Jumpy: "We're improving every day"

Earlier this week fnatic have announced that Viktor "⁠vuggo⁠" Jendeby would be taking a step back into analysis, while Jimmy "⁠Jumpy⁠" Berndtsson took over the coaching role.

The Swedes have played their first official matches against MOUZ in ESL Pro League since then, and won both affairs following close scorelines.

We got a chance to do an interview with the new coach which delves deeper into his role in the team, how the new lineup are adjusting to one another and more:

After the remaining two players, olofmeister and dennis, and vuggo didn't exactly see eye to eye in-game, why do you think you got the chance to take over? What can you bring to the table?

I think they wanted a coach with previous in-game leading experiance to help out, since wenton has never been an in-game leader before. I've been playing CS for a lot of years and been calling for the most part of it, and I always liked that tactical side of the game and I believe I have alot to offer when it comes to that.

Considering wenton's inexperience in leading, is it possible that in the beginning you will have a bigger impact on how the team will play before the in-game leader adjusts to the role?

Yes, I will probably take a more active role in-game now in the beginning and wenton will take over more and more as time goes by. But we can only hope they remove that rule and everything can continue as it is.

What do you make of the new ruling concering coach communication?

I don't like that rule, because I feel it's a step back in time. I believe coaches can help out a lot and that would make the scene even more competitive and more fun to spectate.

I imagine when you first got asked to fill the role you still didn't know about that rule, has your approach to coaching fnatic changed from when you first accepted the offer to after you found out about the ruling? Will you take more of a passive stance?

It all happened at the same time, so I guess I've always had the same approach, but I will do my best to help the team even if I can't be as active in-game as I would like.

vuggo mentioned in lurppis' podcast that he will be working with you closely when it comes to analysis and preparation, and there will also be a staff of analysts behind the scenes. What does it mean for you to have that kind of support available?

It's always nice to have support from smart people that can find or see things in a different way than yourself. I've known vuggo for a few years, he's a smart person and I'm excited to be working with him.

You've already played your first official match and have been training for a few days, how is the team adjusting to each other?

It has been a bit shaky from time to time, but it's a new team with new positions and me as a coach, so everything is very fresh. But either way, it feels like we are adjusting to each other very well and that we are improving every day.

Since ESL One New York will most likely be fnatic's LAN debut, do you think having an extra month will help you get ready for top-tier competition or would you rather have played an offline event earlier?

I think all the time we can get to practice before the next event is good for us, I don't think a smaller event would help more than weeks of practice.

You previously coached Escape before transitioning into a playing role, were you leading in both cases? If so, how did the two periods differ from an in-game leader's point of view?

In Escape I did not call as a coach, I just gave some input on things I saw that the team didn't. When I started to play with them I took on the in-game leading role. I was the in-game leader while coaching when I was with aliGon (Lemondogs) at the Minor and even if you loose a bit of gamesense you get while playing, you gain a lot of information due to the overview you have as a coach.

Do you have any last words, shoutouts?

I would like to thank fnatic and the guys in the team for the opportunity!