S0tF1k on kyousuke after winning LanDaLan: "He was upset that the final was so easy"

Spirit Academy's coach spoke about the future of kyousuke and the rest of his team, his role in the organization's expanded academy program, and more shortly after lifting the trophy in Moscow.

Spirit Academy romped to victory at BetBoom LanDaLan 2, dropping just one map en route to the trophy and $30,000 grand prize at the LAN in Moscow, Russia.

It was the second consecutive LAN victory for the team following their title win at the first edition of LanDaLan in February, and came in even more dominant fashion as they allowed ARCRED just 16 rounds across the best-of-five final.

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Spirit Academy move up to 32nd in VRS with BetBoom LanDaLan 2 trophy

The victory came so easily that academy prodigy Maxim "⁠kyousuke⁠" Lukin showed little joy after the trophy lift, with head coach Dmitry "⁠S0tF1k⁠" Forostyanko telling HLTV that the 17-year-old, alongside the rest of the team, expected more of a fight.

"He wants contention," S0tF1k explained. "He likes it when it's hard, when it's interesting to play. And here the fight wasn't quite there for the second time, and he's upset that the final was so easy."

The 30-year-old, who is one of the most decorated academy coaches in the world having developed the likes of Danil "⁠donk⁠" Kryshkovets, Myroslav "⁠zont1x⁠" Plakhotia, Robert "⁠Patsi⁠" Isyanov, Kirill "⁠Magnojez⁠" Rodnov, and more, also spoke to the longevity of this roster amidst rumors of kyousuke's expected departure during the summer break, Spirit Academy's deflated online results before the LAN, and his role in the organization's new, expanded academy program.

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Congratulations on winning another edition of LanDaLan. Are you happy about this victory, or was it too expected to rejoice?

Thank you. I actually expected more of a fight, but we won almost too easily. Which is why there's no euphoria, but I'm happy that the guys showed themselves well on LAN, and that we have shown a good game overall. In two LANs, we've only lost two maps. That's a good indicator, in my opinion.

You played ARCRED in the final, which you won over convincingly 3-0. Nevertheless, they've won over PARIVISION, one of the tournament's favorites. Is there any potential in that team?

They have indeed shown themselves well, winning against some good teams. I didn't expect it from them, to be honest. I think that PARIVISION burned out, and 1win tricked themselves by picking Train - an odd choice, in my opinion. They have good vibes here with the fans, so it's almost like they're LANers. They have been playing LANs their entire lives, so it's their setting.

This time, there was a bigger crowd, and there was a significant chunk cheering against you. Do you see it as a good opportunity for the players to gradually experience the LAN setting?

Yes, this experience really matters, actually. Because when you play in front of a crowd later on, you need to be prepared for noise and not being able to hear some things, like steps.

We didn't have any stress because of the first LAN to which we brought the guys to feel that atmosphere, despite it not being VRS. And it felt like we had a buff in that aspect and we played stronger. And actually, there were plenty of people cheering for us as well, and the guys said that they were enjoying it.

After the final, kyousuke looked as if he had lost the event. How do you explain this?

He wants contention. He likes it when it's hard, when it's interesting to play. And here the fight wasn't quite there for the second time, and he's upset that the final was so easy. As I mentioned previously, there's no euphoria from the job done because it was easy. Even though we won and we're satisfied, there's no great joy.

Ever since the last LanDaLan victory, Spirit Academy hasn't been showing great results online. Is there a slump taking place?

I think that we can't play online well because someone doesn't have the best PC, someone has ping issues, like alkarenn and syph0, and it's not the best to play from home. Also, there are external factors like parents, kids running around at home, and just in general, distractions being in place.

If we take a look at ourselves when we're at bootcamp, we play a lot stronger. A lot. Now, when we came to the bootcamp, we won over OG - not a bad team. And we have just shown ourselves on LAN. I think we're playing much better together, and it's harder for us to play from home.

How much does your team being an academy limit bootcamps?

It doesn't limit us at all. I think the only limit there could be is if we aren't able to bootcamp in Russia.

The main topic in relation to Spirit Academy is, of course, the future of kyousuke. There's this understanding that at the end of this season, he will join another team. Is it correct?

No comment. You will see for yourself in a month or two.

How do you see the future of the team overall, besides kyousuke specifically? Has the natural cycle of this team come to an end?

I think it will depend on their wishes and the market overall. If there is demand for them, we're ready to consider the offers. If they are ready to move elsewhere themselves, we're also ready to consider that. We will see how the mid-season will look.

Personally, I'm ready to keep working with the guys. I think two years is the mark when you have learned everything you could in the academy, and that's when you should make a step forward. Two years haven't passed for these guys, but after the next Major it will indeed be time to give the guys away, so to say.

Besides kyousuke, who of the players do you see as most ready and demanded in the scene?

I think they're more or less on the same level. Maxim [kyousuke] is just visibly above all, and the rest of the guys are more or roughly on a similar level. If it's tier one, they're not really ready, but they're capable of handling tier two. Each of them.

Recently, Spirit announced an expansion of its academy project. Tell us about it and your role in this project.

For a long time, our CEO had an idea to extend the academy and make it similar to football, so the kids from an early age would come to us and would go through several iterations of the team.

And at the end of 2024, we discussed this, and I said I'm ready to take it on. I see myself in that. And so we launched recently. Basically, I'm the head of this academy system. We make rosters together with soul3, I supervise the coaches and advise them on how to develop the guys the right way. We have just started, we'll see how it's gonna go.

When this project was announced with several age brackets, there were, expectedly, comments saying things like 'let the kids study' and so on. How would you comment on this aspect?

I think it's like with the big sports: If a kid likes it, he will dedicate time to it in any case. If he likes football, he will go play football. He will attend a practice in the morning, and he will do it at night if he really wants it. The same with figure skating, for example, children from five or six years old do this. And somehow no one comments on this like, 'What are you doing with the kids?! Let them study!' The kids want this, so why not?

We understand that there's education. We adjust our schedule for them. If they can get to work from 4 PM, then we will be starting at 4 PM. No one will force them to skip school or anything like that.

We might also have different groups: someone might be doing the second shift in school, which we have in Russia. If you study in the evening, you will have practice in the morning with the guys who also study like this, or are in a different time zone. The country is big, there are plenty of kids. So we won't be in the way of studying for anyone.

When, sooner or later, the lifecycle of this roster ends after two years, how do you see your future? Will you start again with a roster in the same role as the coach, or will you step back to look after a bigger Spirit academy project as a whole?

I will continue to work with my team. I find it interesting and I feel myself alive in this role, I know what's going on in the world of CS. But maybe in the future, in three years, I might indeed take on a role in which I don't have a roster myself but I supervise the entire academy.