We spoke to Chopper ahead of their semifinals game against either ENCE or Team Falcons at IEM Katowice 2024.

Filip Kicurovski: Congratulations on making the top four at IEM Katowice 2024.

Are you happy to be in the playoffs?

Chopper: I’m very happy to be in the playoffs. It doesn’t really matter which stage of playoffs. Like the quarterfinals or a semifinals spot is a bonus. So it’s a privilege to play in front of this audience with the team.

Filip Kicurovski: You have made it the whole way through play-ins and the group stage. And now you’ve made it to playoffs.

Do you prefer playing a longer tournament? Or would you prefer to go straight into the groups?

Chopper: Playing more is better for us because it’s a young team. And the more we play, the more experience we get.

Experience at this stage at this kind of tournament is priceless.

Filip Kicurovski: You’re going to be facing either ENCE or Falcons in the semifinals match.

If you could choose one, who would you want to play against?

Chopper: So both teams would be a good option because obviously, I’m happy for ENCE because they had a huge rebuild. They had a broken team basically. And then they rebuilt and actually achieved a really, really good result. But Falcons, I’m a fan of Falcons too because I’m a fan of what Sonic is doing, which is why it would be cool to play against either of them.

Filip Kicurovski: You’ve been with the team for quite a long time now.

As the IGL, how do you encourage and build relationships with the new players?

Chopper: So we have a clear structure or hierarchy if you will in our team. The main man is the coach and I’m the second man. But basically to build relationships, to build like a good team, everyone needs to uphold to the same vision that Hally and I have.

And regarding interpersonal relationships, there is no like, big secret here. You just need to talk a lot and play a lot and this is how we build trust and stability.

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