AMKAL Coach Svyat: ICY has great individual skills but makes many mistakes



The AMKAL coach believes the young rifler has potential but might have been too inexperienced for the Major.

AMKAL was the first team eliminated from the Major

AMKAL, despite defeating Ninjas in Pyjamas, Falcons, and 9 Pandas in RMR, failed to replicate their form at the Major, exiting Copenhagen with a 0-3 record.

After a close 2-1 loss to TheMongolz, coach Svyatoslav Dovbakh | svyat attributed their downfall to “individual mistakes.”

This is the 29-year-old coach’s second Major, having previously attended the StarLadder Berlin Major in 2019 with DreamEaters, but his first with AMKAL.

With a lot of work to do and a diamond in the rough in sniper Kaisar Faiznurov | ICY, Svyat remains confident about the team’s future Major appearances: “I am sure that this team will make it to every Major, but we need to prove ourselves as a strong team at the Majors.”

Here’s the interview transcript:

Q: What was your initial reaction after being eliminated from the Major?

We made a lot of mistakes, especially individual ones. We knew how TheMongolz were going to play against us; it wasn’t their plays that surprised us, but our individual mistakes.

Q: How do you feel about your map pool choices? It seemed like you preferred playing on maps that suited you, even if they were also strong for the opponents.

We picked well, the map pool was in our favor. It wasn’t about the maps, we had confidence in Overpass, Nuke, Mirage, and Inferno, so all these maps were playable for us. But, as I mentioned, we made a lot of individual errors.

Q: Comparing your performance in the RMR, which was unexpected, what was different here?

The main difference is that we didn’t have as much pressure at the Major. We had some pressure, but not as much as in the RMR events. Maybe we were luckier in the RMR, and we made fewer individual mistakes. We should’ve performed better, but things didn’t go as planned.

Q: Looking ahead, what’s next for your team? How will you ensure participation in more such events?

Yes, I believe this team will continue to participate in Majors, every single one, but we need to prove ourselves as a top team at the Majors. We just need a bit more time; we’re still a new team. We have experienced players who have played many offline events and Majors before. So, yes, you’ll see us at the next Major, maybe at some other big LANs, but not right now.

Q: Tell us about ICY, a very young AWPer whose performance wasn’t up to par. Do you think he has potential?

ICY is currently the most talented player we have, with a lot of potential. He’s calm-headed and can remain composed in tough situations. His individual skill is indeed high, but he made a lot of mistakes that cost us rounds. We just need to work with him and help him improve. He lacks experience in big tournaments, but he has massive potential, and I believe he’ll be ready in around half a year.