YEKINDAR: "Teams that made lineup changes can [make excuses]; we need to show now what we're capable of"

17-2-2022 17:03

Mareks "⁠YEKINDAR⁠" Gaļinskis discusses pressure to perform at IEM Katowice and the dominant display Virtus.pro have shown so far in 2022.

Unlike many other teams who made lineup changes over the course of the winter season, Virtus.pro come into IEM Katowice as one of the few stable teams who remained intact, having undergone their adjustments months ago, bringing in Evgenii "⁠FL1T⁠" Lebedev for Sanjar "⁠SANJI⁠" Kuliev ahead of the PGL Major.

Because of this, the CIS side has more pressure on themselves to show their worth as opposed to the likes of G2 and Vitality, YEKINDAR said in an interview with HLTV.org on day one of the IEM Katowice group stage.

"Every other team that had lineup changes, they're the ones that can [make excuses], but we changed during October," the Latvian explained. "It's almost half a year that we've been playing with FL1T, and if we're playing bad it's not because we didn't have time. Yeah, we need to show now what we're capable of."

It's almost half a year that we've been playing with FL1T, and if we're playing bad it's not because we didn't have time

Mareks "⁠YEKINDAR⁠" Gaļinskis

The team's form couldn't be better, as despite having a couple of months without officials, Virtus.pro stepped into the year with a dominant victory at ESL Challenger February, and so far in Poland they have only reaffirmed their stance as they brushed Copenhagen Flames aside in the opening match.

YEKINDAR himself stepped into the event looking like he wanted to make a statement, pulling off three aces in just two maps against the Danes. The record for most aces made by a single player at a Big Event is four (Oleksandr "⁠s1mple⁠" Kostyliev at IEM Cologne 2021), and upon finding that out, the 22-year-old replied jokingly: "Okay, I'll go eco-hunting then! (laughs)"

In case you missed them, check out the other interviews we have conducted so far at IEM Katowice:

Play-in stage