“I know we are underperforming” LEV Onur talks about Leviatan’s season
In the VCT Americas, Leviatan was one of the top teams during the regular season. They concluded the season with a 4-5 record, finishing fourth behind LOUD, Cloud9 and NRG. They were the top contenders coming into the LCQ. Facing KRU esports who came in hot after their win over MIBR and FURIA, Leviatan didn’t show up. The game saw Leviatan crumble against their LATAM brethren, losing the game 0-2, with a 5-13, 7-13 scoreline. After the loss, Strafe had an opportunity to interview Leviatan’s Head Coach Rodrigo “Onur” Dalmagro. In an exclusive one-on-one interview LEV Onur talks about the team's performance issues, loss to KRU and more.
Q. It was a tough loss for sure. Leviatan didn’t seem like they were in-game. What do you think went wrong in the game?
LEV Onur: “I don’t know, I have to do a VOD review with the rest of the team. We are going back to the office right now with the rest of the team. We have a tough game tomorrow, if we play like we played today, we are going to lose tomorrow. I know we are underperforming in a stage where we should not. But this is not new, this is something that has been an issue for us. It has been our issue for the last five games, in the playoffs and also the regular phase. I don’t know how to fix that. It’s very difficult because we trained in the break between Monday to Friday and we got good results. We did the best preparation we could and then when we played on the stage, we played like, I don’t know, like shit. So it’s very difficult”
Q. Do you think it being the first game for you was a part of the reason you had a tough time on the server?
LEV Onur: “I don’t know. We had the same routine as the rest of the teams in the competition. We also changed a lot of things in our week to be more relaxed. We are training less than the regular phase to give the players more time to rest. The results are even worse so I don’t know what happening”
Q. Is there something you specifically prepared before coming into LCQ?
LEV Onur: “I don’t know because we took like two weeks off after we lost in the playoffs. We started practicing from Monday to Friday and we gave the players off on Saturday and Sunday. We only trained four maps per day and one hour of VOD review followed by scrims against the teams in the LCQ, we got good results. We also scrimmed against Masters Tokyo teams and we got good results then too. So I don’t know what’s happening. The only thing I could do is VOD review, point out the mistakes, help the players with them and hope it works out the next time”
Q. You will face Sentinels tomorrow. What are your thoughts on the team and their playstyle?
LEV Onur: “Sentinels is one of the teams that we trained with in the last two weeks. We played more than 50 games against Sentinels so we know each other very well. We know the comps, the micro and macros, we know everything so it's going to be a very odd match for both teams because we were like scrim partners in the last two weeks. We just have to make a plan and stick to it”
Q. Who had been a highlight player for Sentinels during those scrims?
LEV Onur: “I know Zekken is really good, he always puts up the numbers and carries Sentinels most of the time. Of Course they have a very good team, very strong individual players, I don’t know, we have to do, we are focusing on our performance. If we play like we played today, no matter what Sentinels do, we are going to lose. We have to recover our spirit first”
Q. Despite the team not performing up to the par, Leviatan is still a strong team and has been one of the top contenders for Champions spot. Who do you think is the one key player of your team?
LEV Onur: “I mean kiNgg is one of the key players of our team, he is the IGL also he plays flex and he always put up a good performance on the stage. He’s a special player because IGL on other teams tend to focus on moving the team around and calling and don’t focus much on individual performance but kiNgg can do both so he’s a very special player for us”
Q. Final conclusive notes, Anything you want to say to your fans
LEV Onur: “I am feeling really ashamed about our performance. I am sorry that’s all I can say”
After the loss, Leviatan came back stronger in the game against Sentinels. They defeated Sentinels with a 2-0 scoreline and dominated both the maps. The team went on to defeat Cloud9 next. Reverse sweeping the title contenders to face their LATAM brethren in KRU esports in the VCT Americas LCQ grand finals. Unfortunately, Leviatan couldn’t take the final steps and lost to KRU in the grand finals.
The loss concludes Leviatan’s VCT 2023 season. Leviatan was the best LATAM team in 2022. The team made an impact on the international scene with their great runs and amazing games in Valorant Champions 2022 and VCT Masters Copenhagen 2022. They fell to Natus Vincere in the LOCK//IN event but displayed some amazing Valorant. While they failed to consistently remain at the top, they were one of the toughest teams to beat in the Americas. With the amazing talent in the coaching staff and the players, Leviatan will definitely come back stronger in 2024. You can follow the updates regarding the same on VCT NA twitter.
Credits: Riot Games // VCT Americas
You can also follow VCT Americas on Strafe.