M8 KUNDIKUNDI: "Our objective is to raise the team’s floor and make sure that our level remains stable"

After Gentle Mates lost to FUT Esports in their second VCT EMEA Stage 2 match, Sheep Esports spoke to head coach Jiri "KUNDIKUNDI" Honkala about the team’s performance, his recent promotion, and the challenges ahead in the race to qualify for the Champions Shanghai. The Finnish coach also reflected on Yusuf Emre “Proxh” Tunc’s return to the team and his goals for the rest of the season.

Jiri "KUNDIKUNDI" Honkala: “The first map was rough, and unfortunately that has happened to us a bit too often. On Haven, we struggled early on, but we managed to recover and reached eleven rounds. We started to play much better, but I don’t think I did a good enough job during the last timeout. It’s a difficult loss, but there are still a lot of things for us to fix.

KUNDIKUNDI: As a team, we felt that we needed a change to increase our chances of qualifying for Champions, and that led to my promotion. For me, the biggest challenge was simply the lack of time. During Stage 1, we didn’t have much time to address all the issues we had. We did everything we could, but time was definitely the biggest obstacle.

Apart from that, I already knew the group. They are great players and easy to work with. I trust them completely. During the Stage 1 playoffs, not having enough time was a valid excuse, but that is no longer the case now. We simply need to be better.

KUNDIKUNDI: Before becoming head coach, I was mostly focused on the defensive side of the game. With my promotion, I also started working on our attack setups and on building a stronger connection with our in-game leader, starxo (Patryk Kopczynski). More broadly, one of my main objectives was not necessarily to create a new identity, but rather to bring back the identity that made us successful during Kickoff in Santiago. Rebuilding that Gentle Mates identity was one of my first tasks.

KUNDIKUNDI: First of all, GLYPH (Conner Garcia) was a very important piece for us during our successful Kickoff run in Santiago. He is both a great player and a great person. However, we felt that our chances of success would improve with a change. It’s not necessarily that one player is better than the other, but more that Proxh (Yusuf Emre Tunc) fits our team better from a gameplay perspective.

He also brings a lot of firepower. I’m not saying Conner lacked that, but Proxh is an extremely hungry young player who wants to prove himself. Last year was difficult for him, so he is highly motivated and ready for this stage. We have already seen clips of what he can bring in official matches.

KUNDIKUNDI: First of all, it was an incredible tournament. Playing in front of a home crowd was amazing, and the support from Gentle Mates fans was unbelievable. The entire event gave us so much energy, and I’m very grateful for the opportunity to meet the fans.

Technically, Santiago was also an international event for me, although I was still the assistant coach back then. Honestly, becoming head coach didn’t change things that much. We were playing in Paris, with our bootcamp and gaming house nearby, so in many ways it still felt like home.

The only challenge came from the fact that it was the first week of the Esports World Cup. Naturally, not everything was fully ready from an organizational standpoint, which is understandable. Things improved significantly as the tournament progressed, but adapting to those changes created some additional challenges for coaches. In the end, though, it was a fantastic experience.

KUNDIKUNDI: My goal is to put players in positions where they can maximize their strengths while also helping them understand the areas in which they still need to improve. We try to identify what each player excels at, what they can work on, and how to put them in the most comfortable environment possible. We already have incredibly talented players, so I’m not necessarily teaching them mechanics.

Instead, I focus more on game understanding, communication, and decision-making in different situations. It’s not that the players don’t know those things already; it’s about being able to execute them consistently. Whether it’s a good day or a bad day, whether the score is 0–0 or 2–9, consistency is the key. Our objective is to raise the team’s floor and make sure that our level remains stable no matter the circumstances.

KUNDIKUNDI: That’s like asking a parent to choose their favorite child. I don’t want to create any arguments within the team, so I won’t pick anyone from Gentle Mates, not because they aren’t good enough but because I don’t want to choose a favorite. For the Initiator role, I really like what RieNs (Enes Ecirli) has been doing. As an in-game leader, I would probably go with Jamppi (Elias Olkkonen). He’s a fellow Finn, and maybe we’ll get to work together at the Esports Nations Cup someday.

For the Duelist position, I would choose s0pp (Efe Tur). We need at least one Turkish player in the roster, and he brings incredible firepower. As a Controller, I’d pick PROFEK (Kamil Karpiński) from Vitality. He’s a funny guy outside the game and would bring great vibes to the team. Every roster needs at least one Polish player. Finally, for the Sentinel role, I think I’d go with nAts (Ayaz Akhmetshin). I didn’t think too deeply about whether the team would work perfectly together, but these are players whose individual qualities I really appreciate.”