fnatic‘s chances to receive an invitation for the PGL Singapore Major after bowing out of 1win Private Club Season 2 in 5th-6th place are slim, but Miks “Independent” Siliņš still believes, and he’s excited about the future of his young roster.
“I encourage my teammates to never follow [VRS simulations],” the Latvian skipper says, “because we’ve seen Major after Major after Major that everything comes down to the last second.”
Independent also spoke of how the Ukrainian team came together without it being premeditated, Dmytro “jambo” Semera‘s growth despite talk surrounding him calming down, how Artem “cairne” Mushynskyi brought with him a fresh outlook after his time in Ninjas in Pyjamas, and the “massive potential” in the #27 prospect in our ranking, 17-year-old Volodymyr “mazay” Iorhachov.
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HLTV Prospects ranking: October 2026
HLTV’s VRS simulator now shows fnatic at a 14% chance of making the Major. How do you reflect on the result of this event?
Disappointed. I cannot lie, disappointed. I was expecting a better outcome. Not necessarily that I came to the event with any expectation, but now that I see the outcome, I probably wanted more. Everyone wanted more. We needed more, right?
And when it comes down to all those percentages you just mentioned, I’m not going to lie, I have never followed them. I encourage my teammates to never follow them because we’ve seen Major after Major after Major that everything comes down to the last second. Teams can miss a Major by one point. Teams can lose to underdogs every day.
Teams can beat favorites every day. Inner Circle can win against Vitality, for example, or BetBoom beat Falcons in Malta. So it doesn’t really matter. Those rankings don’t matter to me. For me, only things we can control matter, and that’s only the next game.
When it comes down to this event, we just slipped heavily. We lost the rounds we shouldn’t lose, we lost the games we shouldn’t lose, and that’s something to look into.
What was your strategy behind your attendance, because it matters a lot, right?
For sure, we need to evaluate what happened here, but also what happened before because we went to Sweden and then directly to this tournament, and we didn’t have a lot of time — not necessarily to improve, but actually to rewatch all the games. Because, of course, during some rewatches or after meetings, we are trying to evaluate that. But there’s only so much you can change in two days, right?
We now have one practice day, then we travel back home, maybe have one day off, and then we are heading towards Spain. And I think this moment is important not only for us, but for any other team, and there are maybe like 10, 15 teams under pressure to perform, where every round matters, every game matters. And do you really want to change something drastically right now that you’ve been working on for three, four months?
And I believe a lot in what we are doing. For sure, we need to change stuff. For sure, we need to improve our economy game. And I just believe we can do it in Spain without changing drastically, but actually improving what we already have, executing our stuff properly, basically.
You played very well against PARIVISION, but then you lost to PRIVATE, which is this young up-and-coming team. So what went wrong in that match?
Let me remember a little bit. We were up on both maps, I believe 10-6 or 10-7 on Cache, and 12-6 on Dust2, I’m pretty sure. They are a strong team. No weak teams in this tournament. No easy games at all in CS right now. I already said you can win and lose to anyone.
We didn’t underestimate them. We prepared properly. Sure, maybe we had less time to prepare because we finished our game late against PARIVISION, but that’s no excuse at all. We had a lead on both maps, and this has been a recurring problem, not only in this tournament, but we’ve also lost some big leads before.
And there are different reasons for that. Sometimes, like on Dust2 at 12-6, it was about the economy game in my eyes. We lost too many guns hunting where we could have had more gun rounds, 100%. But in other games, there are different contexts, even on Cache versus PRIVATE, 10-6 or 10-7, where we pushed their main, killed two people, and mazay didn’t do the correct rotation towards Car. But we didn’t know that. A small miscommunication between the players cost us the round, and we know the A lurker is alive.
You can look at every single scenario like this, and it’s not always about economy. Sometimes it’s about miscommunication, sometimes about not actually doing the round properly. Sometimes maybe our game plan was wrong.
It’s going in the right direction, just unfortunately not at the speed we want
But our team is very, very young. mazay is coming from an academy team. Before our team, he didn’t even play many HLTV games. And cairne coming in, as well. We’ve been working for three or four months. Forty percent of the team is completely new, and unfortunately, there are losses you can’t escape from. I call them growing pains.
