kyousuke: "I don't care how big the tournament is. I just play"

"We're just in the game, we're enjoying the game, and we're enjoying each other," Falcons' new signing shared after a comfortable win.

After spending the first half of 2025 in the shadow of Vitality despite the blockbuster signings of Nikola "⁠NiKo⁠" Kovač and Ilya "⁠m0NESY⁠" Osipov, Falcons decided to take things a step further heading into the summer player break as they acquired Spirit Academy phenom Maxim "⁠kyousuke⁠" Lukin to take the place of veteran Emil "⁠Magisk⁠" Reif.

The Russian prodigy fared well in his debut tier-one match at IEM Cologne, helping his team move past GamerLegion while mustering a 1.28 rating.

Shortly after his team's victory in their opening match, kyousuke met with HLTV to discuss the series against GamerLegion, his decision to join Falcons, the biggest challenge he is facing so far, and his feelings about playing in IEM Cologne.

Alright, kyousuke, congratulations on your first win in your first game at tier one. How was it?

The first map was hard, the second one was good. The first map is a new position for me, and it's anyway hard to get used to the position in seven days.

You're talking about Ramp on Nuke.

Yeah. It was hard.

Did you feel any nerves?

My hands weren't shaking. I didn't have that.

What about adrenaline? Were you excited to get to playing on this kind of a level?

I was. I had adrenaline. In the clutch situations, I had it.

Tell me about this decision, making the big move. Everyone talked about it, and I wonder if you feel the pressure on you to make the right decision, when a lot of people I'm sure were looking at you to make the move to tier one?

I don't feel pressure like people are talking about, no. I don't feel it.

Tell me about joining Falcons. There was a lot of talk that you could make it to the main Spirit team. Why join Falcons instead?

I don't know, I was thinking about everything, every offer I had, and I was just thinking where I should go, where I will feel the most comfortable.

So what was the big selling point for this team?

I don't know. I don't wanna answer.

I heard and we've seen it in this game that NiKo promised you'd be able to get some of your favorite spots. Can you tell me if that's true and if that was something that helped you make this decision?

I joined the team and I got like almost all of my positions on every map. On T side I have every position, or only on one map it's changed, on Nuke.

What does it feel like to have a player like NiKo say, 'You can have all of my positions'?

It's really good to hear. I really appreciate it.

Tell me about the transition to tier-one in terms of practice, preparation, in terms of switching to an international team. There are a lot of changes for you - what were the biggest challenges for you?

The biggest challenge is English outside of the game, that's the biggest challenge. But preparation before the game, it's something new for me because we didn't have that in Spirit Academy. It's kinda something new for me and I'm trying to get used to it.

I saw your Q&A video on Falcons' YouTube channel. You said the biggest surprise for you was that everyone's making jokes in the team.

Really, NiKo has the best jokes. Everyone laughs when he jokes.

Tell me about IEM Cologne. It's probably the biggest challenge a player can face to come into IEM Cologne as your first tournament. What are your personal expectations at this tournament?

I don't care how big the tournament is. I just play. We are on the server, we are in the game, we are not on the stage. We're just in the game, we're enjoying the game, and we're enjoying each other.