After more than a year under contract with
Team Vitality, Moldovan prodigy Ștefan "
Sayonara" Mîtcu finally played his first match in the
VCT EMEA this Thursday after a long period of waiting and preparation. Although he had been part of the team since the beginning of the season, Sayonara had previously been replaced by Bartosz "
UNFAKE" Bernacki while waiting to reach the minimum age required to compete in tier 1. In his debut, the young player delivered a solid performance and helped secure Vitality’s first victory of Stage 1 against
GIANTX (2-0).
Following this first success in EMEA’s top Valorant league, Sayonara spoke with Sheep Esports in an interview to share his initial impressions of his performance and the preparation that led up to his long-awaited debut with the team.
What’s your first feeling right after this game?
Ștefan "Sayonara" Mîtcu: “Very good, I am very proud of the team. We showed a really strong Vitality and there is more potential to be showed. And I'm just really happy to be playing alongside these people.
It was your first game with Vitality in VCT after all this wait. How did you feel before the game? Are you satisfied with how you played today?
Sayonara: I am satisfied. I played good. There is room to play better, especially on the first map. I think the second map was quite good but the first map should be better. But overall, along with the team and everything, it was very good. The comms were incredible, the vibes were incredible, it was just a pleasure to play.
Did you feel like it was different to play on stage rather than online as you have been doing with Vitality so far?
Sayonara: No, I don't feel the difference that much on stage. I'm very confident. I never really thought that LAN would be a big pressure for me and today I saw that it's the same as online; maybe a little bit different and with better vibes because I get to see the people around me but pressure wise, there is nothing different.
You seem to not feel any pressure as you say, you're coming in VCT with the reputation of being a huge prospect. How are you dealing with people’s expectations around you?
Sayonara: I feel very proud that people expect me to play good. I don't take it as anything negative. It doesn’t make me feel nervous when people expect me to play good. It just feels like they know that I'm good, they expect me to play good and I will show them that I'm very good.
How have you been preparing since the beginning of the year to be ready for this moment? How did you keep training with the team while not being part of the active roster?
Sayonara: For mechanics, I just played a lot of ranked to be in shape, but I was with the team a lot. Vitality made it possible for me to be with the team during Kickoff and offseason. So the vibes are very good since the start and we just needed to work on the team chemistry, and the vibes have been incredible from the offseason until now. Everything is just very nice and it's just a pleasure to work with the people around me.
You're talking about the people around you, what are your current relationships with your teammates and how did they help you with the chemistry or to deal with the pressure?
Sayonara: For me it was very easy to fit into the team. The people are very nice. Especially, I've known PROFEK (Dawid Święć) for like three years so it was very easy for me to play alongside him. Jamppi (Elias Olkkonen) is a very energetic leader so it's very simple to play with him, he always helps you, he always lifts you up when you need it. And for Derke (Nikita Sirmitev)and Chronicle (Timofey Khromov), I've known them for a bit from my time in Fnatic and I know they're just outstanding people. They showed today and in the offseason that they are very competitive and they want to win and that's what I like. They push me to be better and I push them to play even better so it's just a very good team vibe we have going on.
From your perspective as part of the team but not in the active roster, what did you think about Vitality's performance during the kickoff?
Sayonara: Obviously it's a little bit disappointing that they didn't qualify. They wanted and I wanted them to qualify to Santiago, but I never really stressed about it. I knew I was the missing piece to the team and I'm here to show it. I'm very confident in my abilities. Unfake was good, but I have stuff that the team needed, and I can fill the gaps. The team is now at full power, so it's exciting.
What is your main personal goal for this season?
Sayonara: The goal has always been to win. There's nothing better, there's not a better feeling in the world than winning. And that's everything I've chased. Being the best and winning, that's most important for me. And with this team, I believe all of that is possible. I believe we are the strongest team right now. We are the titans to beat and we're going to scale even more with the games we play. So it's going to be scarier and scarier for teams to play us the more games we play.
Which teams are you looking to play against the most and who do you think will be your toughest opponents win?
Sayonara: I think it's an obvious answer for me. It's Fnatic, the titans of EMEA. We are looking to take that crown of them and to be the best team in the world. The first step is to go through Fnatic. So I think that's the goal right now.
What about the teams that went to Masters?
Sayonara: They are all good, but they were also team heavily relying on meta and the meta has shifted, so it just depends how they adapt to the meta. They can obviously be good, they have a lot of firepower, they are strong teams, so it will always be a good game against them.
What do you think you should improve in your gameplay?
Sayonara: I believe that feeding my ideas to the IGL is a big part of what I should improve. I have a lot of good ideas but it's the way I input them to the team that makes their lives easier; and also just being myself. The most important is to not put on a mask while I play with the boys and just being myself and having fun.
