pashaBiceps: “The pressure is immense, but we’re strong players”
In an interview with Cybersport.pl after ESL One Cologne 2017, Jarosław “pasha” Jarząbkowski has admitted that there’s a lot of anger, but the team knows what needs to be fixed. The team is working on it while still in Cologne, where they’re using ESL One’s practice PCs.
How are you feeling two days after being eliminated? Have the emotions cooled down a little?
When you walk into the arena now, you can feel the atmosphere particularly strongly. This is one of the best tournaments in the world, and always an awesome place for us to be. It’s different now. We come here for interviews and we feel odd. There certainly is a lot of anger, but we’ve got practices PCs here, so we use those. We know what needs to be fixed.
Have you been able to analyze your Cologne matches yet?
We made quite a few mistakes. We lost a lot of duels due to aiming, and that’s what we must primarily work on. We also need to be clear on what style we want to play. Snax has recently taken over as in-game leader; he doesn’t have a lot of experience doing that, so he needs a bit of time as well. Our job is to kill, his is to make good calls.
You’ve said that you’re using the time you have here to practice. Will you set aside time for practice throughout the rest of your stay in Cologne?
We play for several hours daily. We’ve got PC access until Sunday; then on Monday, we’re also playing the football match against SK; on Thursday, we fly home, on Wednesday, we’ve got practice, and on Thursday, we’re back in Kraków, so we won’t have a lot of time to play next week.
After being eliminated from ESL One, you wrote a very emotional post where you mentioned that if you survive these hard times, it will be “a miracle”. Do you really feel that you’re on the verge of splitting up?
Nothing’s been going right for the last three or four months. We’ve shown that we can be strong in Bo3s, but when it comes to Bo1s, things get really difficult. Are we on the verge? It certainly feels like we could be. The pressure is immense, but we’re strong players and we’ve had moments like these before. Although perhaps it’s never been this bad. We’d like to show that we can come back yet.
At times like these, is support from fans more strongly felt, or is there more hate and sadness?
A bit of both. I feel that the positive-minded people who always have and continue to cheer for us are the majority. Of course, there are haters who place all sorts of expectations on us while they don’t have a clue themselves. It’s normal to win, lose, lose, lose, and then perhaps keep winning for half a year. CS is that kind of a game right now. You have mousesports go 2-0 in the tournament and then all of a sudden, it’s 2-3 and they’re eliminated. We’re 0-3, didn’t win against anyone. Who’d have expected that? Although on the whole, one could expect that given the form we’ve been in lately.
Are you noticing any progress inside the team already?
We’re trying to change things, we implement cool tactics, but we still lack the kind of cohesion that used to win us games before. There’s a lack of good communication and timing, so that we could enter at the right time. We’re not feeling it right now. We’ve got solid tactics, but the most important thing is to work as a team, make great calls and win clutches.
Will the few days remaining before Kraków be enough to bring back that good communication, or do you have to rely on a bit of luck?
It’s not enough time. We’re counting on luck, for lack of anything else. A week to go before the most important tournament of the year, and nothing’s working, so we’d better be as lucky as possible.
In the first match of The Kraków Major, you’ll face off against Vega Squadron. Quite a few people have said it was an easy draw for you. But isn’t an opponent that you don’t play often actually that much more difficult?
The less you know about your opponent, the worse you have it. Some are fine with that, it’s less nerves, but Vega Squadron are a truly strong team. They qualified for the Major, and before that, they eliminated NiP. We’ve played a few PCWs against them, and they’re top-notch when it comes to shooting. They’re looking to destroy everyone with their aim.
What can you tell your fans ahead of the Major?
I’m counting on seeing our fans at the main hall, so that we could show people that Poland has top-level esports fandom and community.
Virtus.pro lost three matches at ESL One Cologne 2017. A 12-16 defeat at the hands of Immortals was followed by a 9-16 loss against SK Gaming and, finally, another 9-16 against Heroic, placing VP at the bottom of the tournament standings. A chance to improve the record is coming up very soon, as the PGL Major begins in Kraków on July 16. The Poles’ first match in it will be against Vega Squadron.