Sneyking: "My biggest frustration this year has been our lack of practice for reasons beyond our control"

The most important thing is taking the correct steps along the way. Our team's communication and drafts haven’t been great lately, and we’ve got to work on and improve them on a priority basis. The results will eventually follow.

To be honest, we haven’t had a proper boot camp, and there have also been many situations that were beyond our control. For example, Skiter’s hand surgery for the second time, having quite a few visa issues, and the constant travelling.

Because of that, our practice has been cut very short, and all these things combined, we’ve not been able to train properly heading into a tournament. It’s like we want to do more, but aren’t able to for some reason or the other.

Initially, when our team was formed, we could relate to each other and enjoyed playing together. It was all about having fun. However, as we've progressed over the past year and a half, that phase seems to have passed… we’ve kind of forgotten how that felt.

It’s something we want to rediscover, especially after everything we are going through right now, and enjoy playing together again. That’ll be extremely helpful.

The values that are important to me and for the team are to be on the same page and to do things together. We’ve been very individually focused, even on a team level, where people are just free to do as they wish.

I like to have a bit more structure in doing things, like going out for walks, or having breakfast, or just having discussions about things in general. These things are important and are kind of undervalued. There is a tendency for people growing up playing Dota to do their own things, especially on a team, but as the scene gets more competitive these things are extremely crucial for success.

These small edges are pivotal and separate a great team from a good team.

We’d like to win a tournament before Riyadh and TI because so far this year, we are yet to win a single tournament, and I think we've only placed top six in all of them and winning a tournament would give us a good momentum going ahead.

Having a win under our belts to remind ourselves that we are a championship team will certainly leave a good impact before Riyadh and TI, and we’ll be able to perform even better under such circumstances.

The struggles we've faced, like putting in effort without seeing results, are tough. However, my biggest frustration this year has been our lack of practice. Consistent practice is fundamental; it builds team identity, hones our skills, and truly underpins everything. The limited practice time, due to external factors, has been incredibly frustrating, and I'm really hoping this changes soon.