bit: "This event was important for us, but qualifying for the Major is our focus"

We caught up with Não Tem Como captain Bruno "⁠BIT⁠" Fukuda Lima after the team's elimination in Belo Horizonte to know more about their LAN debut and what the future holds for them.

NTC cut a frustrating figure in Belo Horizonte as they were sent packing after just two matches, which meant that, unlike SK, they were not able to play in front of the vibrant Brazilian crowd at the Mineirinho Arena.

This was the first of two international events for Não Tem Como, who will attend the upcoming Americas Minor, in London, from July 7-11.

In this lengthy interview, BIT discusses NTC's struggles at the ESL event, the team's preparation for the upcoming event, the recent line-up changes, and more.

Let's start off with your bootcamp in Europe. How long were you there and what did you work on?

After we qualified for the Americas Minor, we went to Europe and stayed there 11 days, I believe, just practising. It was a good bootcamp, we improved some things, we added new things [to our game], we spoke a lot. It was pretty normal. We practised around 10-12 hours a day and we entered this tournament with high expectations, especially because of that bootcamp.

Do you plan to go back to Europe, move to the US or stay here? What are your plans?

On Monday, we will go back to Europe, we will stay there for 20 days, I believe, practising until the Minor. After that, I do not really know, we are in the process of securing our US visas. When we get our visas, we will go to the United States.

Run me through what happened with HEN1 and LUCAS1. What happened that made them leave the team?

It was a team decision, we decided to make those changes. That is pretty much it, there is not much to say because it is in the past, but getting new players was a team decision.

Was chelo the team's first choice for the fifth spot?

The process of finding two new players was very hard, especially because we decided to undergo changes without having two players ready to come in, which was bad. kNg and chelo were our first choices but things got delayed because of contractual matters: chelo was part of LG, while kNg was with Virtue. The process was not as quick as we had imagined, and in some moments we thought things would not work out, so we started considering other options, several other options, some of which we can now see that would not have been good for us. Fortunately, things worked out in the end, we were patient and we found a solution to get the players that we wanted.

How important is the Minor for the team?

When we created the team, we went to Brazil to play two qualifiers, for ESL One Belo Horizonte and for the Americas Minor. For us, ESL One BH was an important event, but, at the same time, the qualifier started one day after the creation of the team. We thought it was our obligation to win the qualifier because it was held in Brazil and because of the players that we have in our team, but our main goal was to qualify for the Minor. That has not changed. This event was important for us, because it was held in Brazil and because it was our first international tournament, but our focus is on qualifying for the Major. We came here, we learned a lot from this tournament, now we will go back to Europe to bootcamp and prepare for the Minor.

You did not make it to the part of the tournament held at the stadium. What is the atmosphere in the team like?

We chatted a lot, mainly about our mistakes and about the things we can improve for the future. We also talked about being patient because this is a new team, we have only been together for one or two months and this was our first event. It is obvious that, with the bootcamp and the players we have, the expectations of the fans and our own were very high, because we know we have the potential to be one of the best teams but we have to understand that it will take time. SK are currently in the process of improving, Astralis spent several months without winning a title, Liquid took a long time to be the team they are today, mousesports... We need to be patient, improve, learn and see how far we can go.

Do you think you can reach the level of these top teams at some point?

Absolutely. We have a very good team, a good mix of players, kNg is a very good AWPer, one of the best in the world, felps is an all-around player, fnx is a very good player, a clutcher, and chelo has an absurd aim, he is our entry-fragger, and I am the captain. It is hard to say how far we can go, but we have the potential to be a good team.

Many people in the international scene do not know your coach, Apoka. What are his characteristics? What does he bring to the team?

Apoka is really known in Brazil because he was part of teams like g3x, and he spent two years with LG in the United States. His strongest point is what is going on outside the game, in terms of the mental side of things. The two years he spent with LG abroad really helped him with the in-game stuff and he learned many things about the game. He is bringing new things, studying our opponents and analysing players. He contributes in many different ways and is an important part of the team.

Is there anything left that you would like to say?

I just wanted to thank everyone who cheered for us at this event. It is amazing to see just how many people are taking pictures with us, not only in the stadium but also outside of our hotel. When we are at the shopping mall, people approach us, we have realised that the city has stopped for this event. We are really sad that we could not play in front of them, but we know how important they are and we will keep practising and working to be able to play in front of them for when Brazil hosts another event like this.