Sure, we would like to win every single game. I’m just disappointed we can’t take this next step that’s in front of us. Like K27 in Paris, the last round we could have made it to EWC. We didn’t take advantage of it. And again, it was a different reason why we lost that game. It was not about the economy, but about other stuff.
And PRIVATE is just a good team. They prepared well. I saw their adjustment, how they did it, some new stuff that I didn’t see before from them, and still we could have won the game.
We need to win those games. We can’t afford to lose them. We all take responsibility, myself included, but we need to be mentally stronger, way more ice-cold, especially under pressure, because every player is under pressure. We also need to understand how the enemy feels in the moment. In X-vs-X scenarios, they are also under pressure, and when we should take a step back, freeze a little bit when the enemy has to make a move, and sometimes we tend to rush those things.
In general, I believe we’ve been improving massively this season. I believe we were like top 60 or top 70 a few months ago. I didn’t really even think about a chance to make it to the Major. We had like a 70% win rate the past couple of months, with some dramatic losses along the way. It’s going in the right direction, just unfortunately not at the speed we want. I’m not afraid to say it. We need to be quicker in our progress.
“cairne came from a different system in NIP, different teams, and brought a lot of new stuff in,” says Independent
These mistakes that you described, it sounds like they come from players being impulsive and hot-headed in some situations. So how do you fix that, or is it something that you cannot change much?
Of course you can change it. Of course you can adapt. It’s all about experience, honestly. It’s all about experience. The more games you play, the more scenarios you see, the more scenarios you play out, the better you become. It’s very simple. Nothing else.
Sure, some things are characteristics of players and the style they play; I can’t lie. But we need to become more ice-cold, that’s for sure. Instead of playing from emotion, but sometimes playing what’s in front of us and how we should approach a specific round regarding economy, map, enemy. But it’s experience. It’s group knowledge. I would say collective experience in hard games and pressure games.
So how are the cairne and mazay additions working out for the team? What’s your impression of them in general?
Exactly what we needed. mazay was exactly what we needed. An aggressive player, a very sharp player. Artem, cairne, was also exactly the guy we needed, who brought a lot of energy, consistency, and knowledge. He came from a different system in NIP, different teams, and brought a lot of new stuff in.
I think you can see in our development that it’s been going in the right direction, so I cannot say anything bad. We’ve been working a lot with them because our knowledge as a group, as a core, was completely different from what cairne and mazay had, or rather mazay didn’t even have. So it’s a lot of work in the process, but it’s been positive. I’m very happy with them.
“Massive potential,” Independent says of what he sees in youngster mazay
mazay was given the impression of one of many potential next-big-things, especially coming from the Spirit Academy camp. What kind of potential do you think he’s still holding?
Massive potential. There is a reason why we took him. There is a reason why a lot of other coaches or players have mentioned him as a prospect. There is a big reason for that. He’s very sharp. When he has a proper duel in the game, it’s very hard to kill him.
When we rewatch games, he has a bad game when he doesn’t even have a duel; he gets killed on the side, from the back, or he doesn’t understand communication in the moment. So he has a lot of potential, but a lot to learn. A lot to learn, and we are trying to speed things up as much as we can.
I’m trying to help him; my captain is trying to help him — everyone is involved.
And sometimes we are trying, everyone individually, to help him so much in the game that sometimes other players forget about their own game. For example, jambo trying to micromanage him, trying to help him out with the plans, or jackasmo, as well. And they are very strong and consistent players, but some games it can be on and off because someone has to help him, right? But mazay will get there. I would say in one year he’s going to be a completely different player.
We have one of the best Ukrainian rosters that’s possible to have
And what about jambo? jambo has been on this team for quite a while now, and he was also considered one of the hottest prospects back in the day when he joined, so it was a very exciting transfer. But ever since he joined fnatic, there hasn’t been this much conversation revolving around him. So how do you reflect on his development?
I think he’s one of the strongest AWPers in the game by far. I see a lot of development that other people… they don’t have this information. For example, how much he talks, how much pre-planning he’s doing, how he’s helping in freeze time, dead talk.
