Before BLAST Porto kicks off, FURIA rifler YEKINDAR looked back on the team's recent performances and current form, and answered whether he will take over as FURIA's in-game leader after FalleN retires.
Q: Runner-up at the Major, fourth at EWC — these are all pretty good results, but I still vaguely feel that no one at FURIA, top to bottom, is that thrilled or satisfied. Do you feel the same way?
YEKINDAR: Well, losing matches obviously hurts, but at the same time, what's worse is — losing without knowing why you lost, that's even worse. I think that happened to some extent at the Major: I felt like we played pretty well, but at certain moments, Falcons were just stronger than us. Of course, that feeling of "something is just better than you" is disheartening, but it is what it is. But I think in the EWC semifinal, especially that match against FUT, we definitely lost for a reason. I feel like our current Dust2 isn't yet at the level it should be, we threw away too many advantageous situations. So that's exactly what we're working on right now. I don't think anyone on the team feels like "oh, we could have won" or anything like that, but at the same time, I still think — losing a match and being able to learn something from it is always better than learning nothing at all.
Q: How is the atmosphere in the team right now?
YEKINDAR: I mean, the atmosphere is great. Of course, there are a lot of question marks about what will happen in the future and things like that, but at the same time, we remain focused on our own stuff, focused on our team. And after Overpass was removed from the map pool, we have a lot of technical work to do on the server, and that's what we're busy with.
Q: The "world's No. 1 team" spot is basically vacant right now and up for grabs, because no team has really shown that they are number one at the moment. How far do you think you are from that spot?
YEKINDAR: Yeah, I've said this many times in interviews already — CS is at a level right now where, within the top ten, or even the top fifteen, anyone can beat anyone, and a lot of the time it just comes down to which team is in better form on the day, which players are feeling it more. And that's exactly what you need to strive for: rather than raising your ceiling, raise your floor. The higher your floor, your lowest level, the higher the percentage of matches you'll win. I feel like there are a lot of teams right now that are capable of becoming world No.1, but uh... it takes a lot of hard work, and at certain moments you also need a bit of luck. I don't think the current MR13 format is completely random, but a lot of things are decided by pistol rounds, anti-ecos, and force-buys. You can see a lot of matches are just purely carried by momentum — a lot of teams start strong, and then they'll most likely win that map. And that is something you have to deal with in modern CS nowadays.
Q: Are you satisfied with your current floor?
YEKINDAR: Well, not satisfied. But I think we're still at a stage like this — we're not like last year, when we already had stability in the map pool and things like that. Now, even the EWC showed us, and showed the whole world, that we're still experimenting with the map pool, trying to figure out which are our strong maps, and then decide how we should move forward. But at the same time, precisely because we're experimenting so much, I feel the team synergy hasn't reached the best state we can achieve. But it's only the start of the season, and our goal is to get stronger and stronger in the second half of the season.
Q: Here at BLAST you're up against another Brazilian team, paiN. You've lost your last two matches against Brazilian teams — to Legacy, and that... Do you think other Brazilian teams try extra hard, bring something extra when they face FURIA?
YEKINDAR: Yes, I think so — well, I mean all lower-ranked teams are probably like that. I probably wouldn't put Legacy in that category either, but overall, like Dendele, and like paiN right now, I think they're super motivated for RMR points, especially points within this region. And that's even something you can't factor in or prepare for. I mean, we try to prepare for every team we face, but at the same time — of course, the fact that the opponent has "nothing to lose, everything to gain" might indeed help them a bit. Playing against a team with nothing to lose is really tough, you know.
Q: What would it take for you to leave this event feeling satisfied when you head home—hopefully from Portugal?
YEKINDAR: Yeah, that's right, the first step is to qualify for the playoffs. We'll be competing away from home for a long stretch, so qualifying for the playoffs will be important. And then it's about steadily finding our rhythm and building momentum for the later events of the season, because we're not at our best yet. The more matches we get to play and the stronger the opponents we face, the better it is for us.
Q: A big topic surrounding FURIA right now — one of the big topics is the in-game leader position, and it seems the burden on your shoulders is getting heavier and heavier. We all know FalleN is retiring at the end of the year, so the real question is: do you want to become a full-time in-game leader in the near future?
YEKINDAR: Hmm, probably not. Here's the thing — having me try calling on certain maps is a very natural step for us, to figure out whether this is the direction the team wants to stick with long-term, and whether it's the direction I want to stick with myself. Ultimately, there's still a lot of uncertainty about what options will be available in the future after FalleN retires. That's why we're experimenting — as I said, not just with the map pool, but also with the calling role. I still haven't made up my mind.
And, uh, personally speaking, I was just reminded again of how thankless being the shot-caller is — it's hard to put your ego aside, to take on a role that isn't necessarily the "leader," but to willingly be a competent role player and put the "ego" away. Because I genuinely believe I'm at the peak of my career right now, putting that aside to be a true leader would be very, very hard. But if it has to happen, then maybe it will.
Q: This is exactly my next question — the dilemma you're in right now. How do you weigh doing this for FURIA, carrying this burden, versus thinking for yourself, for your own career? Tell me about this dilemma you're in.
YEKINDAR: No, I mean — no, we're just trying a few different things. I don't think this is really a dilemma as such. I think it's more about what the future will look like. I'm just focused on what's in front of me right now, uh, that's basically it.
Q: What would need to happen in the rest of the season for you to be satisfied with this season?
YEKINDAR: Uh... Hmm, this is a difficult question. I think we see ourselves as title contenders, not a team that's satisfied with a third place, fourth place, or just making the playoffs. So this is very important for us — especially as we're going to play in some tournaments where the competing teams aren't the best in the world, we have to be able to prove — not just to the fans, but to ourselves as well — that we are still title contenders. This will be the most important part of our season.