Interview

RCY interview: “I didn’t expect to play at TI this early in my career”

Andreea "Div" Esanu

22.11.2025

GamerLegion entered the Dota 2 scene just before PGL Wallachia Season 6 by signing the North American roster of Apex Genesis, and we couldn’t miss the chance to talk to Francis "RCY" Fundemera, their mid lane player and one of the youngest competitors in the tournament.

RCY made his competitive debut in 2022 at the age of 16. He discovered Dota 2 when he was about 10 years old through his brothers, who were already playing the game. It didn’t take long for RCY to get completely hooked. Soon enough, he realised he might also be good at it and started thinking about a career as a professional player. A few years later, he would qualify for The International, and some would even compare him to Sumail "SumaiL" Hassan.

We sat down with Francis "RCY" Fundemera to talk about his beginnings, about TI and what it meant to qualify for the pinnacle Dota 2 tournament for the first time, but also about how he evolved as a player through the past year and what it means to now play under the GamerLegion banner and to have a coach guiding the team.

You are one of the youngest players at PGL Wallachia Season 6, and I would like to start our interview by asking you how you discovered Dota 2, when, and how you started playing the game?

It's kind of a funny story. My brothers used to go to these computer cafés, and they would come back home late at night, and I would hear them talking about the game. So I became curious. What are they doing? What is this game they are talking about all the time? I was still quite young when I started to play with them, around 10, I think.

When we moved to the US, I actually started to play the game more regularly. I would play after school and on the weekends, and I had a really good time playing it. At some point, I realised I’m actually good at this game, so I started to play more seriously and pursue a professional career in Dota 2.

Are your brothers still playing?

Yes, they are still playing

And are they proud of how you are doing now?

I don't know how they feel, but I hope they are.

Was your family supportive when you decided to pursue this as a career and take it more seriously?

I wouldn't say they were supportive. Back then, I was still a child. They wanted me to go to college, to have a normal job, you know, to take the same path as everyone else. But I didn’t feel like doing all these. I didn’t have the motivation to go to school. The only motivation I had was to play this game, which was so much more fun. However, after I finished high school and they saw me competing, they started to support what I wanted to do and were okay with it.

This year, you played at your very first TI, and despite the result, I imagine it was a very important experience and a new milestone in your career. How do you feel after playing your first TI, and what kind of lessons or important notes did you take from this first experience?

To be honest, it made me even happier that I continued to play this game. I didn’t expect to play at TI this early in my career. I expected it to happen more like when I’d be in my 20s or even late 20s. I think the biggest positive point I took from this first TI was that if I compare myself with the rest of the mid laners, there isn’t a huge gap between me and them.

Of course, I’m still behind or I’m lacking in certain aspects, but it’s reachable for me. Also, we now have a coach who is pointing me in the right direction, and he is teaching me a lot of stuff that I didn’t even think about before working with him.

It's funny you mention that because when I did a bit of research on you, I found quite a few posts from various people in the scene who say you are the next Sumail, or who compare you to him. How do you take these positive comments about you? Do they put some pressure on you?

It’s both. I take them as encouragement, but there are also moments when I feel like I have to show all that stuff, that I have to prove myself, or I have to live up to those words, to not disappoint, you know? And sometimes they scare me. What if I don’t show what I can do to the best of my ability? I just try to keep a good mindset about it and not let it affect me or become too emotional about it.

Between Kez, Jakiro, or Venomancer, which one would you choose to remove from the captain’s mode and send it to be rebalanced?

I have a better hero on my mind. Puck. This hero is just stupid. It became too easy to play, to execute, and too hard to play against. I think he really is OP.

Does having a coach and captain from Europe influence playstyle a lot to make your team more competitive with EU?

Uh, before having Mangusu as coach, we as a team didn’t really think about stuff. For example, I was playing more on intuition and didn’t really have a plan or think things through. Once he joined the team, we started to build a structure. He teaches us how a normal Tier 1 team should work, what we should do, etc. He is bringing a lot of ideas, and it's already showing that we are improving with each tournament and each match.

Even in pubs, I start to see things I was not even thinking about before working with Mangusu. I feel like I see my role more and more clearly every day. There are a lot of small things that bring you closer to a Tier 1 status, and I feel like I'm starting to see them.

Looking back over the past year, what are the most significant changes in your team's playstyle or even yours personally?

I’d say having more trust in what we do as a team. I feel that back then, I was mostly a classic mid player, doing solo play or just playing by myself. I mean, I still kind of do it. But now I realise that it’s a pretty bad mindset to have. All these Tier 1 teams are based on having good cooperation among the players. That's how you win games. That's how you win tournaments.

What’s your take on the current state of NA Dota?

It’s pretty much a dead region. We don’t have enough new players, and it’s not a good environment for esports in general. It’s hard. It’s a very hard environment where nobody is interested in investing or doing something there.

Do you think GamerLegion's involvement is a signal of possible improvements in the NA region?

If we start to do well constantly, perhaps we can change the perspective on the NA region. In a way, this is also a motivational factor. You know, when you play pubs in the EU, they're making fun of the NA people, and it’s just annoying to hear that constantly.

If you had a wish for NA Dota, what would it be?

I would say having a better community, playing these games on the server should be fun and right now it’s just a very toxic region. I wish people could be nicer to each other and have fun playing this game.

That’s a nice way to wrap up our interview. Do you have any words to share with your fans or with the people supporting you on this journey?

A shout-out to my brothers for pushing me to play this game, and to my parents for believing and listening to what I want.