FUT Esports got their
VALORANT Champions Shanghai campaign off to a strong start with a 2-0 victory over
JD Gaming. The Turkish organization overcame the home crowd in Shanghai to secure its first win of the tournament and put itself one step closer to the playoffs.
Following the victory, Eray “
yetujey” Budak spoke exclusively to
Sheep Esports about his first Champions victory, FUT's performance against JDG, and the differences he has noticed between the regions at the tournament. The player also discussed the experience of competing against a heavily pro-JDG crowd, FUT's upcoming matchup against
100 Thieves and his ambitions of reaching the playoffs.
How does it feel to start Champions with a 2-0 victory over an international opponent?
Eray “yetujey” Budak: “It was a nice start for us, and I’m so happy about that. It’s probably my first Champions win, actually, so it means a lot. I always like to see my guys happy, so after the win, of course they will be happy. It was nice for us.
How would you describe the level of the different regions at Champions so far?
yetujey: Americas is doing great, actually. EMEA is still good. I watched the Vitality game and also looked a little at the KC game, and all of them are looking good. Maybe China looks like the worst region right now, but they have really good players and good teams, so they will bounce back. I still believe in them. I hope everyone plays great and the games become harder, so we can have more fun and also show more good VALORANT to people because the crowd is amazing.
What did FUT do particularly well against JDG that you want to keep repeating?
yetujey: In the first map, we started so well. Pistol rounds are always important for us, and we helped each other so well. I guess it’s nice to see that we can win on Summit again because our map pool was a little tight. But right now, it’s much bigger. We can play everything. It’s nice to start like that. I mean, if we finish the second map like the first map, then it will be even bigger for us. But we just managed to win, so maybe it’s about the result.
What did FUT do wrong today, and what needs to be fixed before the next match?
yetujey: I don’t think we did so many things wrong today. Maybe we had some micro problems individually. But usually, we were so good. Also, on the defense side, maybe we just stopped and stayed in the same position too many times. We just need to sometimes show them some fight before they enter the sites. Because if they enter the site, of course they can do everything because they always have perfect skills for the executes. Sometimes we just need to break the momentum.
What was it like playing in an arena where almost the entire crowd was supporting JDG?
yetujey: Normally, we were thinking that we need to be the villains and show people how strong we are. But before the match started, the crowd was supporting them so much, so I said, “They are nice people. Let’s not do it.” Then, when they started the second map and JDG started to play well, they just went behind them and supported JDG. Then I said, “All right, we don’t need to be gentle,” because when we were being gentle, we saw what happened. The crowd was amazing. If we had some support like that, it would be amazing for us as well. But it’s okay for us.
FUT yetujey during the match against JDG. Credit: Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games
What are your expectations for the upcoming match against 100 Thieves?
yetujey: It will be a hard game because 100 Thieves are so good right now. Maybe they are at their peak. I faced them in Shanghai, and they beat us so hard with Boostio (Kelden Pupello), I guess. But right now, they still have such a good roster. I mean, Timotino (Timothée Lavigne), Asuna (Peter Mazuryk) and the others are always great players. They are talented players. It will be a banger match, but of course, I hope we can win it. Because I want to see the next step: the playoffs.
Is FUT's biggest goal to prove that you belong at the top internationally, or are you focusing on taking the tournament step by step?
yetujey: I think we should look at it step by step. We just need to focus on getting the next match, and then we need to go to the playoffs first. Then we can think about top eight, top four, finals or something. But I want to look at it step by step. I want to see playoffs, then I want to see more and more”
