PCF Thinkii: "Many things have been hard throughout this year and many of them are things we can't control"

PCIFIC Esports head into VCT EMEA Stage 2 looking to finally turn their season around after winless stages Kickoff and 1. Despite still searching for their first series victory of 2026, the organization believe the work done behind the scenes will allow them to take a significant step forward in the second split of the year.

Ahead of Stage 2, Sheep Esports spoke with PCIFIC Esports Head Coach Manuel "Thinkii" Martínez and Assistant Coach Dario "ZaeS" Gomez about the team's difficult season, Team Spain's run at the Esports Nations Cup Qualifiers, the upcoming VCT EMEA group stage, and the identity they hope to build as they chase a spot in the playoffs—and ultimately, Champions.

Manuel “Thinkii” Martínez: “I mean, it's hard. Many things have been hard throughout this year and many of them are things we can't control, which makes everything a little bit more complicated even. We try to make people hungry and set small objectives that we believe can make us win in the Stage 2 while still developing players individually and trying as many things as we can in the way.

Thinkii: The biggest challenge has been doing everything I've been doing online for years in person. Yes, I worked with PAL (Gregor Morton) in VCT last year but I was his AC and he managed many things that now I have to do for the first time while sharing a house with the players. I would lie if I said that I haven't doubted about everything, I even got flashbacks of my first team as coach, where I think we even started 0-5 in the VCL. At some point you doubt everything, but as long as you know that you have to get up and try until it works, everything will be fine.

Thinkii: It was great, not gonna lie, I already said that the tournament and the idea behind it is great, but the execution, in my opinion, is not.

The preparation was poor, like many of the teams, or at least the most "important" ones. We had both Fit1nho (Adolfo Gallego) and Guardy (Antonio Guardiola) with a super tight schedule because they had to play the Challengers. I would never force or burn players because of a tournament like this, I've been against that all my life. When you see that both teams that eliminated you 13-11 while having the lead (11-7 and 11-10) were two and one match away from making it, makes you feel worse.

Thinkii: It's going to be a tough one, but we already experienced that in the Split 1 under some conditions that were not optimal, so I think we are more than ready now. What do we need to get a spot in the Playoffs? Wins lol

Dario “ZaeS” Gomez: This group is 200% easier than the one we faced during Stage 1, but contrary to what many people think, it’s by no means the easiest of the two groups in this stage; I think both are very similar. To qualify for the Playoffs, I think it all comes down to starting the competition on the right foot, gaining that little bit of confidence we lacked during Stage 1 due to poor results, and simply demonstrating on the server all the work we’ve put in so far.

ZaeS: I think that right now we’ve managed to build a system (in and out of the game) that’s on par with any VCT team; it’s the same one we were pushing for during Stage 1, but I don’t think we had the right pieces to make it work at 100%, and that's why many games were close but not enough. Looking ahead to Stage 2, I think everything will depend on whether we can translate what we do in practice to official matches and, especially, if the players can prove to everyone else, and above all, to themselves that they compensate for their “lack of experience” compared to other teams with the hard work they’ve put in over the last month.

ZaeS: To be honest, I don't expect a big change in the meta. Some teams are trying to experiment a bit with the latest changes, but I mainly expect a prevalence of double duelist compositions around the Phoenix and Chamber. It's still similar playstyle, but since we no longer have agents like Waylay and Neon (pre-nerf) that used to disbalance so much the game, I think teams will have to prepare a little better.

Thinkii: We all want to go Barcelona, that's the main goal. If you don't see us in Barcelona for the Playoffs then we failed.

ZaeS: Beyond that, on a personal level, I know it’s going to be tough, but I want to fight for one of the spots at Champions. Last year, we came so close with BBL, it’s something that still hurts to this day, but it was an incredible feeling. This year, I want all our players to experience that same feeling, to truly believe that you can go head-to-head with the best teams in the region and compete for a spot in the World Cup.

ZaeS: I’d say the key word is “proactivity”—we want our team to set the pace and maintain control of the round at all times. When you play trying to adapt to your opponent, there’s a chance they might surprise you with something you don’t know how to handle, but when you try to be the one setting the pace in the round, taking map control, taking duels and responsibilities when it's needed, etc., it’s much easier to ensure that all the situations that will happen during a match are the ones we’re looking for and the ones you’ve already experienced during practice.

Thinkii: First thing I would say is thank you, because we know many people support us and some other people just follow our matches, which is fine as well. For those supporting, we hope we can all enjoy this Stage 2, even though we couldn't get a win in the Stage 1 I think we played in a different way than many teams that was fun to watch, sometimes even too risky, but as we say every day in team "game's the game”.

ZaeS: I just want to say thank you for the support we’ve received, even though we weren’t able to achieve any good results during the recent Stage 1 and the EWC qualify. All seven of us on the team are working our butts off to deliver better results. And for our Spanish fans, I hope we’ll have Spanish representation at the event in Spain.”