Devilwalk: "We want to reach the top ten and consistently stay there"

Jonatan "⁠Devilwalk⁠" Lundberg sat down with HLTV.org after Bad News Eagles qualified for the playoffs in Malta.

Bad News Eagles made a coaching change at the start of the season, removing Klesti "⁠stikle-⁠" Kola in favor of Devilwalk. The move raised eyebrows considering the team communicated in Albanian before the signing, but early signs at the Maltese event have been promising.

The Kosovar team defeated Eternal Fire in a nail-biting 16-14 win before they came back from a map deficit against FORZE to book their ticket in the CCT Central Europe Finals 1 playoffs.

After their success, Devilwalk talked about their games at the Maltese event, the adjustment period regarding communication, and expectations for the roster in 2023.

So first of all, I'd like to touch on the Eternal Fire game. You almost let them back into the game, but you closed it out in the 30th round. How did that game look for you?

I mean, it still felt like we had quite good control in the game. It was just in the end, we were a bit sloppy with our continuous force buys. It's something we talk about, but sometimes when people are excited, they get ideas, and you don't want to deny ideas. So it's about us all taking responsibility for that and making sure we don't fool around with the economy as much. But it's a process, and we try to create habits. It takes some time, but we have close games with them, always tough. It's kind of like a derby match of some sort, so it's always exciting to play them, and they always play well against us as well.

Next up you met forZe in the winners' match. You lost the first map, and then I think you were down 8-1 on Ancient, but you still came back. Are you proud of your boys?

I am. I'm proud. We were down, we had very low energy, and to be able to mentally reset and step up in the way we did this shows we can come back in any game. 8-1 down on a T-sided map like Ancient right now, it's a tough position to be in, and once we got a few runs and mentally reset, we're giving each other energy, giving each other ideas, pre-planning our setups for what we think they would do. So I'm really proud they put everything into this. They were so tired throughout the game, but because when the game gets interrupted and has tech issues like this, it can be hard for such a high-energy team like us to keep it going for so long.

So you're now qualified for the playoffs and you get a day off. What is the team's goal for this event? Is it to win it?

Yeah, it's for sure to win it. We consider ourselves the favorites. That might be cocky or arrogant in some people's eyes, but we really believe in our ability, and we hope to bring a first LAN trophy with me into this team now, get a good start and bring the momentum to the RMR.

Do you think not playing the RMR Closed Qualifier is a big advantage for you?

Both yes and no. I think it's always good to have games early on in the season and build momentum because the more officials you play, the more gaps people find in you and you can try to fix them. So it's both yes and no. Obviously, it's an advantage. We don't have to worry about the open qualifier or closed qualifiers, which are incredibly tough no matter what Major we want to qualify for. So, yeah, obviously it's more of an advantage than not.

Okay, so more on a general note. You officially joined the team about a month ago. How has it been like leading a team from Kosovo for you?

It's strange, but I think everyone thinks a little bit that way. Swedish guy coaching players from Albania and Kosovo. And it's a challenge for me because I obviously don't understand the language. I'm trying my best to learn every day and ask questions and make sure at least I have the foundation for the CS language first, and then you can have jokes and stuff like that as well. But they've been really good, they listened to everything I say. And we're starting to get into a rhythm where we understand each other about when we should speak English and when we speak Albanian and find a good balance there. So I think it's getting better and better every week.

Touching on communication. Do you do the preparation in English and then the players communicate in their language during the game?

Yeah, they speak full Albanian, even during tactical timeouts. So I just talk, give my input, and they kind of fill in the ideas in Albanian. But I've learned they speak callouts in English, so it's just the filler words I need to understand, really, so I understand their intention when they're playing also. And all of the strat names and stuff are in English as well, so I know what's going on.

Okay, so just finally, what are the team's goals for the year? Is the Major the biggest focus?

I mean, obviously the Major for any team is one of the biggest events, but for us, we want to produce competitive performances long term. We want to reach the top ten and consistently stay there, that's what we aim for. Whether we reach it or not, that's up to us. But that's where we set our sights and hopefully, we keep doing good and work our way there.