Gentle Mates began a decisive week with a defeat to
Team Vitality (1-2) in
VCT EMEA Stage 2. This loss diminishes the French side's hopes of securing direct qualification for the playoffs, having also fallen to
FUT Esports earlier in the stage. Both Vitality and FUT now hold the head-to-head advantage over Gentle Mates.
Despite the setback, one crucial match remains. Gentle Mates will face BBL Esports this Friday in a series that offers the team one final opportunity to show the level many expected from them before beginning the play-ins. Following the match, team captain Patryk "starxo" Kopczyński spoke with Sheep Esports about the road ahead in the competition.
What is your first feeling after this game?
Patryk "starxo" Kopczyński: “I feel sad, obviously. It was our match for playoffs, we had to win this game and the one against BBL game to qualify. So obviously, it sucks, even more because we had to win those and it was a really close match.
What do you think was missing today?
starxo: I don't know yet. I will need to review. We had a lot of defense problems early in the game. We couldn't start well on any map out of the three. So I think that was definitely the problem. We had to always find the answers: how to come back from 0-4, 0-5, 0-6, whatever it was. So yeah, I think that was the biggest problem today.
As you said, Vitality always started well in their offensive rounds. Do you feel like there was a problem with your defensive side?
starxo: It's hard to know, if we can't convert any defense pistol and then we're losing bonus rounds. They had some good game plans; they changed from the way they were playing last game. So they cut us off guard, I believe. And yeah, they took advantage of this.
Do you feel like in general during this Stage 2, your team is playing as you imagined it would be before the competition began?
starxo: Yeah, I think in the EWC already we showed great team play and great firepower. We've been working on everything, so it was going pretty well. I think we did some great matches, even if we had some bad days, some individual mistakes, maybe some problems in really small details. In the end, we lost to FUT and Vitality, in really two close games.
It's an important week for your team as you are playing against two big opponents with Vitality and BBL. Do you feel like your preparation has been great for this week?
starxo: Yes, we have our way of preparing. I think preparation was really good. Since last week, we changed; before NAVI, we changed the way we prepare and it worked really well. I believe for this game we prepared really well.
Do you feel that with the way you're playing right now, your team will be able to qualify for the Champions?
starxo: With the way we played today, I don't know. Vitality is a really strong team. They show a really big skill gap, in the last game. So we need to fix some details for sure. And I think we can still fight for the Champions, obviously.
Do you feel like any team can beat anyone in Stage 2 right now?
starxo: Yeah, I think so. Teams have time to prepare, some of them less, some of them more. I think the skill is really close between the teams. I think it's usually like this in VALORANT.
Your former team Joblife made it to the play-ins of Stage 2, would you like to play against them during the competition?
starxo: Yes and no. I think it's sad to kick them out, like it will really feel bad. But obviously, whatever happens, I’m not going to think it's my ex-organization when I play against them. I will obviously want to beat them. I'm going to play to fully win and smash them, but obviously, I would not like this to happen because I have a lot of respect for the organization.
More generally, do you think there are any teams coming from VCL that can actually compete and contest the VCT teams to qualify for Champions?
starxo: I think so yeah. These teams that qualify, I think they are based on a lot of individual firepower and I think this matters a lot in the game and in this meta currently. If they can perform like this on stage, which many of them have no experience in, only Enterprise have more experience than other teams I think, then they can surprise and perform well.
About the meta, Riot Games announced that Phoenix would be nerfed during the next weeks. As we saw today, it's still an agent that is still prioritized, so do you think it will change something during the next weeks?
starxo: I don't think this will change anything. Unless they buff some agent like insanely, that will replace Phoenix. But I don't think this is any nerf, in my opinion.
A few weeks ago, you were selected to compete with Poland at the Esports Nations Cup. What would you say are your country's chances to win the competition and which teams are you seeing as favorites of it?
starxo: I'm not sure if I would see us as favourites. I didn't speak Polish in a team for six years. Last time it was 2020. I'm really interested in how I will approach it. I believe my teammates also didn't speak our national language in the team. I think we have really talented players, really strong individuals, and really smart. If we manage to make it work, I think we have big chances.
But there are many good teams like USA, Korea, China, Turkey. I think many, many of them are good. Obviously, the USA is going to have a bigger advantage like Korea and China because they have players from the same teams, stuff like this and they speak their language fluently all the time. Turkey also has Turkish teams so they are going to be fine with this. I think that's only the downside of our team so I believe if we manage to push through this thing then I think we could have some chance.
Your next match will be against BBL, how do you feel about this game?
starxo: Good, good. I've been waiting for this game since Kickoff. I don't know when we last faced BBL, but I think it was the Kickoff finals but I don't remember fully. They're always fun to play, even though we played them only one time, but I want to see them, I want to smash them, to stand up against them and have some fun. So I'm surely looking forward to this.”
