The VCL Rising, the maximum Spanish competition is at the highest point of tension. Despite Team Queso taking first place, behind them is a large group of clubs close to each other such as CASE, Rebels and KPI in second place.
And right behind these three, UCAM hides. There were those who didn’t believe this list would work to be at the top, and they were surprised. MARCA spoke with their coach, Aeroz, and manager, Rubn ‘Darkthasr’ on this season and the matches to come.
Let’s start with Aeroz: How is the team?
In these last three games, it’s been a pretty dark week, it’s been a very bad week. It was a bit catastrophic, because we came out of the best week of the regular phase, which beat all the leaders of the classification, except Team Queso. Let’s say that the team is made up of players, several of whom have some experience, but in general they are all very young players, in whom a lot of irregularities have been reflected in front of the public. This irregularity is mainly due to psychological problems, which is why I wanted to point out that we have several players who are very young. I think that even if several of them already have experience in competition, and even in the first division, it does not mean anything, the pressure is always there.
We are under a lot of pressure, we are part of the teams which at the start of the season were calling for us to be at the top, we give a lot to talk about… I could notice how at the start it was a lot, I had to work very strong with the psychologist to establish different protocols and routines so that we can find a key for the children to be more relieved of the pressure.
Every day in training everything is going very well, they make the most of it, people get along very well in terms of personalities, there is a very good atmosphere, lots of jokes… they have a lot of chemistry between them, and me with them too. But there is something about the officers that is changing. We don’t know why, in fact the same day as an official we do one or two practices and everything goes well, but suddenly the official arrives and something happens, a stone appears above us and one must carry the cross all the time. Last week it seemed like everything was fine, it was fixed, but suddenly this weekend the demons reappeared.
The psychologist and I realized that we needed to keep trying different protocols to get the kids out of this stressful scenario on a mental level, and here we are this week.
I want to know your two points of view: How did you form the team?
Darkthasar: We are a machine that has several mechanisms and each has its role. We work in such a way that me, as a manager, I take care of all the logistical part (if we have to go somewhere, if the players need contracts, paperwork…). It’s true that when it comes to managing certain tests, I know that I have my share of work there in the organization, the schedules, in which everything goes well, but our way of working is that, the logistical part that works with the delegates of the club all that is sporting in Aeroz and Mudarra, who are the experts in the matter.
I think success when it comes to making a list and a project is that each member of staff is clear about their role and what they can contribute or what they are good at.
Aeroz: Rubn has been on the inside since the beginning, since before the lineup was created, in fact they were the ones who contacted me. The club contacted me to form the formation, which already had a signed incorporation from the previous formation. They told me that was the only condition that they wanted to keep and build the roster from scratch, that they gave me total freedom and responsibility, with Mudarra, our analyst, and we started to build it.
I like having full responsibility for the project, that’s why I’m the coach, but I’m a very political guy, I’m not dictatorial at all. I like to receive comments, opinions and to know what everyone thinks, and I will agree with my beliefs, with what my eyes see in the game and what convinces me the most.
It’s true that we made a team at the start, then there was a readjustment in the VCL regulations, which favored having three Spanish national players, so we had to readjust the squad, and we only had two players. Also, one of them left for Fnatic two days after the start of the VCL, which made us boil, and then we had to run in a day and a half to find a fifth player, and an international at that. Despite all the adversities, I think we end up with a fairly balanced quintet and they combine very well with each other.
Aeroz, first match: you face CASE, who had just won the championship and had a renewed squad that looked very good, but you beat them, did you expect this victory?
I left with certain expectations at the start of the season, because I know what I had in my team. I left with the idea of winning for sure, what I did not expect is the way we were going to win, coming back from 9-3, I did not expect it. In fact, as soon as I saw the 9-3 I said: ‘Ok, now I know what state we are in, now I have everything figured out’.
In the end, what you see in training is a reflection of reality, but it always turns into official. So I said, ‘Oh, well, I’m going to have to work a lot harder than I thought. And suddenly I saw how they started to chain rounds, they started to gain a lot of independence, a lot of confidence, between them, because as a coach I can’t talk at all. They cooked it for themselves and ate it, except for the two breaks I took, and I was very proud.
