YNk: "I am really impressed with NiKo"

HLTV.org sat down with FaZe's new coach, Janko "⁠YNk⁠" Paunović, to talk about his new project with the squad, the addition of Dauren "⁠AdreN⁠" Kystaubayev, and more.

FaZe redeemed themselves after two close losses to Cloud9 in the opening match of the tournament, taking down the red and black jerseys of Complexity to reach the consolidation final in Atlanta.

In this interview, we spoke with the 26-year-old Serbian about his furthered career as a coach on FaZe, what approach he took coming into the team, expanding his thoughts on the addition of AdreN, and expectations leading up to the Major.

Let's talk about the process stepping into another lineup to guide. With MIBR being your first coaching stint, which didn't turn out as you planned, how are you approaching FaZe this time around?

Yeah to some extent. It's still the early days with this lineup. We just had a week of practice before traveling to iBUYPOWER Masters in LA, and that was the week after the player break. So, most of that time was just the players getting back into the swing of things and to go over some of the strategies they had to help familiarize with AdreN. Figuring out what spot he was going to play and such. I wasn't interfering too much because I wanted to see for myself how they like to play and communicate. Basically, just to get a feel what the team needs to work on, what are some things they should keep doing, or some things they should be reinforcing.

So, my approach this time was I decided to come into this lineup and not consider myself responsible for everything that is going on with the team or things being up to me to make it all work out. Of course, as a coach, I have a lot of responsibility in terms of preparation and getting the team to play in a fundamentally sound way. I can't change the personality of the players, so, it's more about learning how to work with them and the personalities they have. I'm doing my best about what I can do to really help them and the things they really need to change and improve.

GuardiaN mentioned that you brought in long overdue changes. Can you tell me a bit more about those changes?

I think to have a lot more structure when it comes to practice, hanging around the tournaments, having a better idea about game day, and meeting up at certain times before games to discuss strategy. Whether it is talking about our opponents or something they want to keep others aware of, make sure everyone knows their smokes and such. All of it comes to practice and not just playing scrims just to play, but more like, 'okay these are the maps we are going to play, these are some of the things we need to work on, and now we are going to work on them'. That way we can see some of the ideas we have that may or may not work. Just getting the players familiar with some of the concepts that I have about the game I want to implement, build that chemistry, and getting players comfortable doing some things differently.

AdreN is another addition to the team. He has a lot of IGL traits, but he isn't in that position. What kind of role is he playing right now?

I think for AdreN it depends on the maps and what he is comfortable with. Some maps he steps into karrigan's role, other maps we switch it around a little bit. For him, it is a little bit different because he has never been in an English speaking team. His English is fine, but obviously, sometimes he needs an extra moment to figure out the call. I think his English is good enough to play with this team, and in that sense, he needs to get used to some new positions, roles, and how the team likes things to be played. I think he is getting better every day and getting familiar with everything.

I liked when I heard he was joining the team because it is very hard nowadays with contracts, and finding a player who is skilled as he is or experienced, also versatile. [AdreN] in 2017 alongside Hobbit in Gambit were lighting things up and they were considered top five or top ten players, but 2018 was rough for the whole team. So, I think this could be a challenge for him to kind of reinvigorate himself and maybe know that he still got it.

With NiKo as the team's in-game leader, are you working closely with him on the tactical side of things or something else?

Of course, I always work closely with the in-game leaders. I worked a lot with FalleN in MIBR because that's who was doing the calling. It's not important for everyone to know 'okay I want you to call this round' and the other guys just hear the call and execute it, right? I obviously discuss things with the whole team so that they understand why we are doing this or that, and understanding the thought process behind it. So, when things change, they know how to react and look for possible alternatives. To be honest, I am really impressed with NiKo. I thought it was going to be a lot more work with him. I thought he would have a hard time, especially during mid-to-late round calls as the game develops, but he has been also doing a really good job fragging at the same time. So, I'll continue to work with him some more, maybe in-depth stuff, but so far it's going really well.

Tell me a bit about as to why the team chose to take on these two tournaments right before the Major rather than boot camp at home.

That was all decided before I joined. I think it was the players that had some stuff to do with the organization in LA because that's where their headquarters are. We got the invite and had to do things with the organization, so it was all bundled together. Then, we got the ELEAGUE invite, it's always a good tournament to play at, and also, the team thought with a new player that it would be good to have some LAN games and work some things out. That was the thought process behind that. I personally would have avoided both tournaments (laughs).

I would have just kicked things off with a bootcamp because the team practiced online when they were at home. They aren't all living in the same place, we don't have a gaming house or anything like that. So, it is inferior to have everyone in the same place to practice. In my opinion, I would have kicked things off with a boot camp so we can lay a lot of the groundwork and we could practice online for two weeks or so, and then, do another boot camp right before the Major. That would have been ideal, but coming to these tournaments does have some pros getting the games and players together to have a feel of playing with each other. Not ideal with a new lineup to show up at the Major, but they both have their pros and cons.

Let's jump into the game. Despite the two close losses yesterday, today the team seemed to be clicking much better. How did you overcome some obstacles to finally get a win here in Atlanta?

First, I think Cloud9 played really well yesterday. We rewatched that game and I felt like we weren't making massive mistakes, but rather slow starts. Losing the pistol, of course, hurts, but I think they just played really well all around. It was a hard game, and I think what helped us the most was having a day playing Counter-Strike, having PC's to practice on. iBUYPOWER was obviously a mess itself, we didn't have practice rooms there, and the time between the two tournaments we didn't have access to PC's. So, there was pretty much a week where the players had like two hours with a PC, right? So, there was a bit of rust going into those games yesterday. Having a better start today really made everyone feel better.

After this tournament we edge closer to the Major. What are some goals you have set for this team?

The goal for the Major with the caliber of the players we have is to go there and win, right? There are some teams that have been together longer and have more time to prepare perhaps, but that's an obstacle that we are going to have to take on and overcome. We have laid out a pretty good plan for when we come back from ELEAGUE. We couldn't have planned it any better about how we are going to approach practice and make every map and moment count. When it comes to practice, and everyone is peeking individually, I still feel like that is going to be something that gives us the edge over other teams. I think if you can accomplish that, then, I think that's a realistic expectation for us to be a contender for the Major. Of course, we are looking at things long term as well. That's the plan.