donk: "I need to become better"

donk blitzed IEM Katowice 2024 and he hasn't looked back since.

Now with a best player of the year award under his belt, the young fragger is continuing his solid form in 2025 and has already lifted one trophy alongside the rest of his teammates on Spirit.

Ahead of Spirit's participation at BLAST Open Lisbon, we sat down with donk to talk about the year so far, his form, and some of Spirit's biggest defeats.

"I've had some feelings I don't want to experience again"

We're a few months into the year now, how are you feeling about the year so far?

I'm fine with the results that we've had so far. We could do better, but we've got some consistency.

What about your own individual level? Are you happy with that?

Yes and no, I feel like I can do much better and it's only the beginning. I like the way I'm playing because I'm consistent, so I just need to keep that up and become better.

Photo: Stephanie Lindgren

You've been in tier one for a little over a year now, how much do you think you've improved in that time?

I've gotten a lot of experience, I've been upset, pulled off upsets, had some feelings I don't want to experience again. That's taught me a lot about how to play CS and be able to win matches and championships.

You've won a lot in that year, but you've also lost three BO5 finals. All three of those defeats were 0-3, so why do you think that is?

I don't know actually, the only thing I can say is that me and the team weren't in our optimal form for those finals, we played badly compared to the other games and got destroyed. It's an awful feeling.

Do you think some of it is because of inexperience?

Yeah, definitely. For me, it's definitely a case of getting experience. I really got a lot from those finals, and I understood what I can do to not let it happen again. Or at least, how to try my best to not let it happen again.

You're at ESL Pro League Season 21 right now, with your opponent for the playoffs set to be Eternal Fire, how are you feeling about that?

We're feeling good. I know we are confident in this match up and we're showing a good shape in this event. We're confident in ourselves and we know that if we play our game how we want to play it, we can beat everyone. We don't have expectations to destroy them, we just need to play our game.

But there's nothing special to it, we don't have any special thoughts about Eternal Fire or any other team.

Photo: Michal Konkol

You're on the other side of the bracket from NAVI and Vitality, is that a bonus?

It doesn't matter, if you want to be the number one team in the world you have to beat everyone. I want to play them all.

In terms of NAVI and Vitality, you've beaten NAVI and lost to them, lost to Vitality in the IEM Katowice final, so who do you think is currently on top?

Right now, it's hard to say who is the best team in the world, we've all only been at two events. There are teams not in good shape, not at their best, so we can only say that there are three or four best teams that are challenging each other for trophies.

You said "three or four", who is the fourth?

Spirit, Vitality, NAVI, and the fourth depends on the shape of teams at an event.

Is there any team you think could be a consistent top four team?

G2 or MOUZ, one of those two.