zonic: "Sometimes you feel like they're just running against a brick wall"

Falcons should be the best team in the world right now.

Their man-to-man talent level is incomparable to anyone in the scene at the moment, with the exception of possibly Vitality. So, with the bees now in turmoil, it would be expected that Falcons have been running away with this season. Yet the team has struggled to build momentum after winning the Major.

To find out why, we spoke to zonic at BLAST Open Porto ahead of their game against G2. What he had to say was genuinely insightful:

I wanted to ask because you guys won the Major, and it's been a couple of months now. How have you guys recovered from such a high?

I mean, EWC was very important for Falcons. So we knew our break would not be, how do you say, as I probably would have picked it. I probably would have picked a slower start.

So I can feel that the guys, also now having been on the road for a month, that we probably didn't fully regain energy after the Major, also because Cologne was special. Not just because we won, but also because it's Cologne, and then on top of that, a Major. But I think that is what we are seeing a little bit with some of these top teams.

And yeah, we're getting back into shape and also now actually having time to find out where our strength is as a team, but also getting to know each other within Finn's (karrigan’s) system. And, yeah, taking it from there because I felt the whole run around Cologne. And when karrigan joined, it was just a two-month-long boot camp with going to two tournaments, trying to test out some of the stuff that we did.

And then in the middle of the Major, we also brought in Anubis as a weapon, I would say. And now it's just about to actually work, probably on the fundamentals. And in the short term, yeah, I think it hurts us a bit. And we could have just continued with picking just Dust II and Anubis, Dust II and Anubis, but we decided to use the data that we had in practice and then use that for... yeah, getting to know our map pool better.

I think any FACEIT player can relate to getting tired of playing Dust II, to be honest. I'm curious, how much does your job change when it goes from hunting for the Major to having won it and then having to maintain it?

I mean, I think, obviously, it's still the same, but now it's about, you know, seeing how the guys are reacting. You know, kyousuke is very young, inexperienced in some areas, but gaining, you know, learning a lot. Now he got his first Major at a very early age. That might be one approach I have there.

Then you have NiKo, who has been hunting the Major for a lot of years, and finally got that. What is the next step in his career? So I think as a team, it's very much the same approach. You know? What is the goal now that we won the Major, which was the ultimate goal for this team? What is the goal next?

And this is something that we have had some talks about, but I think also talks individually with the players, that kyousuke still needs that hunger, and NiKo needs to set another target for himself because he still have a lot of years in him. So and now that Major is his. So what's next?

In that process, how important is an event like this, after a slow start to your season, to try to get your momentum kick-started?

I think, obviously, we would like to just continue on the same path as we did at Cologne. That has not been the case. I was disappointed with the start of the season even though it's online, and it was rough. I think EWC, it was more in the way that we lost.

So overall, it has been a slow start, and would also say that we have not looked as confident as we were in the last season. Even here in the group stage, it's been shaky against opponents that we identify ourselves of having to beat, a must-win, to be honest. It was good to see that we got the revenge on Legacy.

But overall, it has not been consistent or, how to say, good enough in where we can feel calm that, okay, this we have the potential of going all the way, and this is something that we... it's a balance because you also need to stay positive and not take us further down than what we have to. Because at the end of the day, there's still a lot of things that we can improve, and we haven't really gotten the system fully established yet because the goal has always been so short-term around Cologne. Now we can look a little bit further.

And with you now obviously having a few months of this season left until Singapore. You said you're trying to find the goals. Is there something, maybe not necessarily something that you've set, but what would need to happen for it to be considered a success to you this last period?

I think what we are really chasing is consistency. That we don't have these flaws. I know with Finn’s team on FaZe, they've always used to, you know, almost getting knocked out of group stage, and then they eventually ended up in the final anyways. And this, I really want to get eliminated. And this is also me talking with the guys that I don't want this to be the DNA of our team.

I'm fine with us being a team that never gives up. Now it doesn't matter how hard it looks like. We can still come back, but I want to be more consistent, beating teams that we should beat and not having issues with them. And this is something that might take time, and something that we are definitely focusing on because it's to a point where I sometimes feel like if we just met Vitality, we will play a better game compared to Lynn Vision; this shouldn't happen. This is where we have to step up and be and become better.

So, yeah, this is the goal. But the goal of this season was to be as ready as possible for EWC, and then obviously to defend our title at the Major.

Then, to start wrapping up, to ask about the playoffs at this event. Obviously, you're playing G2. They've made a change, and it's a bit different for them. How have you looked at them from the outside? How are you preparing for this game? Any interesting challenges about them?

I think they're very structured and has always been. And this has its pros and cons in my opinion. But I think with the... even though I love SunPayus and, yeah. I think everyone was questioning the move to be honest. I think their move was that they wanted a bit more of an aggressive AWPer

And I think I can see that their style is that they now have a different tool in their toolbox that they can play a bit more pacey. And I think he has been going into the role, r1nkle. The downside is that we cannot prepare too much on him, but I think overall their fundamentals remain the same. They just have rounds where they can play faster.

And then my final question for you is about something karrigan said about the B game for you guys. How do you go about improving your off days? That seems, because you know, you can practice, but it seems like a hard task to improve at when you're bad.

I think this is, you know, a balance that I personally also, I think everyone on the team is really trying to figure it out. But you can say the leaders, me, Aymeinstein, the coach and assistant coach, but also the two captains, NiKo and Finn, is it is something that is difficult because you want the players to have freedom, and if they're feeling the game, I think it's gonna be very hard for anyone to stop us. If you have kyousuke, NiKo, and m0NESY hitting on all cylinders, I think it's gonna be very tough.

But when that's not happening, then it's really about focusing on the team. And this is something I really also tried to talk with the guys even before karrigan joined. And one thing I think that we have done really well is these five-on-two, five-on-three that we are not supposed to lose. I think we have eliminated that even before karrigan joined.

But it's also for the players. The individual responsibility is to take the temperature in the game where they're not feeling it, that they have to rely more on the team. They have to take a step back. They don't have to, you know, one thing I described during this tournament to the guys is that sometimes you feel like they're just running against a brick wall. They keep going until they break through. And sometimes they make it, and sometimes they don't, but they have to sometimes take a step back and rely more on the team when things are not clicking. But that's a balance that is very difficult to master.