FNC kaajak on first international event: "I think what I learned this year, even at this international, is that I just have zero pressure"
With their latest win over Sentinels in the Lower Bracket, Fnatic find themselves among the last four remaining teams at VALORANT Champions Tour 2025 - Masters Toronto 2025. Despite a rough start to the tournament following an early loss to Gen.G Esports, Fnatic are now just two wins away from reaching the Grand Finals of the second Masters event of the season.
After coming into the team at the end of 2024 to replace none other than Nikita "Derke" Sirmitev on Fnatic, Kajetan "kaajak" Haremski turned up to Masters Toronto to attend the very first international tournament of his career. Now, the young Duelist is making that shot count.
Following Fnatic's 2-1 win over Sentinels, THESPIKE was able to speak to kaajak to discuss the match, his personal goals at Masters Toronto, and the state of EMEA VALORANT.
Kaajak on playing on the international stage, beating Sentinels, and playing with Boaster
THESPIKE: This is your first international tournament in the VCT. So, I'd like to start by asking you how you have found the whole experience so far. Has it been pretty much like you always imagined or hoped it would be, or has it surprised you in any way?
Kaajak: To be honest, one of the craziest tournaments so far for me, because I think I went through everything at this tournament. Literally, we arrived first, then I got sick for a couple of days, then I became healthy again. Then I got sick again, and yesterday I got food poisoning. First time in my life, like, this strong. So, I was basically dying in my bed for like 15 hours or something. I slept two hours yesterday, but today I was feeling a bit better and I just tried my best.
I'm really happy how we are doing so far on this international, and today I'm also happy, but maybe my face is not telling it, but I'm just out of energy, to be honest.
THESPIKE: I'm wondering if you could tell me what it's like sharing the stage with Jake "Boaster" Howlett. The man is full of experience, and at the same time he's dancing on stage, standing up from his desk mid-round... What's it like to have him as your captain?
Kaajak: I mean, it's really nice because he's giving really good energy on stage, and the whole team is doing the same thing. Everyone has really good energy, and I think it's really important.
But, yeah, to be honest, he's dancing, doing something, but to be honest, I don't really care. I'm locked in on my monitor. He's keeping the good energy, so I think it's really good.
THESPIKE: Do you feel your own approach, or perhaps the team's approach, to the game changes when you're down to your last life in the Lower Bracket, as opposed to playing your first game of the tournament. Do you feel a big shift in the atmosphere or just your general approach to the match?
Kaajak: I mean, I can say for myself, so for me, I completely don't care if I'm in the Upper Bracket or Lower Bracket, because I think what I learned this year, even at this international, is that I just have zero pressure. I just play the game the same way I play on practice, so I play every official the same, with zero expectation.
But for the team, I think on the first game against Gen.G, we were making a little bit small mistakes because of the stress and so on, and maybe because of the excitement also, because it was our first game. We were just not ramped up yet for the momentum. But since the Gen.G game, I think we are doing better and better.
THESPIKE: Sentinels are a team with such a massive fanbase, and you got to played them in North America, no less. Did you find the chance to face Sentinels on their home turf to be special? Or were they just another team for you?
Kaajak: To be honest, they were just another team for me, but I know it meant a lot for the boys, and especially to win against them.
So we did it, and I'm happy for all of the guys, because we also took the revenge from the last Champions when Fnatic was knocked out by Sentinels.
THESPIKE: During your match against Sentinels, Zachary "zekken" Patrone went 7-18 in opening duels across the entire series. During your prep for the game, was there any specific focus placed on shutting Zekken down?
Kaajak: No, not really. To be honest, we didn't have any special anti-strats for Zekken. I think it was just our game style and game plan that were just annoying to play against. And we approached the map really slow, so I think it's quite hard for the Duelists to get really good opening kills.
_1742752447115.png&w=64&q=75 "VALORANT Champions Tour 2025 - Masters Toronto 2025")
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BoasterTHESPIKE: What would you say have been your biggest takeaways from Masters Toronto so far? What have been some of the biggest differences you found between playing your regular rivals in EMEA to now facing off against the best teams from each and every region?
Kaajak: I would say the biggest difference for me was I think the Gen.G game, because I think they were really good against us. It was quite hard for me to play against them, to be honest. And I was also, I think, first time maybe in my life, or maybe not first time, but I don't get annoyed really often. So playing against them was really annoying, especially on the defense side of Split. I think the RRQ and Sentinels games were… I felt really confident in those games.
THESPIKE: What was it about Gen.G's playstyle that you found most annoying?
Kaajak: I think they were just, they had some good game plans against us. Like on Split, they were just doing a little bit of pressure mid and just rushing A or B. So I was just playing retake on the whole defense side pretty much, or trying to get one pick and TP out. But it was also hard because their executions were good. And on Sunset, it was really annoying to play against Kim "t3xture" Na-ra. I think he's a really good Duelist when it comes to OP’ing. So, yeah, they were just annoying to play against.
THESPIKE: You have a lot of experience playing against Team Heretics over in EMEA. The squad looks like one of the best teams in the world when everyone is shooting, but they bombed out of Masters Toronto without winning a single map. What do you think went wrong for them at this tournament?
Kaajak: To be honest, I don't really know. Because in the Regular Season they were looking really good against us. Like, the one time when they beat us in the Regular Season, they were looking pretty good individually. But in the Playoffs, they just fell apart. And on the international stage, they also fell apart.
So, I don't really know what went wrong for them. Maybe they just need to reset and rethink some stuff. But I think they base a lot on the individual skill. And they were not showing it recently, so I think that's it.
THESPIKE: You guys came into the Bracket Stage of Masters Toronto as the last hope of EMEA. Having played against teams from other regions now, what would you say are some of the things teams in EMEA need to work on the most?
Kaajak: I'm not really sure. Maybe just some macro stuff or team comms. I mean, during Kickoff, I think EMEA was a bit behind with the Tejo. But right now, Tejo is not meta anymore. So I think maybe just the macro. Because I think EMEA has some teams with really good fundamentals. But maybe just some macro stuff and how to approach their maps. And I think a lot of EMEA teams are also struggling with stress levels during the off-season.
THESPIKE: Naturally, every player wants to lift the trophy. But did you have any personal goals for your first international event outside of that?
Kaajak: So like my personal goals for this event, before the event I said that I just want to have a good performance and get experience, and not stress or something like that. So, so far, I've been doing great, I think.
Maybe the performance could be a bit better. But I think at every official I'm learning some things. So I think it's also a great event for me to improve.
THESPIKE: Thank you so much for taking the time to talk to us, kaajak. Best of luck for the remainder of the tournament.
Note: Some minor parts of the interview may have been edited for the sake of clarity and or brevity.
For all things VCT-related, make sure to stay tuned to THESPIKE.GG as we continue to update you with the freshest game and esports news.
Featured Image Source: Wojciech Wandzel/Riot Games
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