Giants IGL rhyme: “I would say [we’re] a 6 [out of 10] because I don’t think we’ve played an A+ game yet.”

Giants received a big setback in their attempt to qualify for playoffs in the 2023 VCT EMEA League by losing to Team Heretics 2-0 in an upset fashion. Despite being expected to handle their Spanish counterparts, which had been one of the league’s worst coming into the series, Giants ultimately had no answers to counter TH and their new lineup which featured the addition of Peter “Weber” Weber for Aleksander “zeek” Zygmunt.

The first part of the series saw GIants compete in Pearl, a map they had not played in since Week 1, lose 13-9 despite a 24/16/6 showing from Žygimantas “nukkye” Chmieliauskas with his Killjoy. Lotus featured a tighter affair between both teams as it extended to triple-overtime, but in the end, it was TH, powered by a comeback that started when they were 10-5 down, who took it by a 16-14 score.

With that result, TH has put themselves on the journey towards saving their season in its final stages, whereas for Giants, they must reflect and work on the mistakes they committed in order to avoid another similar showing in future weeks. 

Following the series against TH, Giants’ IGL Emir “rhyme” Muminovic talked to Fragster for an interview about what went wrong for them in both Pearl and Lotus, whether there was any difference in terms of preparation in light of their opponents’ substitution, how he views his team’s development this year, and more.

On Giants taking on Heretics

Pedro Romero, Fragster.com: Commiserations on that series loss against Heretics. It was one that will be seen as a major upset. I want to know your thoughts about this series in a general sense. What went wrong and what went right?

Emir “rhyme” Muminovic: I mean, I think we just didn’t play our game. It’s obvious. We should have played better. Looking at it from an outside perspective, I think it’s also seen from the guys we played against. As soon as they have no pressure, it just seemed like they [could] perform. I think it’s more [about] things concerning us than them. I guess we started a little bit poorly this season and then we found out how to play but we kind of fell back again, but there’s not much to say. We still have three games left so I’m thinking it’s okay. It’s okay to lose.

Fragster: I want to dive into that series and the maps both teams played today. Within Pearl, it was a Pearl that you had not selected going back to Week 1. In relation to back then, you used a double-controller composition this time around. Why exactly did you select that map against TH after so long and what was the idea behind the comp you used?

rhyme: I think we just practiced it and found out it was a good map for us. I think we took that map comfortably if we just played defense better. I think attack was fine. We almost came back [off of it]. There’s no other logic behind it, really. It’s not like it was an anti-strat or something. We just felt comfortable on the map and we opted to pick it.

Fragster: In Lotus, you guys were ahead by a score of 10-5 and had a decent defending side but then you guys let TH come back and take the series in triple-overtime. How did you guys try to transition from Pearl to Lotus and what went wrong from the team at the end of the map?

rhyme: In Lotus, I think we just lost based on just stupid, basic, and small mistakes. There’s nothing else to say, really. When we had the lead, we had the rounds where we should have won. I think it was more an individual thing. The players were choosing the wrong things to do and it affected the whole team game, so I think we just kind of let that slip through. If we just kept our composure on attack in the last couple of rounds we had—for example at 10-6 and so on—we would have won that map pretty hard, but we just f*cked up on the individual stuff.

Fragster: Taking a look at your past compositions on that map, you guys added Killjoy for the first time this since. What was the idea behind adding Killjoy to the composition for the map compared to past matches?

rhyme: In past [Lotus] matches, we played different comps. We played the Breach comp and we played with Gekko and we changed it as such because, with Gekko right now, we feel it’s pretty easy to counter. We can watch one demo and you pretty much have a clear idea on how to play against the Gekko we used, so we changed the comp back to this one.

It’s kind of different compared to the one we used before because, in LOCK//IN for example, we did not play Viper and played Killjoy instead and Breach as well, so it was more like this comp making more sense. It’s more of a default comp and it’s easier to play. It has a couple of rounds you can play and it’s strong, so it just made sense to play it—and I also think this is going to turn into the meta comp because it’s already the meta in the NA league.

