Talking with FUT Esports after VCT EMEA playoff run: “Even though qualifying to Masters is a great accomplishment, what we’re aiming for is Champions.”

Despite carrying little to no expectation of being a major contender in the 2023 VCT EMEA League, FUT Esports is set to fly the flag for Turkey on the international stage at Masters: Tokyo as they will be one of the four teams taking part in the event.

As the fifth-seeded team which finished the regular season with a 5-4 record, FUT put up a string of impressive wins over Giants, Team Vitality, and Natus Vincere to finish Top 3 in the league within the space of four days.

Although the Turkish team ultimately saw their boisterous playoff run fizzle out at the hands of an equally good Team Liquid, FUT garnered plenty of confidence over their chances of displaying a repeat performance in Japan against the rest of the world.

Following FUT’s series against TL, Fragster talked to both head coach Eray “GAIS” Sarıkaya and Doğukan “qRaxs” Balaban for an interview reflecting on how they faced their opponents, their third place playoff run, the significance of qualifying for Masters: Tokyo as a representative of Turkey, their personal development throughout their stint with the org and more.

On the series against TL

Pedro Romero, Fragster: I want to start by looking through what happened in Lotus in the series against TL. You guys were up 10-2 but fell in the second half and lost the map 17-15. I want to know what was the main cause for that loss in that map?

Eray “GAIS” Sarıkaya: The attack side was alright, but regarding the defense side, we couldn’t read them fast enough. What happened in the NAVI game was that we were reacting faster to them, and in the Liquid game, we couldn’t read them fast enough and we did what we could do best. Afterward, when we understood what they were doing at around 10-9, we started doing better and we could react better but that’s why we lost so many rounds on the defense side.

To qRaxs: From your perspective, how difficult was it for you and the rest of the team to try to focus from losing in Lotus to playing in Split?

Doğukan “qRaxs” Balaban: What we focused on after losing in Lotus was that we didn’t focus on the negative. We moreso tried to reset ourselves and get to the third map with as clear a head as possible. We don’t think we focused on [the] bad [stuff] on Split as well, but what we tried to do was get a mental reset and play the next game. As a team, I think we’re good on mental resetting and even though we were coming from behind, we tried to play the next map with a 0-0 mentality. We tried our best and it wasn’t so difficult to play Split with a clear mentality.

On FUT qualifying for Masters: Tokyo

I want to move from the series to FUT’s accomplishment in qualifying for Masters: Tokyo. Of course, it’s an amazing thing to consider for a Turkish team to do so considering there were few expectations surrounding FUT compared to other teams. What does it mean for you to finally clinch a spot in Masters as a representative for Turkey?

GAIS: Personally, I think we’ve been working so hard and the fruits of our labor is going to Masters. Emotionally and professionally, that’s the good thing about going to Masters and that’s what satisfies me the most. As a country, except for League of Legends, most of our esports scene is about FPS games and even though qualifying to Masters is a great accomplishment, what we’re aiming for is Champions. That’s our main goal and that’s where our success will be coming from. This is a great accomplishment and we’re happy with it, but I’m hoping that we can further it by getting to Champions and go from there.

To qRaxs: The team played in another level from the regular season to playoffs by taking down teams like Vitality and NAVI to reach Top 3. Was there any change in preparation within the team when it comes to transitioning from the regular season to playoffs?

qRaxs: During league play, we were okay with losing because no matter how bad we played or how many games we lost, we knew that we were going to correct our mistakes and go to playoffs with a reset mentality and play in a better way. That’s how we approached it. We used our losses as a stepping stone.

To qRaxs: What do you think is your biggest takeaway from this team’s run in playoffs for Masters?

qRaxs: No matter how far we get back on rounds in a game, we can always see that if we play our game correctly, we can come back and win. We can look at the Bind Fnatic game and the Vitality series [as examples]. It doesn’t matter who the opponent is. As long as we’re playing our game correctly and to the fullest, we can come back in any map and win against anyone.

For both: Which team are you most looking forward to facing once you’re in Japan for Masters?

GAIS: I would like to play against LOUD in an official match.

qRaxs: I would like to play against Paper Rex.

To GAIS: Has there been a coach whose strategies and leadership have caught your eye from outside EMEA that will take part in Masters?

GAIS: I don’t know every single team by name for everyone but the meta and ecosystem is being played in a certain way [for each region]. For example, let’s go to Pacific and DRX with Termi. They’ve been building something up from the ground step by step. This is their third year, and in that third year, they developed their team to such a point that they don’t really have a lot of shaky times. Nowadays, they might look shaky but they’re not that way all the time. That happens to every single team so I would say DRX and Termi.

Both of you have been with FUT for nearly two years and it speaks a lot to the development each person has had in the game. What does this accomplishment of reaching Masters mean to you and your personal development in the game?

GAIS: We don’t really do a lot of turnover. Our team is basically the same with a few changes [in between]. What we’re doing is playing together, making mistakes together, learning from our mistakes together and developing from there, so all this development process was done by us through making mistakes and fixing them and improving as a team like that.

qRaxs: When I rate myself on scale of one to 10, the team is a four and I am a two. If I improve, then the team improves by three points. What’s basically happening is as everyone improves, I improve with them. I improve their plays and the more improvement I have is kind of reflected on the team where they’re improving more. We improve as a team and the players improve with me even more.

Credit for all images: Hara Amorós / Riot Games / LVP / lag.