some problems in the final when it comes to like energy stuff, like my energy drops at some point. So after the Toronto final, I had a goal to focus on for EWC. And I think I figured it out pretty good for the EWC final, because I had consistent energy throughout the whole best-of-five basically.
But, yeah, when it comes to the mentality, I think it’s just the same for me. So I don’t have extra pressure or anything, I just don’t stress out during the game.
You’ve been to two global finals now despite still just being in your rookie year in tier 1.
Have you had a chance to step back and appreciate what an achievement that is?
No, not really to be honest. We made two international finals, but it didn’t get to me. I think it didn’t get to me at all for now. Maybe at the end of the year, in the offseason, maybe I’ll just have a think about it. Or maybe for the next year, if we’re going to have a worse year than this year, maybe I will think about it and think about how insane it is to actually like make two international finals in a row.
But yeah, for now I’m not really like: “Wow, we made second place two times”. I don’t have anything like this, but maybe in the future it will appear like some flashback with the memories and stuff.
When you joined Fnatic, it was alongside their trio of existing stars who all won two Masters titles in 2023, while crashies was also joining having won one in 2022.
How was it joining a lineup with such established players for your rookie season?
When I chose to join Fnatic, I knew it’s the best team for me because I can improve a lot and gain experience and everything. But it also came with extra pressure for me, because Fnatic is of course [a] big team and the goal was to qualify for every international or even to win it. And for me, it was just my rookie year, so I just wanted to become better and learn a lot of stuff, gain experience.
So it was kind of clashing when it when it comes to the expectations — I had different expectations of the team. But after the Kickoff, I think I started progressing really well and it basically just came naturally that I just became better and we qualified for the internationals. So I don’t have this pressure that I need to do really good, to be good anymore this year.
You’ve been performing extremely well so far this year, as well as Alfajer and Chronicle, and you’ve all got incredible raw aim.
But who has the best aim on Fnatic? Who’s the best at clicking heads?
I think it’s either Alfa or me, but I would say… I’m going to be a bit selfish and I’m going to say me. I had a pretty good performance [for] a couple of weeks, or couple of months even. Pretty good performance and consistent performance, which matters a lot for me because you can have [an] insane game and next time you can have [an] absolute bad game. So I think consistency is really important in this game, and it’s also kind of hard to be really consistent in this game.
Fnatic’s team director CoJo posted about your consistency after you had a ridiculous streak of positive performances.
How do you stay so consistent?
I don’t know. I think I’m just playing quite smart when it comes to playing the game. I think my positioning and stuff, it improved a lot since I joined. I think it was the thing that I was struggling [with] the most. So positioning in the mid round and getting good positions to actually get a kill or get traded at least. So yeah, I think it’s just positioning and thinking about the game.
