Team Heretics Neilzinho and Boo on their team synergy "Experience is just not that important"

In the second part of our exclusive interview with Team Heretics head coach Neilzinho and in-game leader Boo, they open up about the team's international experiences and the invaluable lessons learned from competing on the global stage.

With the VCT EMEA Playoffs on the horizon, they shed light on the team's evolving synergy and strategic adaptations. Looking even further ahead, Neilzinho and Boo discuss their aspirations and preparation for the prestigious VALORANT Champions 2024, revealing their unwavering determination to cement Team Heretics' legacy in the esports world.

[Interviewer] Some of the other teams from the other regions have said that in these international tournaments the more matches you play the more information your opponents can gather on you and then the second part of the year becomes extremely difficult. Would you agree with this sentiment and would you like to add anything on to that as well?

[Boo] Yeah from one side I agree that's true but from other sides the experience you get in international events is invaluable.

We play games, we play against different styles that later on we can [say], ‘oh that's how they're playing’ like FPX did so we already know right? We are familiar with it as a team so the more games to play, the more specific play styles you encounter, the more your knowledge [increases] that you can use later. So I think it's like a double-edged sword.

And I still think it's way better to go to every international event and play as many games as you can because you grow as a team exponentially there compared to regular season. I think that's why we were still able to 5-0 this stage.

[Interviewer] Speaking of Shanghai, you guys obviously played with a sub because one of your players was not able to attend the event. So did you think at any point that there would be a disadvantage or even an advantage that you guys would have when you switched up the roster like that?

[Neilzinho] I don't think we thought we'd have an advantage. All we treated it as was like Boo mentioned earlier, was just experience and gained an experience. The fact that we had someone like [Patitek] coming in and he would fit into our system, we knew we wouldn't be bad.

We knew we could do well and we just had all kind of expectations talked about before the tournament. Just thought like, the reality is, we don't have much practice. We didn't even get the chance to really scrim much in Shanghai. We've done a lot of theory, created some really cool things on the fly with very little time to prepare.

So like Boo said, that kind of experience you get out there proves to ourselves, I guess, that we don't need five days to practice something. We can just pull it off. It was nice. We could do it in one day.

So I don't think we expected to have an advantage or a disadvantage. It was more just [that] the pressure was off and we were there to have fun and grow as a team. And I don't think any of us expected to get into the final. But once we started, I think I'd say after the FPX game, when we came back and won, I think that's when everyone realized like ‘yeah we can do really well here.’

[Interviewer] So now with you guys playing with your “main” roster, do you think you'll be able to maintain the same sort of international strength that you showed last time?

[Boo] I think, at this point it's not about the roster. It's just about us as a team. Whether it's main or Patitek, we had the same values we had, we're focusing on the same things. So in that term nothing changes. So it's just like Team Heretics.

We just focus on fundamentals, we focus on our communication and stuff which are struggling right now. So let's say, if we would play like we played today in Champions, we will probably lose to really good teams. So that's what our goal is.

As Neil said in the beginning, we know what we need to work on because we know what it means to be good. We know what we did to perform well so we know the recipe. We just need to keep achieving it. And that's what we'll do because there's nothing else.

[Interviewer] So would you say that your existing team synergy outweighs the “lesser” international experience on the team?

[Neilzinho] I think we've got a lot of international experience now as a team. So I think we have really good synergy. And now we also have really good international experience.

There's not many players in EMEA that have had as much experience as these guys have, even though they're only 18, you know? So that was one thing we said at the start of the team, ‘I don't care about experience’ in terms of like, I don't care if you're 17, I don't care if you're 18. Experience is just not that important. You're going to gain it if you're going to be a good team, and we've gained already.

So I think we've already got experience. Every single event we go to is massive experience for the guys, and we've attended every major event so far. So yeah I think we have really good synergy and we have the experience on top of it. We just need to keep building on it, you know? You can never get enough of it.

In the second segment of our exclusive interview with Team Heretics' Neilzinho and Boo, their perspectives on international competition and team dynamics provide a compelling insight into their approach towards excellence in Valorant. Emphasizing the invaluable lessons gleaned from global tournaments, they underscore the team's continuous evolution in synergy and strategic depth.

You can watch the full interview below.

Stay tuned to Strafe Esports for more content from the regional VCT leagues, and also for VALORANT Champions 2024.

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Featured Image Source: Wojciech Wandzel/Riot Games

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