In pressure games, he’s a very calm player, and this development you just cannot see from the outside, because when he joined our international roster, when blameF was here, MATYS, KRIMZ, of course, it was a completely different game. He didn’t even speak English that much. He was very silent. He couldn’t really make plans. Our system was different as well. And now, of course, it’s more comfortable. We’re speaking our native language.
He’s also, as a core player with more experience compared to cairne and mazay, he’s our backbone, I would say. He’s still one of the strongest prospects in my eyes. Like you said, he was like that two years ago in the Shanghai Major. He’s still there. In my eyes, he’s even two times better. He’s having maybe some struggles recently, but he’s a vital part of our team, and if we’re going to make the Major, a big part is going to be also because of him.
If you don’t win, you’ll get changed. That’s how it is. But I want to see progress, and we are making it. I see it
So from the way you talk, it almost feels like you are about to make this big leap. It’s just a matter of experience, polishing some things out. So where would you see this team in a year’s time, and how likely do you think you will still keep this specific roster and keep working on it?
I think any roster that stays for eight or nine months, this is the timeframe where you can fairly judge any roster. Right now we’ve been three or four months as a five. In one year, I definitely see us competing consistently in tier-one events, 100%. We are not there yet. I know that. I know fans expect more. We have potential to do it. I believe you and other people see the kind of players we have, and I’m not shying away from saying it: We have one of the best Ukrainian rosters that’s possible to have. There’s B8 and other teams, but I think we have a very good collective.
It’s about collective experience right now. And in those eight, nine months with a lot of losses, a lot of VRS events, maybe making it to some even tier-one events. mazay hasn’t been to any tier-one event. It’s a completely different experience for him. He played his first LAN events this summer, and we need to get this experience all the time, not only from losing, but actually how it feels to win, what it means to win, how to actually win, how to take the next step, what it means.
And it can also be in eight, nine months. This is where I see us making the next Major in the next year and being consistently there. And I don’t like to put or say massive goals because, for me, it’s all about making progress all the time. For sure, there’s no time in esports; everyone needs to win fast all the time. Everyone needs to win next month. If you don’t win, you’ll get changed. That’s how it is. But I want to see progress, and we are making it. I see it.
Over the past couple of years, fnatic’s slowly converted to being a full Ukrainian roster. Can you briefly talk about how it happened? And do you feel committed to the Ukrainian scene for the foreseeable future, or could you go back to being international the next time you change your roster?
First of all, I’m not too involved in making big decisions — when it came down to going Ukrainian from an international roster, but it was never really a goal when fEAR joined, and jambo after. We had Burmylov before. It was never a discussion, ‘let’s go Ukrainian over some time.’ No, never. There was an opportunity to get jackasmo, for example. Then he was a stand-in. We liked him a lot. Then there was blameF’s transfer, and things went in a way that it just made sense to make a Ukrainian roster.
Can there be an international roster in the future? I cannot say. It’s all about fnatic, what direction they want to go. I’m very pleased with the roster we have now, and I think there’s more to give, more to show. Of course, it was a big change, but it was never really a goal. If people think that me or fEAR were there and we were basically waiting, ‘okay, when is there going to be a Ukrainian roster,’ it’s completely false.
I loved MATYS, he went to G2. I liked Benja [blameF]. I liked KRIMZ… Everyone. We were a very strong competitive team last summer. I believe we were like top 24 or top 25. Went to VRS events, won them — in Prague and Draculan — and after with CYPHER as well. And it was never really the main goal; it just naturally happened that way.
Does it help much, especially with these young players, that it’s like a national roster on the server, and there is less struggle with communication?
100%. I see a big difference. I saw it even in the first event in Sweden this June when we still had Br4tkO and stand-in Polbandana. It was our first event as five Ukrainians, and the speed of decisions, the speed of communication, how comfortable they feel, not overthinking the comms, and there’s no hesitation, they don’t choke on words when they talk. It’s a big advantage, a very big advantage.
But that also gives you, how to say, not like pressure to perform, but now you understand that, okay, this is not an excuse anymore — the language barrier is not an excuse anymore. And we’re still working on that. We could still communicate better and bounce better in the server, but it’s a big advantage, and the team is working systematically better than before.
