VCT 2023: LOCK//IN São Paulo: interview after the match vs Fnatic
At the post-match press conference after the semifinals of the VCT 2023: LOCK//IN São Paulo, NAVI VALORANT players answered journalists' questions about the past match against Fnatic, the team, and the upcoming EMEA league.
What do you think about the team's performance as a whole? Making top-4 in this single-elimination tournament to start off the year.
ANGE1: I’m not disappointed right now, I would say it like this. We tested a lot of stuff, we played all the maps, and we now know what we need to work on. To be honest I would be more scared if we would've won the tournament. It would be much harder to work further. Now we clearly understand we have a lot of things to work on and we have a good example of what to do.
We didn't see NAVI pick Harbor even a single time throughout the tournament. Was that something you were saving for the grand finals or was the team just not comfortable with the agent yet?
d00mbr0s: Harbor isn't that strong in my opinion. Obviously, it has its use cases but I think you can pick it once and it'll work really well, and when you pick it the second time it's going to work like 50% worse so… We're just focused on having good comps, having fundamentals, playing this first tournament with every scenario possible: winning, losing, playing all maps. So we accomplished our goals but that doesn't mean that there won't be any Harbor in the future, right? But for this tournament, I don't think he was that strong.
Despite the series ending with 3 : 0, you had opportunities to win any given map. Do you believe that Fnatic was superior in any aspect as a team or do you think that you made a mistake at some point?
ANGE1: I felt like they were just better today. We made mistakes we shouldn't have made, we played not the way I expected us to. So they were just better. But only today.
You guys looked pretty uncharacteristic out there. Today ANGE1 talked about a lot of mistakes you made, things that should have happened that didn't. What do you think was the biggest factor in today's loss?
d00mbr0s: I feel like we had, if I'm going to be honest, a really bad day. Obviously, in a single-elimination tournament, you can't have a bad day or you will get eliminated like today. I think it happens to every team. We made some mistakes and lacked some minor details. And when all the minor details add up you lose when you shouldn't lose. In my opinion, if we played our real game right I think it would be at least 2 : 1, but it happens you know. It's part of being a team, it's part of learning for me. I'm just happy we were able to experience everything: winning, losing, having close games, having bad days, and having good days. So we're just setting ourselves up for a good future and the rest of the year. Today was very let's say not up to our standard, which is fine.
I want to ask cNed, there's been plenty of anticipation about how you would fare with this team ahead of LOCK//IN and then you specifically have managed to do that - taking this team to the semi-finals overall. How much have you progressed with the rest of the team throughout this competition and how will you take that forward to the EMEA league?
cNed: I don’t understand…
d00mbr0s: How have you evolved in our team?
ANGE1: Do you like me?
cNed: Yeah! As a person, yes.
ANGE1: The question was how you feel yourself in the team.
cNed: I think you should ask the other players. I can't see myself from a third-person perspective: how I progress, how I'm doing… I don't know. I think my teammates should answer, not me. But if you ask me, I think I'm doing my best, I can say.
In that case, can I ask everyone else to say how they see their progression with cNed?
d00mbr0s: I think the biggest difference in cNed is that in this team he doesn't always have to be the star. He can also do his job and win matches, so I think that's the biggest improvement I've seen from him. He understands his role and the goal of his own, what he needs to do and he doesn't need to win every round for us. He doesn't need to carry it. Obviously, he can do it and he does it, but just understanding his role a bit more is what he has improved on a lot. I would say so.
You guys had a bit of a rough day today, but you put up pretty insane numbers throughout the whole tournament. I'm just looking to know if there was any special off-season preparation that's allowed you to step up this much at LOCK//IN?
Shao: To be honest it is one secret, but I won't be sharing it. But in general, my performance is also dependent on my teammates. So when they're doing good I can play whatever I want on maps, pick whatever I like. I have confidence when my team does well. Just as Erik said it was a bad day today and it was not enough. But we had two close maps.
Of the handful of EMEA teams that were eliminated earlier in this tournament: Team Liquid, Giants, Heretics… Which of these do you think would you consider to still be a favorite within EMEA? The teams that maybe didn't have a great showing at this tournament but you still think will be contenders when it gets to it?
ANGE1: Hard to say, hard to say. I would say Vitality and Liquid can be good contenders in EMEA, also us and Fnatic.
I'm curious to know your thoughts as to your biggest takeaway from this event. Given that you've been here in Brazil for nearly a month now. In your view what would you say has been the biggest takeaway from competing in LOCK//IN and how you
will take that forward for the EMEA league?
Zyppan: The thing is that here we have a tough schedule. We have games every day and we have to practice every day. I think it's a good experience for us because further we won't get exhausted from this and we`ll have a strong mentality every day to take on a new game, play new practice, and stuff. So it's a strong mentality I think.
Recall that NAVI finished their performance at the VCT 2023: LOCK//IN São Paulo, the first major VALORANT tournament of the season, stopping at the semi-finals. Our team lost to Fnatic and took 3rd-4th place, earning $40,000. The next championship for our team will be the LAN tournament VCT 2023: EMEA League, which will be held in Berlin on March 27-May 25. Among the rivals is Fnatic, so we will have a great opportunity to take revenge!
