nak: "I was thinking that it would be easier but a lot of teams have improved [in Brazil]"
We're back again with an interview from the ESL Pro League Season 7 finals, collected by our Collin "CarbonDogma" Davis. This time, we have Brazilian veteran Renato "nak" Nakano, who currently leads the Sharks roster.
You ended up finishing last in the tournament, albeit whilst taking a map off of Cloud9. What do you think of your performances here?
In general our performances weren't that bad, we finished last which isn't very good but we played well against mousesports in the first match, a top 3 side in the world at the moment. It was our first big international event, so we started playing well against them, a 6-0 start, but we started making some small mistakes from there. Overall it was a great match, even if some players were nervous because it was a first match, so it was ok ending at 16-10.
Our second match against Cloud9 in a best-of-three, which was even harder for us due to their experience. We started very well, beating them on the first map in overtime, and then the second map we started well and then made some mistakes again, losing it. The third map we didn't even show up, overall we think it was OK.
In the last few months your team has been playing in Europe mainly. What's it like competing there compared to Brazil or North America?
Last year we have been in Portugal, playing in Europe. Europe is the best place to be when you want to practice, because there are so many tier one and two teams who are good there. You can get practice any time, every day, so it's really good to use to improve. To get spots in tournaments, through open qualifiers, it's hard for the same reason.
You guys returned to Brazil for the LA League and Belo Horizonte qualifiers. What was it like to go back to Brazil, and how the teams have changed, since you left?
Actually I was surprised with the level in Brazil, I was thinking that it would be easier but a lot of teams have improved there. The competition in Brazil is very good right now, various teams like NTC with Lincoln "fnx" Lau, Vito "kng" Giuseppe and João "felps" Vasconcellos, are playing there and are having bad times. The level in Brazil is a surprisingly good level at the moment.
I wanted to ask about FURIA, as people have been talking about them a lot recently, and with you having faced them in the finals of the LA League, what do you think about them?
FURIA is one of the teams that most surprised me. They are doing a really great job, beating NTC and reaching the finals against us, they are doing very well. They're a bunch of young talented guys that just showed up from nothing, right to the top. It's surprising and amazing to have them there, pushing up the Brazilian level even higher.
Finally, what's next for Sharks? Are you heading back to Europe or Brazil?
Right now, we are going to Brazil. The next weekend we have the Minor qualifier, so we are going to play there. If we win, we'll probably head back to Portugal to practice as at the end of June we have a tournament in California, the ZOTAC Cup, after securing the spot in Brazil. After that I don't know, we're currently focusing on the Minor qualifier and the ZOTAC cup.
