"I started to listen to players' opinions more”: Interview with Monte's LMBT after the team’s success at RMR CQ

BLAST Premier Paris Major: Europe RMR Closed Qualifier B 2023 has ended, and Monte took 5th place in their group, successfully securing themselves a spot at RMR. The following day, we briefly talked with Monte's head coach Sergiy LMBT Bezhanov, who shared his insight from the team’s inner kitchen. 

Team’s development and coach’s impressions

- How long have you been working with the team in general? What was your first impression of the guys?

- I've been working with a team exactly from the signing moment. And the first expression was that they are super motivated and hard-working players, which is insanely important for me.

- What are the internal or external challenges in the team's development?

- Only one thing stops us, and it's time. Cause we had only eight practice days, and on all other days, we had to play officially to get ranking points, etc.

- What are the current goals that you are focused on in preparing the team?

- Except for great general results, my main goal is consistency, which takes work. It will come only as time pass.

Players’ issues and perspectives

- How would you rate working with the team's captain Woro2k? How does he combine communication with the team and a high level of individual performance?

- I have known Vova for a while, and he always had a lot of passion. He is a very special IGL. He is doing a lot of work alone, preparing game plans, etc. From his own POV, it's pretty comfortable for him to call for those guys cause all of them came to CS the same way… For example, they played in a lot of mixed teams, etc.

Regarding communication, it's a bit harder, but we are building it in a way he has to talk less, so we are working on him not micromanaging everything during rounds.

- You joined the team simultaneously with sdy. What can you tell about his impact on the team?

- I wanted to work with Victor long ago, but it wasn't possible. So now he is the team's oldest, most experienced, and most respected player. He brings a lot of calmness in stressful moments to young guys, which I like the most.

- I could be wrong, but now you have KrizzeN as the coach's assistant, but before, you didn't have an officially appointed assistant. How can you describe your cooperation? 

- I was working a little with KrizzeN before, but it was a different format. He is a great analyst and manager, doing his job well.

- Many analysts noted the performance level of BOROS. What about his potential and the tasks he must solve to reveal it fully?

- Boros is a pure aim machine, and he obviously needs more space for that. Every player, in general, has issues to work on and grow, but regarding him, I don't have too much to say. He only sometimes has problems with macro on the map, but he is working on his understanding of this aspect every day.

RMR’s outcomes

- The goal of passing the RMR has been achieved. Congratulations! How satisfied are you with the level of performance of the team as a result of the event? Have some issues been revealed?

- In this situation, it should be called win is a win. The job is done, and yes, it wasn't flawless, but it couldn't be excellent because we didn't have enough time. So I think we chose the correct strategy during preparation. We played on maps we'd practiced before in every match, which paid off.

- I want to ask about the strange match with Ecstatic. It's rare to see teams get almost no defensive rounds on this map. What wasn't possible to show as CT and why?

- I wouldn't say something went super wrong, and sometimes you have those situations. Before, we saw 13-2 or 12-3 on that map as CT. I don't want to pay attention to bad things here, the map is strong when the team can win many rounds on both sides, and that's what we did. So I'd call it a success instead of a problem.

- The tendency of strong attack/weak defense also extended to the match with HEET. Is it because of the enemy, or is your team style generally focused on the attack?

- There is no such term as a T-sided or CT-sided team. Just matches went this way.

War in Ukraine

- How does the war in Ukraine affect the team's training? How did it affect your personal life?

- Well, war knocks on everyone's door, just in a different way. I saw my family once this year while traveling around the country a bit. But every Ukrainian is a volunteer. My friend has a foundation that receives requests from our Defenders, so I'm just helping him, and everyone does. It was a few urgent things that we managed to gather in hours, such as generators on the start of infrastructure terror, etc. Still, requests are different. 

Before winter, it was clothing and other stuff, primarily drones and cars. Regarding myself, well, I consider myself a strong enough person, so it doesn't matter how bad you are feeling. Every Ukrainian is doing what he is capable of. Same do I.

The new approach to coaching

- I remember once we did an interview with you, and you were the team manager and coach then, and I don't remember you had an assistant. I had the feeling that you were doing absolutely everything. But it was in 2019. Has your approach to coaching changed during this time, in which direction, and what events influenced these changes?

- In 2017-19 in Mouz, I just didn't need those people in the club. I was younger, had much more energy, and in general, we didn't have so many online matches to play, so I didn't need an analyst. Regarding the manager position, it's the same when it's an EU team, and players don't need VISAs. You have only to take care of practices, tournaments, and scheduling. I could do this work by spending 15 mins on the phone in the morning. That's why I didn't need all this help back then. 

Nowadays, it's different. As a coach nowadays, I have become much calmer, and yes, I started to listen to players' opinions more than back in the day.