YEKINDAR on FURIA: “Our team is dying”

There are so many tournaments being held right now that they’re gradually losing their value. Players don’t even learn to recognize when they’re experiencing burnout. They just think, “Yeah, you played badly. Well, it happens.” Maybe you didn’t sleep well, maybe it’s something else, or maybe the team is just playing poorly. But you never learn to recognize the symptoms that indicate burnout. After leaving Team Liquid, I never once felt like I was burned out. But the second month of my break was a serious wake-up call for me: “Okay, something’s not right.”

I think there were a few factors at play here. Most importantly, I really wanted to play. I really wanted to prove everyone wrong and get better myself. Because at some point, the whole world thinks you’re a nobody. I was playing on FACEIT, and some random guys in matches were calling me a nobody. I’ve never felt so bad in my life.

I think FalleN has other things to worry about right now. Not in terms of ending his career, but in the sense that our team is falling apart. We need to fix the way we play, sort out our roles, and deal with a whole bunch of other crap. <...> It’s funny that I’m saying the team is falling apart. But imagine not knowing exactly which team I’m talking about. The Major final, the final at the Krakow tournament, making the playoffs in almost every championship this year. This year, we’ve only missed the playoffs at two or three tournaments. In the rest, we made it to the semifinals or further. And you think, “Yeah, this team plays great.” But it all depends on the caliber of the players you have on your roster.