Mira: “I wouldn’t say it’s a good thing to be very close within a team”

Aurora Gaming support Miroslav “Mira” Kolpakov gave an exclusive interview to OFFSTAGE at BLAST Slam VII, in which he discussed communication within the team and the downsides of close friendships among teammates.
On whether there’s anything from Team Spirit that Aurora Gaming is missing
Probably not, I’d say. It seems to me that we also have a very close-knit team. We do things together—we can go out for a walk, joke around, and hang out. There are no problems with that. We also have a very good, family-like vibe in our team.
On communication in an international team
I think it’s not about the language, but about the personalities on the team—how calm and friendly they are. So, it turns out that four out of five of us are really calm, level-headed people who rarely let their negative emotions get the best of them. And that balances out, so to speak, our carry. It balances out his, so to speak, emotionality. And he just really, really wants to win all the time. And that’s this hyper-motivation. For everyone else, it’s at a more stable level. So that’s a good balance.
On the downsides of close friendships with teammates
I wouldn’t say it’s good to be very close within the team. I think you still need to maintain some distance from them, because when you’re too close, it becomes harder to voice certain things—even unpleasant ones. You don’t want to hurt his feelings; you end up feeling a lot of empathy for him. It seems like that’s not exactly a good thing. After all, you should, of course, be friendly, but not exactly best buddies. You should, first and foremost, be professionals. So I wouldn’t say that it’s exactly a good thing to get so close.
Earlier, Miroslav “Mira” Kolpakov talked about his vacation before the Esports World Cup 2026, compared Aurora Gaming and Team Spirit, and shared what helped him regain his motivation after leaving the “Dragons.”


