Team Heretics visited the press conference after the defeat from MIBR in the first round of the VALORANT Champions 2025 playoffs, sharing emotions and thoughts about what went wrong and declared their readiness to reach the grand final through the lower bracket of the tournament.

Heretics players admitted the failure on Sunset, saying about problems with communication and fundamental moments. “We were not ourselves, we did not peek together and lost space,” admitted Ričardas "Boo" Lukaševičius. Coach Neil Finlay added that the choice with Viper was a matter of comfort after successful scrims. Despite the failure, Benjy "benjyfishy" Fish said that the team strives to break through to the arena through the lower bracket.

Today we saw a change on Sunset where you played with Viper. Why was it decided to use double smokes and not the double duelist?

We didn’t feel super comfortable on it, even though we beat T1. So we had a talk, ended up changing the comp, and got really comfortable with it in scrims. That’s how we always decide map picks: whatever we feel most prepared on, we go for. The prep went really well, scrims went really well. I think even if we had played the double duelist comp today, the same issues would have occurred. It’s not really a comp thing, in my opinion — we just didn’t feel comfortable in the old comp.

Neil "neilzinho" Finlay

On Corrode you were able to fight back, you even took the game to overtime. But what do you think failed on Sunset?

On Sunset compared to Corrode, we gave a lot of entries. We weren’t confident enough, not taking enough space. I made some calls that weren’t great. In general, it was more of a mental difference — we weren’t ourselves in terms of communication. We weren’t playing fundamentally right, like peeking together or being smart about spacing. Just fundamental things, not comp or macro issues.

Ričardas "Boo" Lukaševičius

You and Aspas have clashed in the past, but now MIBR besides him and Fraude are all new to Champs. Is it different playing against a rookie team like this, or is it just about watching VODs and prepping?

Even if we’ve played teams in the past, they change a lot. Only some teams stick to the same style for a whole year. I don’t think it matters if we haven’t played them before — we still do the same prep. At the end of the day, it’s down to us to play well, not them. So no, I don’t think it’s a huge deal.

Benjy "benjyfishy" Fish

In the opening teaser we saw Verno single you out, saying Heretics has a very good IGL. How was it for you playing against him, and how do you feel about IGLing at Champs?

I see him more as a strong individual player. He’s always been really good, even in scrims. In terms of calling, you never know how much is prepped before, how much is mid-round, and how much comes from coaches during tactical pauses. So I don’t compare in that way. They played well, of course he was part of it, but it’s always a team effort. Same for us — if we play well, it’s not just me calling.

Ričardas "Boo" Lukaševičius

And how do you feel going up against other IGLs at this event?

Same as always at internationals. You play the best teams with the best IGLs and strong support staff. It’s the highest level, and sometimes you just feel outplayed. That’s okay.

Ričardas "Boo" Lukaševičius

Do you have a preference for your next opponent, between NRG and Giants?

I can answer. We’d love to play NRG. We don’t like regional matchups at internationals. And to be honest, I think NRG is the better team right now in terms of form. They also beat us at EWC in our first game, so we’d like revenge.

 

VALORANT Champions 2025 is taking place from September 12 to October 5 in France. The event features 16 teams competing for a prize pool of $2,250,000. More details about the results and schedule of upcoming matches can be found via this link.