“Felps is not comfortable playing against SK and the decision to leave is entirely his own.”

On October 26, SK Gaming won against Faze Clan – the team that is ranked number 1 in the world in a bo3 match. Thus, the Brazilian guys are sure to have a place in the semi-finals, expected to face Astralis on October 28.

Cybersport had a small interview with IGL and SK Gaming captain Gabriel “FalleN” Toledo about their recent roster changes, their confidence going into EPICENTER, their match against Faze Clan. and about the new role in the team of Epitácio “TACO” de Melo.

Hi there, Gabriel. Congratulations on a convincing victory over Faze Clan. The first two maps were played in two different directions, FaZe won the Inferno map – their favorite map, then SK turned the tide and won the Overpass map and ended the game. with a narrow victory at Mirage. What was the mentality of the team at that time?

Hi everybody. We know that the match against FaZe is very important. They are a super-team that was created to conquer the world No. 1 position, and they did it. Based on recent results, there is no doubt that FaZe is the best team in the world at the moment. Even so, they have yet to beat SK, so this match is very important to determine who will take the lead. Anyway, it was a bo3 game and with the goal of winning we did well.

Let’s move on to more general questions – as we all know, SK hasn’t had the best results lately, can you give your opinion on the reasons behind this? ?

It’s hard to say, I think each has a bit of an impact here. SK won a couple of tournaments with felps in the lineup, but soon we lost quite a bit and let victory get out of hand, not even being able to return to the way it was before. I think it’s a fact that felps asked to leave the team, and now that boltz has come to SK, he brings a bit of energy to the team and we feel more comfortable playing.

Team coordination is very important in CS, and we know that felps sacrificed himself a lot to play in SK, everyone is proud of him. In the end, some of the roles felps was given were not his forte, so he had to change a lot. but boltz is different, his style of play is more passive, and seems to suit us better, he often creates space for me to play more aggressive. I think SK has a little better chemistry now than before.

Can he confidently state that SK is confident and strong going into this tournament, despite boltz being a newly replaced position and with recent disappointing results?

SK’s core lineup – me, coldzera, TACO and fer – has been around for a long time and can easily be combined. They know what needs to be done in a round. With just a few words, a few maps, and sometimes just saying what needs to be done, it’s easier for people playing with us on the TS side, for example:

It makes things easier as boltz is a pretty solid player when it comes to bombsite. When it comes to tactics, I spend most of my time focusing on what boltz should do at that moment, because getting him into the wheel of the team is so important, especially when the time is running out, when you start hitting the bombsite, that’s 30/25 seconds when we start to get the spaces, that’s when it’s time to get an idea of ​​how to take the bombsite, that’s why I usually talk to boltz at the beginning of each round, the rest is up to him.

Regarding the recent announcement of felps giving way to boltz, can you tell us the idea behind that decision?

This change started with felps being a bit short-tempered when he was forced to play in a position he didn’t like, which required a lot of change. This is only a small problem for the team but for felps it is probably a different story.

This is normal, every team has issues to deal with outside, with felps there are a few things that he probably just can’t get over. Felps didn’t feel comfortable playing with us and his decision to leave was entirely his fault.

Back to boltz – did you have time to discuss your position and role with him before the tournament? Or are they mostly last minute decisions?

Basically, boltz is one of the picks, there are a few players from Immortal’s old roster that are also on this list, but we thought boltz would be the best addition, so we also suggested. He’s not in the best shape, his teammates have just left, and is trying to build something new. Of course when we asked him he agreed to take this opportunity, because we had played together a few times before. We get along quite well, at tournaments we often go out together, and it’s also an opportunity to grow in his career.

This is not the first time you have played with boltz – If I remember correctly, you have been with steel and boltz for a while at Luminosity Gaming, so over the course of a year, boltz has grown like that. any ?

This is what everyone used to say to him. The Boltz we’ve played with in the past is a bit lazy and doesn’t seem to want to grow up. During that period, we were working hard to achieve something bigger, like when you lose, you have to correct it and learn from it.

At that time, boltz didn’t seem to worry about it, even when some of the team members told him “Hey boltz, you need to fix this” he didn’t focus on fixing it and become a person who refuses to grow up. If you look at the way he played in recent games with Immortal’s old squad and the way he worked and tried, he’s one of the best players in the world right now. So he has matured a lot mentally and in every other way.

He even said to us, before we asked him to recruit, “I realize that I was too stupid and lazy and missed out on a rare opportunity in life, but I really learned can ask from it”. Now he’s showing that boltz is a completely different person now.

Can you comment on whether boltz will stay on SK’s roster after this tournament?

Boltz is definitely our top pick, but of course Counter-Strike is so commercial these days it’s difficult to manage roster changes. Until now he is still a member of Immortal, whether to go or stay is up to both sides of the organization of SK and Immortal. Everyone comes together and picks the people we really want, which is sometimes difficult because everyone has contractual obligations, but we wanted this to happen because we considered him. as a team member.

I think it’s too early for him to decide something for the team, and you have to understand that Immortal and SK’s way of playing is completely different, SK is an organized team, a collective tight structure, even if it seems like we have a bit of freedom and talk a lot in the round, we still know how to adapt to many possible situations, so it will be difficult for us Listening to someone new to the game, I think he should now learn to absorb everything he can.

Coldzera is someone who always helps me with tactics. There was one time on the Mirage map, we had a few SMGs in the first few rounds, and I said “We need a difference, right now I don’t have any good ideas, give me your opinion” . Then coldzera came up with a strategy, very detailed and perfect.

Above he said that boltz will be the keeper of the bombsite, allowing TACO to move more freely and be able to use a variety of playstyles. Do you feel he will play better when he is allowed to move freely?

Basically, TACO was bored with his current position and the things he has done so far, he said: “I have taken this position for too long, I want to do something different”. Also, boltz also wants to be in a position he likes, so the two conditions combine quite favorably. TACO is trying to create a new atmosphere, something different to see if it helps him to play better. As you take on a variety of roles, you’ll always learn a lot. AND I think this will be a very important step forward for TACO.

Last question of the interview, about coldzera. At this tournament it seems that he has shown good form, but before that he has not performed very well, is this due to the adjustment of the whole team or just an individual?

Coldzera is a type of player that needs a well-organized, disciplined team. I don’t think he’s suitable for teams like FaZe. From the outside you can see that they are a team that does not have a strict style of play like SK

Personally, I don’t think he can become the best player in the world playing in such a team, because coldzera needs to understand what his teammates are doing, to be able to define himself. the best way to help them. If his teammates don’t work well together, he can’t be the best player in the world. On the contrary, if everyone shows exactly what it is supposed to be, he will be the one to take the lead and have a great influence on the team. I think if we have a good combination, and everyone plays at their best, for sure he will be the best player in the world.