Team Vitality delivered the perfect response after their first loss of the
VALORANT season, with a clean 2-0 win over GIANTX. After the match, Bartosz
"UNFAKE" Bernacki spoke to
Sheep Esports about settling into a completely new lineup, what changes for him without IGL duties, the goals he’s chasing before
Ștefan "Sayonara" Mîtcu turns 18, and more topics.
How are you feeling about VCT starting back up at Vitality on a completely new team?
UNFAKE: "I’m feeling good. At the start, it was a little bit different because I was used to IGLing for the last two years. So, not IGLing after a long time, sometimes it’s hard because sometimes I still think about what I would call, but I leave it for Jamppi (Elias Olkkonen). He’s doing the full job now. So it’s different, but I feel good in this team. We have good vibes. It’s nice to be here. I’m happy to be here.
You had an insane performance today, multi-fragging a lot. What’s the factor that allows you to be so impactful in this roster today?
UNFAKE: As I said before, Jamppi is calling, so I can focus on myself fully. And I think that’s why. Before I was looking at the radar a lot, I was thinking about what to call, and when to call. And right now, sometimes I just turn my brain off and just go shoot. And that’s a great feeling after such a long time.
As a team, what aspect of the game do you think you’re ahead of other teams in?
UNFAKE: I think we are ahead than most of the teams with experience. We have great players, great experience, and a great coaching staff. Basically, our experience is higher than any of the teams, I feel like, in EMEA. And we have great players. So it’s easy to play with such people.
On an individual level, what have you worked on the most over the past few months, and what’s the next step for you to reach the level of the best VCT EMEA players?
UNFAKE: I’ll just focus on my mechanics because last year I didn’t have that much time to focus on myself, I would say. So definitely now I have more time to just improve my mechanics. I’ll just play more. And yeah, that’s it.
Last week you lost against BBL. Did you expect them to put up that much of a fight, and what was the turning point in your opinion that made you go down?
UNFAKE: I think they were hungrier at the moment. They are new in the VCT, so basically they fought hard for every game. And I felt like we were a little bit surprised because of their game style, I would say. And we didn’t react. It wasn’t our day, I would say. We had some situations where we should have done something, but we were static, and I think that was the most important factor. We were just static. We didn’t react on the server.
VIT UNFAKE replaces sayonara until the player turns 18 to play in the league. Credit: Wojciech Wandzel/Riot Games
It was your first loss of the season. How did you handle it as a team, and what was missing to win that game?
UNFAKE: We handled it well. We had a good debrief, and we spoke about what was wrong. Basically, we thought that our fundamentals were bad in that game. So after the BBL loss, we just focused on fundamentals a lot during practice, and I think it paid off.
You were announced as Ștefan "Sayonara" Mîtcu’s stand-in until he turns 18. How did you react to that news when Vitality called you again, and why did you decide to play the first split with Vitality?
UNFAKE: I was surprised. I knew that they needed a player and also I couldn’t find a team in the off-season. So I couldn’t find a team, they needed a player, they asked me to sub for Sayonara, and I felt it was a great opportunity to be back again in Vitality because the last time I was here wasn’t successful. We were in the playoffs, and we lost to NAVI. It’s a great feeling to be here, and I was really happy about it.
Would you consider going back to Tier 2 if you can’t secure a long-term spot in VCT after this split, given how hard it is to find a place mid-season?
UNFAKE: I think it’s gonna be hard to find a team mid-season in the VCT, and if the project in Tier 2 will be good and interesting, I will definitely try to go there and prove myself. Maybe I’ll come back to VCT EMEA fast. Obviously, I would love to stay in the VCT, but it’s gonna be hard because most teams have roster locked. I don’t know honestly, what’s gonna be in the future. But I hope I will have some interesting offers after Vitality. I don’t mind if it’s Tier 2 or Tier 1 because I believe that in Tier 2, there are a lot of great teams. I just hope it’s going to be a good team with good players. I don’t mind if it’s Tier 1 or any VCT or PCL.
This year, big names joined Vitality. What changed in the way you approach the game and communicate during matches?
UNFAKE: The most important thing is that I’m not IGLing here. It’s already the biggest difference in the server and also off-server because nobody sees what IGL does outside the server with the coaches. Basically, I have more time to prepare, and everyone is vocal. I don’t need to speak that much now on the server because we have Jamppi IGLing, we have Derke (Nikita Sirmitev) and Chronicle (Timofey Khromov), and PROFEK (Dawid Święć,) who also speak a lot. So sometimes I don’t even find a place for myself to speak. That’s a little bit weird for me because I’m not used to it.
Sometimes everyone is speaking, and I can’t find a place for myself. It’s the first time in VALORANT I have a feeling like that. I remember once, after practice, I said to everyone, “Guys, I was quiet today because you were just speaking all the time. I couldn’t find a place for myself.” Before, it wasn’t like this. Before it was structured, I had time to speak. But right now, sometimes if everyone is speaking and we’re doing well, I’m just completely quiet. I’m like, “Yeah, good job guys. Keep it up.”
Do you think your current role at Vitality suits you better than being an IGL? And if so, in which aspect of the game do you feel you must improve the most today?
UNFAKE: I’m not sure. I think probably I’m still better at IGLing than not IGLing. So most likely I will try to find the next team as an IGL still because I’m not the youngest player in the league. I think I’m one of the oldest. Some people have better skills and mechanics than me. So naturally I should be looking for a team as an IGL because I'm already experienced in that role."