Fragster: You highlighted the sort of mistakes the team committed throughout the series both in an individual and general sense. What do you think contributed to the team’s lapses for both maps in this series?

rhyme: It’s hard to say, right? Every individual is different so it’s hard to say what caused it, but I believe it’s probably nerves. It’s probably because of the fact that if we won, we would have secured playoffs—I don’t know. It can be many factors. I think it’s hard to say one specific thing. I think it’s more of a little bit of everything.

Fragster: How it was like preparing against TH’s new lineup with the inclusion of Weber and his substitution for zeek? Was there anything that threw you off about Weber’s play or something like that?

rhyme: Nothing threw us off. We didn’t really prepare for anything. You just play your own game. We had a good idea that they will be better with Weber. As expected, they would fight because, like I said in the start of this interview, they have no pressure now so automatically they will start performing better. That’s just a normal thing in every kind of aspect in sports and esports, right? If you have no pressure, then you will perform, so I think we expected them to play better than before.

Development of Giants throughout 2023

Fragster: Taking a look at Giants’ general state throughout the season, you’re the IGL and you’ve been leading the roster for the year. How have you seen the development of the team even though you guys are well amidst the race for playoffs?

rhyme: The development has been good on a lot of stuff, but we also have had a lot of problems. We changed roles and we did some stuff in the mid-season. For example, I started to play, in some maps, more initiator agents. On Lotus, I played Breach and now I’m playing on Harbor on Pearl, so it’s been a bit back and forth. We’ve definitely progressed, but I still think we have some stuff to work on and fix. Like every other team, you always have something to work on, but I think the progress has been good. We just need to make sure each individual in the team just does what they have to do and go from there. I think that’s how we win in the end. If everyone does the job super well, I think that’s enough to win.

Fragster: What do you think has been the biggest positive and negative thing you have seen out of this team so far this year?

rhyme: We have a lot of personalities within the team. People are not afraid to speak up and not lacking in energy. I think that’s definitely a positive. People are happy to help and eager to play, but it can also turn into a negative thing. If you have, for example, too much energy and too much eagerness, I think that’s a double-edged sword. It’s both positive and negative the same thing.

Fragster: As you mentioned, such is the way in sports and esports. Anything can happen and if a team is in a specific mindset, good or bad things can happen. It could go either way.

rhyme: You can look at NAVI against Team Liquid, for example. They almost lost to a team that didn’t play with their best player. Anything can happen, right? The pressure for certain people is like—if you have no pressure, then you will instantly feel better and I think that was the case for Heretics. I think they had a lot of pressure but now they’re feeling good.

Fragster: From a scale of 1 to 10, given that you guys are in the middle of the table with a 3-4 record, what would you rate your team’s performance and why would you give it that number?

rhyme: I would say a 6 because I don’t think we’ve played an A+ game yet. We have had some games that have been better than our previous two, but at the same time, I don’t think we’ve played an S-tier game yet, so I can’t really say, ‘Oh I’m a 9,’ or something like that because I’m not satisfied with myself. I’m not satisfied with us as a team yet, so right now, I’d just put us in the middle somewhere. I guess 6 is a fine number because it shows we’re a little bit above the middle. It’s fine to say 6, but of course, that can change throughout the season. We can grab two wins now against Vitality and Karmine Corp and end up going to playoffs playing super well, but as of right now, I think a 6 is a realistic number.

Fragster: As you said, your next opponent will be Team Vitality. What are your thoughts about the team seeing as you’l face them next week?

rhyme: I have mixed feelings about it. I think they’re a team that can surprise everyone. They look pretty solid, but from my perspective, they’re kind of in the same boat as us. I think it will be a good game and I think it will be a close game. They will be hungry to get the win like us, so I think it will be a pretty good game. I think they’re hungry to get that one win so they can get playoffs.

Feature Image Credit: Hara Amorós / Riot Games / LVP / lag.