It was a direct rival, it was a big victory for the confidence of the team which, although later the confidence gave us negative support due to other bad results that we had, it was very good for us because it’s the concept of ‘we’ve done it before, they beat us’ a beating, but look what we’ve done, it’s very difficult, it’s very complicated even for the most great teams in the world. If we got there now, we can get there later with more work.” This part was very useful for what followed.
The second round begins and you have to face three of the best teams, but you also defeat them. How did you plan it?
I don’t want to sound arrogant, but I think we have a team to beat anyone, and I think that has already been demonstrated with this game day. We have a lot of equipment. The limitation we have now is that we are our own enemies. Every game we’re going to play, we’re not playing against KPI, we’re not playing against Team Queso, we’re not playing against CASE, we’re playing against UCAM. And if we defeat our demons, it doesn’t matter what happens to us, and these three days we show it. There was no noise in the head and we were able to transfer it into the game. This week has not been like that.
We still had the same plan. It is true that on a psychological level, he gave me pre-game warm-up processes to follow, which we thought would help the children. It’s true that it helped. In fact, I appreciated and tried to reward the work of the psychologist, because myself, as a coach, I learn a lot with him, so it is something that I value and appreciate a lot. what happened? Well, this week we said, “This formula worked, we’ll continue here.” We continued with the formula, and this week it failed. Now we have to stop, start watching the games, listen to the communications, what is wrong, analyze the problem and see how we can solve it in the fast lane, and get to the last day.
There are now three games left. Apart from Team Queso, which is a priori the biggest bogeyman in the competition, the other two are matches against teams that can no longer qualify for the playoffs, and you have to defend against this attack from ZETA and the Falcons. Do you think you can fight them well?
To spare, against the three of them, not only against two, against Team Queso too. Against Team Queso in the first leg we found ourselves 13-9, we lost a match that we could have perfectly won, we lost it on minute details and a round that we should not have lost, that we lost with an inferiority. Team Queso, which is true to be full of experienced players, and in fact I’ve shared the stage with many of them in CS, is nothing new to me. They are players with very strong fundamentals, but there is nothing unwinnable. We are in a delicate, positive but delicate situation in the rankings at the moment, every match must be a final, an absolute grand final, who cares about the Riders, Ramboot or Cheese. We fight against ourselves.
And you can always catch up with CASE, KPIs and Rebels. Do you have the confidence that you can reach that top 3 in the league?
Of course. What kind of coach would I be if I told you no? Full confidence in my children. We depend on ourselves, and that’s the part that creates a lot of stress for me, a lot of burden, because when it’s something that is emotional, as a coach, you see yourself hands tied. That’s why I rely so much on the psychologist. On a technical level, on a professional experience level, there are many formulas that I can transfer to players from ‘Look, it worked for me’, but each player is different, there will be some who will work for them and there will be others who love him. one ear and the other. But total confidence, because we have already demonstrated that. The confidence of being able to be in the top 3, and I don’t see it as impossible to sneak into the top 2.
We’re done with you, Darkthasr: What more UCAM has since last year, it’s still the team with young names, but it was not a team to be up there, but she’s still fighting? What does this equipment do to him?
We always say that when in the tier list They put us down we are in the comfort zone. It’s just that they put us down because of our name, because we’re UCAM, we end up going high, we sneak into the final, into the semi-final, we’re still there. I think UCAM is a very differential project in esports because most projects are short term. They seek to have the maximum possible result on the basis of a formidable checkbook, in the shortest possible time. Still, all the projects that UCAM has are long-term projects. Our last resort to fix a problem we have in one of our projects will be to fire someone. We have a psychologist, a physical trainer, we have many people who work within this club and who can help this person to solve the problems that exist.
Create a stable work environment, give economic stability to the player or the person who works there… I’ve been working here for five years, with VALORANT it’s my first, but before being here I did a training , I studied in UCAM, I did my internship, they gave me growth and an environment that no other club will ever give me. The difference is that all the environment that we create for a person to develop is stable, and it is something in which the player will feel safe, and it allows us to achieve much more results than others clubs cannot. At UCAM, apart from that, a player who enters does not have this pressure that he will enter on Twitter and he will see 3,000 tweets saying that I am very bad. Here you can be calm.