jmqa: "We have not thought about roster changes; we are just trying to solve our problems together"

We caught up with Savelii "⁠jmqa⁠" Bragin ahead of Moche XL Esports and quizzed the Russian player about Quantum Bellator Fire's latest results and their hopes for the FACEIT Major.

Quantum Bellator Fire's quarter-final run at the ELEAGUE Major was one of the most encouraging stories of the first half of 2018, but the Russian team have struggled to live up to expectations since the Boston event.

After a group stage exit at Copenhagen Games and a third place at the WCA Finals, QB.Fire will attend Moche XL Esports hoping to get their confidence back ahead of the FACEIT Major.

Read on as jmqa addresses Quantum Bellator Fire's results since Boston, their expectations for the Portuguese event and their battle plan for the next Major.

This will be your first international event since the WCA Finals, in China. What are your expectations for this tournament?

We are playing better on LAN than online. We had some problems in our team when it came to online play, we tried to solve them, and now we are better prepared, so I hope we can get some good results. Winning the event, finishing top two... I do not, it is hard to say, but we will give our best.

You have not been able to play at the same level as you did at the ELEAGUE Major. Why is that? Are there any internal issues, or is it a matter of performance?

Some of our players have bad PCs, so we did not have the right motivation. Our coach has been helping us with that, he has tried to change our game style and some things inside the game. We will see now how that works.

Have you considered making changes to the team?

No, we have not thought about that, we are just trying to solve our problems, together. Everyone knows that teams are not trying to solve their problems, they always think that the problems are in the players. But that is not always the main problem, I think. It is better to keep your roster.

Do you think this event will serve as preparation for the Major?

I do not really know, because we will have a long bootcamp after this event, in Moscow. We will be better prepared for the Major than we are right now.

Do you think you will be able to repeat your top-eight finish from Boston?

It will be hard, I think no-one believes we will get Legend status again, and I think that could be an advantage for us. Before the Major, the bootcamp helped us a lot, and I am sure it will be the same again. We will bootcamp until July 15, then go on holidays for two weeks, and bootcamp again between August and the Major. We want to keep our Legend status and we will aim for that, at least.