JW: "We got caught up in a mindset where we started to focus more on the negative things around us"

We sat down with Jesper "⁠JW⁠" Wecksell to discuss fnatic's slow start into the IEM Katowice New Challengers Stage, where the Swedes started out with losses to ViCi and Winstrike.

fnatic are now 1-2 in the first stage after surviving day two of the tournament with their first win over Grayhound, whom the Swedish side defeated without much trouble in a series following two best-of-one losses to the lowest-seeded teams, ViCi and Winstrike.

In our interview with JW after their third match in Katowice, the 23-year-old commented on the poor start to the tournament. We also asked the Swede about his feud with Epitacio "⁠TACO⁠" de Melo on Twitter concerning the radar bug, which has received a fix in the meantime, two days before the event.

We have to begin with your start here in the first couple of matches, not playing up to your standards on the first day with losses to ViCi and Winstrike. Could you comment on what happened, what was going on?

I think the biggest thing was that going into this tournament yesterday, we were struggling really hard mentality-wise because we have had like three tournaments in a row now where we had problems. We went to the Abu Dhabi event, which we knew was probably going to be messy, a pretty bad event maybe, but we knew that going there. Then we went to iBUYPOWER, which we were expecting to be a good one. Obviously, it wasn't holding up to the standards we thought it would, so I think we had a frustrating mentality there already, that we had been putting in a lot of time and practicing really hard for tournaments that are not even holding the standards that we are used to.

Going into this tournament yesterday, it started off with a lot of problems, as well, so I think we got caught up in that kind of mindset where we started to focus more on the negative sides of things around us, the problems with the tournament. Then we got upset by ViCi, they played better than us fair and square, we didn't play our own game and we played very scared. Then, against Winstrike, we waited for I don't know how many hours and we were very tired. Obviously, they were as well, so they played better under the conditions, but I think everything combined, the gos in hour heads took over and maybe we choked a little bit. We went in as favorites, I guess, and we're a young team, people in the team are not really used to being favorites, I think. I think we lost to our own mentality yesterday.

You were one of the teams that came here quite early, a week before the tournament to start preparation, what was the reasoning for that?

We wanted to bootcamp before the Major, we felt like we wanted to go all in for it. We really wanted to prepare and all that, and then we knew that we could do it this way. I think it's the perfect thing, especially for the new players, to be practicing where we're actually going to play and everything would be very easy. Yeah, it was a natural and good decision, we prepared really, really well at the bootcamp, as well, I think it was the most productive bootcamp we have ever had, so the first day's result shocked us a little bit.

This is the first Major for Brollan and you already mentioned your new players not being used to the status of a favorite, how is he with handling the pressure and everything that comes with attending a tournament of this stature?

I think he's handling it very, very well, but, obviously, he also expected that the Majors were going to be amazing, that there were not going to be any problems at all. This being his first Major is I think a bit unlucky for him because the first day didn't really show what Majors are, I would say. Of course, problems can happen, it's computers, IT... but I think he's handling it very well and now he's starting to feel the Major tournament.

Now that everything has calmed down, you got your first win against Grayhound and we're into the best-of-threes, are you confident you can come back from the first day and start building back your original goals?

Yeah. Obviously, if we failed here, it would be a huge, huge failure for us as a team and especially considering the preparation we had. There are no excuses, it's all up to us now. If we can figure out our heads, I see no team here that can beat us, but I also did before the tournament and then we lost to ViCi and Winstrike, so anything can happen, I guess. I think if we play like we can do, I don't see anyone here beating us.

Going back to the whole situation about the radar bug, things got a little heated on Twitter between you and TACO just a couple of days before the Major. In the end, you hashed it out, but do you have anything to add to that discussion to explain your side now that the issue has been fixed?

I don't think there's anything to add except that people misunderstood and thought that I argued for the radar bug to stay. I never argued for that, all I said that the problem was deeper than a zoom-in bind of the radar. I think there was some misunderstanding there, people thought I thought it was a good thing or whatever, obviously I don't and I have no issues with it being fixed. I think that's the best for everyone. I don't think there's anything else than that to add.

Could this fix affect any of the teams here at all?

I don't think it affects anyone that much, the only thing I can see is that sometimes, maybe if you sit close to a smoke or you're ready to explode after a smoke, maybe by looking at the radar you might get caught doing that. But, other than that, no team built like a playstyle around it, nobody built tactics around it, it's more individual players utilizing it in certain situations. I don't see anyone getting affected by it, really