In his first match after joining Vitality as a substitute, jL encountered an underwhelming start—Vitality suffered an upset loss to Inner Circle in the opening match of BLAST Porto. However, the team quickly regained form, defeating Legacy, FUT, and others to successfully secure a spot in the playoffs.
Before the playoffs started during the media day, jL told HLTV in an interview that the defeat actually helped him and his team find the right way to interact with each other more quickly. After all, he is not mezii, and it's impossible to completely replicate every reaction and habit of the latter in the system.
Looking ahead to the playoffs, jL expressed that Vitality has sufficient confidence against any opponent, and facing strong rivals consecutively has allowed the team to improve match by match in this tournament.
Q：How has your experience at Vitality been so far?
jL: There are ups and downs. You join with high expectations, then lose to Inner Circle in the first match. After that, you realize: Back to reality now, you have to really put in the work.
In a way, that loss actually helped us. There’s only so much you can do in training—you can understand your thought processes, how the team operates, and how everyone reacts in different situations. But actually playing an official match and losing puts you back on the right path. It makes you realize there are still so many things to discuss, tactics to review, including what I should do, what the team should do, and how everyone will respond in various scenarios.
For me, after losing that match, it actually became easier to play, and I think it's the same for others. Because I'm not mezii, I don't know how he would react in various situations—when he would go to support, when he'd throw flashes, or when he'd smoke.
Of course, I could understand his role on paper, but not every round is pre-planned. Often, you need to improvise on the spot. I might know what props to use, but I don't necessarily know when to use them. So we revised everything afterward, and the later matches became much easier.
Q: This is exactly what I was wondering about. How much of your effort right now is focused on filling mezii's role, and how much is dedicated to staying true to yourself?
jL: His responsibilities definitely still need to be taken on, because in many rounds mezii has to handle nade lineups, deal with various grenades, sometimes going in first, sometimes going in second—these are things I will also take care of.
But in the mid-to-late stages, or sometimes even in the early rounds, if we don't have a clear plan and are just playing by default, I'll be myself and play my own game.
Q: To what extent have your teammates adjusted their play to make things more comfortable for you? And conversely, how much have you been adapting and helping them?
jL：I think it's 50-50. But my teammates definitely try to help me out as much as possible, especially flameZ.
I feel that after the first match, he realized I wasn't playing very comfortably, and he was the first to actively say to the whole team: "We need to talk through these and those things." So first of all, it was flameZ, but apEX also helped me, ZywOo helped me, ropz helped me—everyone helped me. You could say it was a collective effort by the entire team.
Q: How was the substitute experience? You've also temporarily played for other teams before—what's different this time compared to the past?
jL: Every team is different, of course. But I might not evaluate the teams themselves. What I'd rather talk about is what sets me apart.
I felt that when I was playing for Liquid before, I was just going up to play the matches, and we were trying to win as many rounds as possible.
But when I was in MOUZ, I tried to become someone I wasn’t. I just focused on fulfilling the duties of that role—surviving at the bombsite as much as possible, doing whatever it took to be a "perfect teammate"—helping my team, staying alive, throwing flashes, all those things.
In Vitality, I first take on the responsibilities that originally belonged to that player—now this person is mezii—and then continue to be myself on that basis. I feel that if I try to become someone else, I won’t be able to play my best. That’s the biggest difference for me personally.
Q: It seems the results are quite good, as you achieved the second-highest single-map Rating in your professional offline career when playing against 9z. Do you feel comfortable in these positions with Vitality now?
jL：Of course, 100%. There are some positions I've never played before, but that doesn't matter, because CS has always been a team game.
Of course, some positions may be more important than others, but since we've all been playing this game for so many years, I think we can actually take on any role in the game. At least for me, I definitely wouldn't take on the command role, but I feel I can snipe, entry frag, or support.
Of course, everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses. Personally, I actually prefer mezii's current positions more than the ones I had earlier in MOUZ or NAVI. They're not simple for me, but I'm clear about what needs to be done.
Q: Before joining Vitality, it seemed like you were really excited about playing alongside players like apEX, ZywOo, and ropz. How has it actually been now that they’re your teammates? Have you learned anything from them? Is it interesting to observe them play CS from within the team?
jL: Of course, it's really very interesting.
When you observe these players from a first-person perspective in demos or simply watch them during a match, you don’t catch those details. You can’t hear their communication, you don’t understand the logic behind a particular idea, and you can’t see step by step how a round unfolds. Seeing these things from within a team really broadens your horizons, because every team understands the game differently. I really enjoy the way Vitality handles their matches.
I won't go into too many specific details, but in the case of ropz, I have never seen a player train harder than him. That says something... perhaps he doesn't rely on talent, perhaps he is just an extremely hardworking person.
ZywOo definitely has talent, and apEX is a very unique person. I feel like apEX is the type who completely doesn't hide his emotions.
Actually, the entire Vitality roster is like this; everyone just be themselves, so playing matches with them is more enjoyable. You don't need to hide yourself—if I want to make a joke, I just say it outright. Around them, I can fully be myself, which has helped me a great deal.
Q: Do you think these substitute experiences will help you become a better player in the future? When you eventually join a team long-term, will being exposed to so many different CS strategies make you a more well-rounded player?
jL： Of course, these experiences certainly help. But my goal has always been to find a team to stay with for the long haul. I don't know... I feel like time is slipping away bit by bit... I don't even know where I'm going with this anymore.
Q: Next, you will face FURIA. What are your thoughts on this match? After entering the knockout stages, how confident is the team right now?
jL：I feel we're confident facing any team, regardless of the opponent.
For me personally, when I was with NAVI before, I had already beaten FURIA many times. We know how they play. Of course, their current lineup has some changes, but the overall game concept remains similar, and I've also watched many of their matches.
They are not in a particularly good state right now. Molodoy also has some health issues, which certainly won't be helpful for him or the team. So I think we're in a good position now and have a chance to win this match.
Of course, this will definitely not be an easy game, and we must really give it our all.
Even playing FUT before, from the outside it might seem like an easy match, but when you're actually in the server, it's completely different. You have to land your shots and also understand what they're really doing.
I think we've improved after every match we've battled through here, and rather than having an easy path, it actually helps us become stronger.