M8 Starxo: "I hope for a great banger against KC”

After a convincing debut of the season marked by a top 7/8 finish at the Masters Santiago, Gentle Mates kicked off Split 1 with a loss against FUT Esports (1-2). Following the match, Patryk "starxo" Kopczynski, the team’s IGL, reflected on his return to the international stage, his first since VALORANT Champions 2021, and how he experienced this elimination as a leader.

The Polish player also discussed the loss to FUT and touched on the adjustments to come ahead of their next challenge. Gentle Mates are now preparing to face Karmine Corp in a highly anticipated showdown. Backed by two of the scene’s most passionate French fanbases, this matchup is already shaping up to be electric: this Friday, April 10, 2026, the VCT EMEA will host a new derby that promises to be explosive.

starxo: On Pearl, we showed up really well. We were kind of confident, everything was working for us. We were planning stuff, we were steps ahead, we were always communicating things. But on the other two maps, I feel like this started to fall short more and more over time. We started losing some rounds; maybe they hit some nice shots. They got some momentum; they got really confident in their duels, obviously, and when that happens, it becomes a hard-shooting game, especially against Turkish teams. It’s not so easy to control; you need to be in peak form to win those duels, no matter what you do. Yeah, props to them, they were shooting harder, and we couldn’t keep up the best today.

starxo: In this meta, there is no other agent that can TP across the map for like one minute straight. We had, like, ten days of preparation after we came back from Santiago. So we’ve been looking into potential changes, and we’ve been kind of in a rush. Now, coming with all the different changes, we’re kind of going to rush on other changes, probably with the nerfs. So yeah, no, he’s not really replacing Yoru. I think the meta is going to shift hard now into the way you play, slower and stuff like this. So we just need to adapt to this.

starxo: It was amazing, to be honest. Coming to an international with so many fans for the first time for all of us here, it was a pleasure. We were enjoying every second of the tournament, every second off time. When we were walking out to the shop or to get coffee, people kept coming up to us for photos. They had so much energy, so much positive energy. It also gave us a lot of motivation. We want to work even harder to meet those people in Europe or wherever. We want to qualify more. Only positive feelings about that for sure.

starxo: It’s hard, I don’t have really a moment. But maybe just coming out of the groups, you know, like not losing a map. I think it’s something to be proud of. Since then, we haven’t lost a single map in best of three. It was crazy. The streak ended today, sadly, but we keep working hard.

starxo: I think I handled it pretty well. Obviously, you cannot handle these things alone. You need to be the first guy to speak up in team discussions after matches, especially after a loss, as we had in Santiago against All Gamers. You need to fight your demons in your head. You cannot show that something broke you or anything, even if that’s the truth. You need to keep being calm, you need to show that things are under control, and we will work it out. I’m still kind of young as an IGL; I don’t have ten years of experience as a captain and stuff, so I make a lot of mistakes as well. Life is like this: you’re not an IGL when you’re born. So I’m trying to be the best captain for my team. Sometimes I fail, sometimes I make good things for them, but I get a lot of help as well, so that’s how it works.

starxo: I mean, everything obviously. I’m not perfect, you know. We can be better at calling, better at bringing energy, and better at handling situations within the team as well. There are many scenarios and many things we need to fix. I don’t think there is anything in particular I struggle with. I think everything is still in progress. So I would say everything can be polished even better. Every day I’m trying to become better.

starxo: The comeback has been a bit hard. We didn’t have much time off as well. The schedule is kind of rushed here, especially if you go deep in the tournament. We haven’t experienced that as a team; we had no experience. None of us went to an international and went this deep. Last time was when I played in Champions, like six years ago, five years ago.

It’s really hard, especially with such a meta shift, changing an agent that completely breaks the meta that has been built for many weeks, many months. With so little time for preparation, I believe this was for everyone; obviously, the meta change was the same for everyone. For us, it was a little bit harder because we were really exhausted after the tournament. We worked through a lot. The preparation has been going so-so, kind of 50-50. First of all, we had to find out which agents we were going to play, and then we had to come back into our shape.

It wasn’t easy for us. I think you could see that today. I think we’re still kind of warming up, still trying to get our shape back. The next game is really important for us to gain more preparation days. Coming into KC, we have like five or six more days of practice. For us, it means a lot. That’s why we’re going to put a lot of work into these days and make sure that the KC game is going to look much better, like we showed in Kickoff.

starxo: Yeah, I mean, playing against KC, especially here in Berlin, if fans are going to show up, it’s always a good game. The fans are really dedicated, so it’s always nice to see the rivalry. Not much more. I hope for a great game. KC also has been struggling, I wanted to say. We kind of showed a bit of weakness this game as well.

It’s not easy to keep up playing and winning everything. It’s going to be a really important game for both teams. The support of the fans will probably matter in the arena as well, giving us more energy and momentum. I hope for a great banger against KC. Everyone will give their best to win the game. We are both 0-1 now. Time to step up.”