FaNg: "I just want to see some wins honestly"

Dust2.us' Lukas DeWitt was able to catch up with Justin "FaNg" Coakley at IEM Dallas shortly after Complexity's opening defeat at the hands of MIBR. The pair touched on the 20-year-old's time at the PGL Antwerp Major, his progress over the past six months, and what the team would like to prove during their time in Texas.

Just starting off before we dig into Dallas, I'd like to dig into Antwerp. Obviously, you're a young player, so what was that like, the travel and the games and stuff?

Antwerp was honestly a super awesome experience. Belgium has so far been the best place I've been to in terms of the event, it was run super well. Obviously, it's a Major, but to me, it kinda felt like another event in a way. Getting stickers and everything like that was super crazy that whole feeling, but just playing the event, at the end of the day I was just trying to play matches and get dubs.

We're in Dallas now, home soil, things didn't start how you guys wanted it to, 16-4 to a new-look MIBR who lost their fifth and replaced them with a coach. Were you guys really heavily prepared for Heroic? What happened with the process here?

I'd say we definitely did a lot of prep for Heroic, and that was obviously the team that coming into this we thought we were gonna play. After getting that last-minute "Hey you're going to play MIBR." it was kinda like, "Ok, that sucks", but we just went back to prepping and stuff like that. I wouldn't say prep is the reason why we lost it all; I think our prep was as good as it could be considering they haven't played with BIT at all and it's a new team. We did what we can, and it was rough.

We're about six months removed from your December interview with HLTV when you were on Extra Salt. You said, "I'm trying to be one of the best players in the world...". How do you feel you've grown since that time? Do you feel like you're closer to that goal? How have things improved since then?

One of the main points I said back in that interview was that I just want to prove to myself, and look back, and be like, I want to be one of those top players, someone that those NA guys coming up can look at. From when I said that to now, it's definitely been a process. I think I've had ups, and more downs now considering how the team's been playing, just having constant setbacks. Understanding that when I refocus and prepare myself after certain events, just understanding why things went bad and constantly improving like that and just having all of my takeaways from that. When you're self-reflective, I think that helps you grow the most, especially after constant losses, it really makes you think. During the start of this year, especially in Europe, I was having super bad burnout issues, which I've never experienced, so that's been its own issue itself that I've been dealing with. I feel like I've kinda grown from that and actually overcome the stuff I've experienced.

On the topic of burnout, that's something that every player either tries to avoid or overcome. What did you do to get through that?

I think it came down to how much our team was actually practicing and everything like that, and also a mix of traveling and being away from home for extended periods of time. I was home for a little bit, about two weeks or so, and that definitely helped me a lot. Taking a break from the game and just understanding the mental side of the game and working on my outside life to make sure I have that balance so coming into it I can feel refreshed.

Your teammate junior has been the target of some criticism lately. How do you feel hearing that? How do you guys deal with it internally, and how do you deal with it personally? What are you seeing of junior that others aren't?

I won't comment on it too much. In terms of articles and stuff like that, I think it's definitely the way articles are perceived, and the way he kinda lets himself out there, super direct in a way, so I feel like that's how people are gonna take it. Other than that, a lot of people are gonna have criticism or critique other players, it's just the way you manage it and come past it and don't let it affect you.

Last question now. You're on home soil, the first NA event in years, and you have the luxury of competing in front of the home crowd, although obviously, we aren't there yet. Coming off Antwerp, now down in the lower bracket, what do you want to prove this event?

I just want to see some wins honestly. I think it's really big for our team right now, just getting the confidence in a match setting coming off a win. Not necessarily against any team, but just getting that confidence, because once you get that confidence I feel like you're gonna be a lot more competitive with some of these teams. It's been a journey for our team on the mental side, sorting everything out in-game, changing roles, and everything like that. It's definitely a process.

Complexity are now in the midst of their do-or-die game versus NIP which began earlier today at 12:00PM.