[EXCLUSIVE] ZE1SH on KC's objectives for the year: "What matters for us right now? VCT Champions"

The VCT EMEA continues to show great matches and strategic changes, providing a platform for teams to demonstrate their quality. In an exclusive interview with Strafe Esports, we sat down with ZE1SH, Karmine Corp's Head Coach, to talk about their recent match and their team's strategic approach moving forward.

We kicked off the conversation by discussing KC's recent matchup against, Gentle Mates, in week 2 of the tournament. ZE1SH shed light on their team's emphasis on experimentation and learning

[Interviewer] Ze1sh, what was sort of your game plan and approach between you and Engh (KC's coach)? How did you guys want to approach this series?

I think we just wanted to try new things. I think we are the team in EMEA that played the most matches since the beginning of the season. (...)

But what matters for us, right now? It's champions. (...) whatever happens this stage or not, I don't think that we really care about it. (...) we have three players that never played in VCT. And they are 18, 19, and 20 [years old]. So we need to give them experience. (...)

Because you are trying things that you are confident in. And even though you never played them before, you can still win with it. You are still confident in your work and all the efforts that we put in.

Reflecting on their recent performance in Madrid, ZE1SH shared insights into their performance and the valuable lessons gleaned from competing on the international stage.

[Interviewer] Could you speak about your experience at Madrid and the learnings you took back to EMEA?

So I think that in Madrid, I honestly think that in terms of strategy and overall how we play, we were the best team there. Maybe with Gen.G. I also think that we didn't play well. I would say that we played at 50 or 60% of our capacity.

We were far from our level in Kickoff. But it's also, as I said, it's the first international stage for four of my players at this level. Because obviously, Shin did Sao Paulo last year.

(...) I honestly had regrets only on the Sentinels loss. Even though we lost against PaperRex, I felt another face of the team. And I was happy after we lost.

The Sentinels loss was a bit harder for me because I like to lose when we did our best.(...) if I see that my team tried our best and we did everything possible to win and we lost. It's ok I don't mind.

Of course, I'm a competitor. So if I lose, I will be mad. But you don't have a lot of time to be mad. (...) I think that the Sentinels game hit me this day because I felt that we threw it so hard. (...)

I'm not saying that Sentinels are not good. Of course, for me, they are insane. They won Madrid and they proved that they are the best team in the world right now.

But I think what made us lose against them and PaperRex, mostly, it's experience. You can see it. (...) We lost to them because they are way, way, way more experienced. And you can tell it. We went into Madrid with the youngest roster in the world."

We also touched upon the pressure Karmine Corp might face following their success in previous tournaments. ZE1SH acknowledged the weight of expectations but emphasized the focus on Champions.

[Interviewer] Ze1sh, do you feel like after your performance at EMEA kickoff and then also fairly well at Madrid, do you feel there's a lot more pressure on the team to continue this excellence?

I mean, of course. It's normal. You're winning Kickoff EMEA, you're knocking out Fnatic from not being able to qualify to Madrid. There is a lot of expectation on you.

We tried everything possible to make sure that our players stay humble and stay the hard workers that they were. I think we're doing a pretty good job since then.

But of course, people are waiting for us to be at every international event, be in Worlds, compete for the top level and everything. But as I said, the only thing I believe in and the only thing I want is to go to Champions.

If I win more, if I win less, it's part of the job. It's part of life. You cannot control things. You cannot have everything in your hand every time. So yeah, people expect us. We have other expectations than people. And that's it.

Transitioning to a discussion about team construction and philosophy, we asked ZE1SH's approach to assembling the current roster. ZE1SH emphasized the importance of looking beyond statistics and honing in on what each player brings to the team's dynamic.

[Interviewer] You presided over probably the poorest period of KC last year in terms of performance. Could you take me through the philosophy and the construction of this current roster?

(...) I don't think that many people look really into what you need to construct a team.

They just check stats online and they pick the best players. I will take example of a team. If you check Acend 2021, they had Kiles. And Killess was not their best fragger. And he was not their best player. But they kicked him.

But he was actually one of their best players. Because he's kind of having a bit the same gameplay as nAts back in the days. Kiles was not insanely mechanical.

But you can see that he was really smart. And he was bringing something to the team that they lost after him leaving. And some people sometimes just do changes.

Or pick players only on their statistics. And not what they can bring to a team. I think we just know what to look for.

Closing out the interview, Zen inquired about ZE1SH's expectations for their upcoming clash against Na'Vi. ZE1SH reiterated his team's focus on gaining experience and priming themselves for the Champions, rather than fixating on immediate match outcomes.

[Interviewer] Ze1sh, you'll be facing Na'Vi next week. So what are your expectations getting into that series?

As I told you. I don't have any expectations. I want to win obviously, like every competitor. But I don't go into the game of saying. We need to win. Or we want to win. Or we have to win.

I just want to make my team gain experience. Practice what we have to practice. And then be ready for champions. That's it. If we qualify for Shangai, that's okay. We do our best for it. But I want my team to be ready for Champions.

As the interview drew to a close, the Karmine Corp Head Coach expressed gratitude for the opportunity to share his insights and reaffirmed his commitment to guiding Karmine Corp towards continued success in future matches.

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Feature image credits: ZE1SH

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