For the first time,
Gentle Mates emerged victorious from the French rivalry against
Karmine Corp in
VCT EMEA. With this win, M8 avoid a difficult start in their group, now holding one victory alongside the defeat they suffered last week against
FUT Esports. Back in rhythm after returning from Masters Santiago, Gentle Mates can now refocus on VCT EMEA, where they are set to face
NAVI this Wednesday.
Following the victory, the team’s Head Coach, Pavle “pakko” Kostić, formerly a member of Karmine Corp, spoke with Sheep Esports about the experience M8 gained on the international stage and the start of their VCT EMEA Stage 1 campaign.
What is your first feeling after this game?
Pavle "pakko" Kostić: “I'm happy. Overall, it was a good match. I'm glad that we brought the victory, especially after that game against FUT. So yeah, we are back to our old ways. We worked really hard this previous week. So it brought us the result.
You were playing against KC, your former organization, and a match really expected by the fans. Were you excited by it?
pakko: Yeah, as someone who follows a lot of football, I really like the rivalry. So I was actually happy to play against KC, and I believe that we delivered a good match for the fans.
It's actually the first win of Gentle Mates against KC in VCT. It's the kind of win that counts twice for the fans. Is that a feeling that you share as well?
pakko: Yeah, I think that our fans might enjoy this victory more than the others, but yeah, I know that the fans are all with us in any match so I'm happy that we brought them the joy today.
You played the Skirmish today and you won with the manner (5-1). You are not the first person or team to send the coach for this. I wanted to ask, is there a kind of strategy to send the coach to Skirmish, or is it just for fun?
pakko: There is no strategy, it's just not bothering the players. We're still not sure if that's the best way to approach it. We were like, let's just not bother the players anymore, we will just go for it. Obviously, I will try to win and will play the best I can. Maybe I'm rusty, but sometimes I can shoot [Laughs]. There's a reason.
Last week, you lost your first game to FUT Esports. What did you think went wrong there, and what have you been working on to avoid the same mistakes as last week?
pakko: The first thing, I think, is that they played well and I think they were more prepared than us. We were coming from an international event, trying to find ourselves again with the meta change. Obviously we pulled more mistakes that were maybe not happening before. We were not as comfortable as we should have been. We understood that we needed more time, and we put in more time this previous week. So we get as sharp as we can and to progress from week to week. I believe that is the process that will also continue throughout Stage 1.
Last week, Patryk "starxo" Kopczyński mentioned to us that you didn't really have a lot of time off because of the schedule and how rushed it was for you. Do you feel like your players were a bit impacted by not enough preparation or just a bit tired after Masters?
pakko: We had like a short period of days, and overall, I know that a couple of players, like maybe the majority, were also sick. So in those terms, it was not a proper break for them. They were just sick. And then we come back with a lot of the work in front of us with the patch, the nerves, and the new meta overall. On top of that, bringing the two maps into the map pool was a huge workload for us without a proper break, so I believe that it kind of affected the players a bit. We are not crying; we need to work more, but I think that was kind of the issue.
As I mentioned you went to Master’s with relatively young and inexperienced players at international what did you learn from this experience as a team?
pakko: We learned a lot, as a team and also me as a coach. I believe that we also learned a lot of things in-game, but the biggest takeaway was our mental management and emotional state regulation. I believe it was a really good experience for us to feel that crowd and overall to play on a big stage, and we are definitely working with the data that we got from the Masters. So we're slowly improving not only on that but also on every aspect that we have.
You did a great kickoff, but some people still consider you as a team that could be meta-dependent and could be in trouble without Yoru for example. Do you feel like it’s justified or that you're not considered as much as you should be?
pakko: For me as a coach, I don't care about the noise from the outside. What is important for me is to focus on the team and to look for solutions. I don't believe that we will ever become uncomfortable. If there are some problems, we will obviously look for a solution. There are also a lot of different teams that are dependent on the meta, and everyone is struggling in their own way. So I just believe everyone needs time, some need more, some need less, to find themselves again. I don't believe that we are struggling, and again, I'm not bothered with the noise outside, and I also believe that the team has the same feeling.
Do you still feel like the competition right now is more stacked than in Kickoff?
pakko: I think it’s the same. There were a couple of changes with certain teams. With the meta changes, maybe some teams benefited from it, some teams didn't benefit, but overall, I believe that Stage 1 is similar to Kickoff. I believe there is good competition and everyone is doing their best to deliver the results.
For example, teams like FUT or KC that you played against have been struggling in Kickoff, but your games against them were more tied. Doesn't it feel like the bottom teams from Kickoff have raised their level?
pakko: Maybe, I am not sure, to be honest. What I believe is the different system that was in Kickoff and now in Stage 1 changes things. Now you have like one week of preparation coming into the match. So, the more time you have, the better prepared you are for the match. So I believe that everyone benefited in that term. I think that is one of the reasons. Obviously, teams also got better; they had time to work on a few things.
Who would be your toughest opponents for the rest of the competition? Is there any team that you think will be causing you more trouble, or is considered the team to take down?
pakko: I don't believe there is any team. We are looking at every team the same, in our group and in the whole competition. We're not watching the name or the players. We're focusing on ourselves. We have the matches in front of us, so we will prepare for every opponent the best way we can, as we always do. We're always confident in the match. We know that we can beat anyone, so we're not worried that much about who is against us.”
