Varizh on REKONIX’s results: “We haven’t even been together for a year, and we’ve already qualified for four tournaments.”

In my personal opinion, in terms of individual skill, players from Southeast Asia and Europe are on the same level—there’s no fundamental difference here. However, in terms of gameplay, European teams set a faster pace. Southeast Asia and China, in my opinion, play more slowly and focus more on farming.

European teams tend to rely more on snowballing. We have to adapt: if we’re losing on the lanes and try to play our usual style, the game quickly turns into a one-sided rout.

I wouldn’t say we completely copy the European style, but a certain amount of adaptation is necessary. Balance is key: our team naturally plays a bit slower, but we can’t drag things out too much—we need to keep up with their pace.

This is our first season. REKONIX was formed last August, and it’s only June now. We haven’t even been together for a year, and we’ve already qualified for four tournaments. Four out of the five qualifiers we participated in. We only missed out on PGL Wallachia, as far as I remember.

But again, I can’t say how much time we need. We’re improving, and maybe it’ll take another six months to… Actually, it all depends on how quickly we progress. Maybe that will become clear from our results at TI and EWC. If we qualify for the main tournament of the year, it will show how fast we’re growing, because by that point we’ll have been together for a year.

To be honest, initially I wanted him to help us analyze the game as a sixth player. After all, he has a ton of experience and a win at The International, so that’s exactly what we were counting on. But when we tried it, our expectations and his vision for the draft likely didn’t align, and we felt it wasn’t a good fit for us, so we didn’t continue

. Then I said: “Alright, let me try, but you still have to help me—make suggestions, give advice.” So, that’s basically how it turned out: now I’m the one drafting.