F4Q Head Coach Locomotive: “Maybe strengthening what we had was the better way to do it all along, so the experience really guided me into the right direction of coaching.”
Last Updated on: 17th September 2021, 10:45 am
Having no mathematical chance of progressing to the knockout stage, F4Q finished their participation in Masters: Berlin with a 2-1 defeat against Sentinels. The result completed a winless stretch in which the Korean team dropped all four of their games in the group stage to the reigning Masters champions and G2 Esports. Although F4Q failed to match the might of their renowned adversaries, in the eyes of the team’s head coach Yoo “Locomotive” Jung-sun, they did so having maintained their dignity as a respected squad, having taken maps from both Western opponents.
From starting as a team composed exclusively of streamers, F4Q quickly ascended the Korean professional Valorant landscape in eight months to finish Stage 3 of the 2021 VCT season as one of the region’s representatives in Masters: Berlin. However, in order to continue their season, they must play the rest of the Asian continent in the Last Chance Qualifier to secure its sole available slot for Champions.
Following F4Q’s elimination from the tournament, Locomotive spoke to The Click in an exclusive interview to reflect on their final series against Sentinels, his overall view of the team’s stay in Germany, how they will fare in the APAC Last Chance Qualifier, which team he thinks will win Masters: Berlin, and more.
Locomotive on Series vs Sentinels
Thanks, Locomotive, for taking the time with this interview. I’d first like to know what is the general vibe of the team following their series against Sentinels?
Locomotive: The vibe of the team is good. We never really experienced any vibes [throughout the tournament].
Leading up to the series against SEN, there were discussions among fans and certain analysts that, since it didn’t have any playoff implications, neither team was going to play at their best. What message did you send to your team prior to playing today?
Locomotive: Sentinels might have had the chance to hide their strategies and save some spaces, but because we had so much room to improve, I don’t think we were in a position of hiding any strategies or gameplay. We really took this moment to experiment and try different tactics to become a stronger team, so there was no chance of us hiding anything.
Was the selection of Yoru for Breeze an example of that?
Locomotive: Since we had a short amount of time to prepare for Breeze, we focused on agents that the players felt most comfortable and competent with and Yoru happened to be one of them, so I let them feel free to pick their strongest agent.
Reflection of Masters and Looking Forward
Talking about your overall experience in Berlin, you obviously didn’t win a single series, but what are some positives from the team that you will take back home?
Locomotive: Throughout the tournament, because I spent little time with the team as a coach, instead of focusing on strengthening what we already had, I tried to teach them new strategies and new things. But as the tournament happened. I then felt that instead of teaching them something new, maybe strengthening what they already had was the better way to do it all along, so the experience from the tournament really guided me into the right direction of coaching where I can make a stronger team.
You mentioned in a previous interview about arriving in Berlin with little to no expectations considering the group you were placed in. Still, what have you seen from all the other teams you faced in scrims? Did the expectations surrounding them match what you saw within the games?
Locomotive: The level of teams was very high as we anticipated. Throughout either the games or scrims, we experienced so many distinct and high-level gameplay. When we were back in Korea during scrims, there were certain times in which we won without knowing how we won. Maybe it was due to our aim or simple playstyle, but we experienced that just having a good aim doesn’t mean everything in winning games, so we really absorbed more of all these different strats and tactics while facing all the different teams here. I’m very excited to implement those to our team.
As a result of your participation in Masters, you qualified for the Asian Last Chance Qualifier where you will compete with teams from SEA, Japan, and South Asia for a spot in Champions. What do you see of those remaining teams that you’ll face in LCQ?
Locomotive: If we play as we did in Berlin, I don’t think we’ll have a strong chance of winning the LCQ and advance to Champions. I think the key is to find the balance between my coaching and how the players react to my coaching because they aren’t a full-fledged professional team per se. They are a team of streamers so there’s a limit of coaching them and giving direct feedback, so finding that balance and compromising with the players is a big focus to build a stronger team. If we can succeed in that, we may have a good result in the LCQ and against all the many teams taking part.
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Two more questions before the end: with F4Q’s elimination, the hopes of Korea will now rest on Vision Strikers for the remainder of the tournament. How do you think they will finish and who do you think will win it all?
Locomotive: I’m not saying this because we’re from the same region, but I believe VS has a very strong chance of winning the whole thing. The only obstacle they may face throughout the knockout stage is because they have younger players, they may have a hard time proceeding when the matches become longer and they become subsequently fatigued, so if they overcome that, they will be a strong candidate of winning the whole tournament. Other than VS, I think 100 Thieves, Gambit, and Sentinels are strong candidates as well.
That’s everything we discussed in this interview. If you’re interested in reading more content, you can click here for more Valorant articles, or visit our homepage here and see what else catches your interest.
