Week two of EMEA Stage 1 would see Kickoff winners Team Vitality face their toughest test since returning from Masters Bangkok. Their opponents, Fnatic, had a disappointing early start to the season but were primed for a comeback after coaching staff changes. Vitality took the lead in a guelling, 34-round opening map, but Fnatic were able to turn the series around to claim a statement 2-1 victory with former player Derke largely quiet on the day. Following the series, we spoke to Vitality’s IGL Sayf for an interview.
Hotspawn: Let’s start with Haven. Why do you think Fnatic was able to turn to come back and win despite Vitality looking to be in control at 9-3?
Sayf: It could be a lot of things. I think we have a little bit of a language barrier that we have to fix. Maybe because English is hard for, for example, both for Less and CyvOph. And they understand like a lot, sure, we can do whatever the hell- they understand, like a lot of things. It’s just when it gets really hectic and there’s high intensity moments, some words get lost in translation or don’t have the same meaning and then we end up doing something that’s not really according to plan.
So I think it’s just like, obviously we played bad, nothing to take away from that. Sure. But I think we have a lot of things to work on, like when talking to each other and trying to minimise mistakes in comms, because the more words there are, the harder it is for us to understand it sometimes.
Do you think the first map might’ve taken it out of you as well, with so many overtimes and tech pauses?
Sayf: No, I don’t think the first map had anything to do with anything. It’s just really unfortunate, obviously, like losing the pistol on Haven as well on defence, and then it scaled and then they started snowballing the rounds. Just a little bit of everything maybe.
Lee Jones: Derke didn’t look to be playing at his best today.
Do you think the build up of him versus his old team might’ve affected him a bit today?
Sayf: Yeah, probably. I didn’t notice anything on him. I think he’s fantastic, always does what he needs to do and he trusts whatever we need to do.
And yeah, it’s obviously rough when you play your previous team or whatever, you obviously want it to go well. But, you know, s*** happens. For him, I didn’t notice any difference. Maybe subconsciously felt different as everyone does, that’s human nature. But he was a warrior.
Lee Jones: Just going back to Bangkok, during the press conferences there you guys were understandably hesitant to discuss any learnings from the tournament, given there hadn’t been time to digest.
Now that the dust has settled, what were your takeaways from Bangkok?
Sayf: I don’t know. The only thing that’s hard for us is ourselves. It’s not really anything outside or a comp or something like that. We just need to communicate better or reach a place where we all understand each other well so we can execute things well as well.
But it’s like, yeah, there’s nothing to take away from Bangkok. A lot of things, like in high intensity moments, when there’s high pressure, it’s a bit new for some — a bit up in the air. I don’t think it’s much more to it, you know.
Lee Jones: Following that tournament, there was a change to bring in CyvOph to replace trexx, which was surprising to many given you guys had won Kickoff.
Why do you think a change was necessary and what has CyvOph brought to the team?
Sayf: I’m not commenting on the change. It’s just, teams make change when it doesn’t work for the team. That’s it. That’s all I say about that.
Lee Jones: You’ve got Team Heretics next week, who started the season slowly but now look to be back on track.
Do you think that could be a tough match? How do you think it might go?
Sayf: Yeah, they will be- I don’t know. I have no clue. Everyone shows up on a given day. Maybe they’ll be good, maybe they’ll be bad. Same thing for us. Maybe we’ll suck and maybe they will play good.
Lee Jones: Groups seems a bit skewed with yourselves, Fnatic, and Heretics.
What do you make of the VCT Split 1 Groups?
Sayf: Yeah, I mean, I think there’s some cinema going on. That’s all I have to say about that.
