Aurora lost to G2 in the BLAST Open Porto lower bracket final, exiting in the group stage. After the match, Jimpphat spoke to HLTV about the collapse in the series, gelling with the new lineup, and how mentality issues have become the team's biggest obstacle.
Q: Talk about this series from your perspective?
Jimpphat: The start was actually pretty good, there's not much to say about winning Anubis. We were quite confident because we made too many mistakes last time we played against them, and we fixed them this time.
Then Inferno was extremely close. The first half was very tight, around 7-5. On offense we built really good momentum and were up 12-7 at one point, but then we threw away a few rounds, made mistakes in some spots, or our communication wasn't on point, and then our mentality collapsed and we never came back. In the end we unfortunately lost that map. Overtime was intense and could have gone either way, but I think they had the psychological edge in the end, their mindset was better than ours, so they won.
Then Mirage, I really don't know what to say. We won the pistol round, but after losing that Deagle round, the whole team fell apart and completely lost control. It was really bad. We tried, but Mirage was a complete disaster, we couldn't find any rhythm at all. They played with confidence and we got crushed.
Q: Do you think the collapse on Mirage was influenced by Inferno? It felt like you already had it in hand, but ended up losing a brutal double overtime.
Jimpphat: It definitely had an impact. We tried to reset in between, but we never really got over Inferno. We get frustrated too easily, and on Mirage, after losing that Deagle round, it went terrifyingly quiet in the team — no one talked, no one made plans. That definitely affected us. But I wish it hadn't, because it was just one round, there was still a lot to play for, but we just didn't show up at all. It's unfortunate.
Q: Is this because it's a new team? New teams are prone to making mistakes during the adjustment period, so they're also more likely to have a mentality collapse?
Jimpphat: Yes, we still have a lot to figure out. Aurora is a very new team, we know we can play really well, but sometimes the biggest enemy is ourselves, it's the mindset. In matches like this, we should have done better, even when things go wrong we should keep moving forward. But as everyone saw in this game, we couldn't do it, we got stuck and couldn't get out of it, and then it turned out like this. It's really unfortunate. This is a problem we have to solve, and I believe we will solve it, because I know the potential of this team. Once we fix this issue, we will take a big step forward.
Q: How are you feeling overall at Aurora? You spent a long time at MOUZ, from the academy to the main team. What does this change mean to you?
Jimpphat: Personally, compared to my later time at MOUZ, I have more freedom now. At least that's how it feels to me. The difference between the in-game leader and the coach is huge, and the style of CS we play is different too. Of course there are also a lot of similarities. Coming from MOUZ gave me a lot of tier-one experience, and coming back to compete after a break feels really fresh. Now I'm personally very confident doing my own thing, and I'm playing pretty well.
The team is looser, everyone here is very experienced, so we have more individual freedom. Of course, if things aren't going well, or if someone is off individually, we'll adjust. kyxsan is calling, and ash helps from behind as well. Overall, this is what I've felt most clearly, and I'm really enjoying it myself.
Q: With a relatively free playstyle and being on a new team, will it be harder to find your peak form?
Jimpphat: To some extent yes, but I think that's a good thing. Once we've been together for longer we probably won't need to do this. It's good to play like this at the start, because you can see how everyone likes to play and what their habits are. I think it's better to have more freedom at the beginning, and then slowly build on top of that. We're still figuring things out, and of course if individuals are off their game, it becomes more difficult.
But kyxsan's calling is really good, I really enjoy playing in his system. He's experienced and a good caller. Right now we just need to figure out everyone's roles and playstyle and see where this path takes us.
Q: How do you personally deal with losing a game like this?
Jimpphat: It hurts, losing the match this way is really sad. We need some time to look back and see where we could have done better, some issues are really important for us. One of the biggest issues is mentality, we can't let our mentality collapse so easily.
Q: What's it like playing with three Turkish players? woxic has played in international lineups before, and XANTARES has tried it too, but they've spent most of their time in Turkish-core lineups. How do you think they've adapted?
Jimpphat: Before joining, my first reaction was of course to worry about the English level, but they're really good, so there's nothing to worry about at all. Sometimes they might struggle a bit to find the right words, but it's not a big problem, just very minor details. For me, I've been playing in international lineups since I was young, so it's nothing new.
It's clear that sometimes they need a little time to digest what others are saying, because they're not used to it yet, which is completely normal. Changing languages is a process — for example, Wicadia has spoken Turkish his whole life and now needs to speak English, which is completely different from communicating in English in ranked. But I think we're adapting quickly and heading in a good direction.
Apart from that, as I said, mindset is the problem we need to address, and it's a big issue for us. This is what we must face and resolve next, because it's holding us back. We want to know how strong we can be, whether we can withstand all of this until the very end. It's hard, but we can do better in this regard.
Q: If the mentality issue is resolved, where do you think the ceiling is for this lineup? We can only see official matches, not training.
Jimpphat: It's hard to say, after all we are a very new team. But if you look at individual ability alone, the future is very bright. Of course I don't want to say too much right now, but it's really good. We will definitely become one of the contenders in the future, but it will take time, and we need to fix our mistakes. On an individual level it's really great, there are a lot of excellent players, a lot of individual highlights, and I'm very happy to see that. Of course there are also bad moments like this match, and we need to review and improve.
Q: Have you set an internal timeline, such as how long it will take to reach a certain level?
Jimpphat: There is no specific timeline. Because if we talk about "we want to become the strongest team in six months," that would only put unnecessary pressure on ourselves. Anything can happen — you could become the best, or you might not. So we don't set goals like that. Looking back now, from the online tournaments up until now, we have improved a lot. Gaining experience on the big stage, even just playing against the strongest teams in the world in the studio, is very valuable for us.