"I want to lift a trophy as a head coach" - RRQ Jovi on slow starts, APAC's mechanical depth, and T1

Rex Regum Qeon navigated a tense 2-1 lower bracket victory over DetonatioN FocusMe in the VCT 2026 - Pacific Stage 1 playoffs, but head coach Jovanni "Jovi" Vera was the first to admit it wasn't pretty. In a post-match interview with THESPIKE, the experienced coach spoke candidly about the team's recurring slow starts, the nuances of coaching in APAC, and what lies ahead against T1.

Too Close for Comfort

RRQ's win may have secured their progression, but Jovi made no attempt to sugarcoat the performance. The series was a grinding, nerve-wracking affair-one that had their coach visibly rattled even in victory.

"These games are making me lose hair and gain too much gray hair. A little too close for my liking. Too many little mistakes in the beginning and we're not starting out hot. But we cleaned it up towards the end."

RRQ have always had an issue with slow starts. Today that issue wasn’t isolated to a single map either. On Breeze, RRQ found themselves in uncomfortable territory, but as Jovi revealed, Ascent told an equally concerning story. "Even on Ascent, we started out 0-and-7, I think, something like that," he noted.

It's a pattern that has followed RRQ through their entire stint in the VCT and one that Jovi acknowledged with a frank metaphor:

"We’ve got to touch the fire to see how hot the fire is, until we know how hot it is."

For a team with playoff aspirations and an international trophy in their sights, the hope is that they can reverse this trend sooner rather than later.

The APAC Difference

Jovi's coaching career has taken him across several regions and teams, from 100 Thieves in the Americas to TALON in the Pacific and now to RRQ. That breadth of experience gives him a uniquely informed perspective on what separates APAC from the rest of the world.

"APAC is very mechanical-heavy and aim-heavy. Little minor details like that are so emphasized in APAC more than in other regions. You have to focus on a lot of the micro and sharpening that-that's the most important thing."

He pointed to DFM's star player Ibuki "Meiy" Seki as a perfect example of the kind of talent that demands preparation and respect. "You can't just dry swing him. He will completely take advantage of that." It's a level of individual mechanical precision that, in Jovi's view, requires coaches and players in the region to operate with a finer margin for error than anywhere else in the world.

Bridging the Language Gap

One challenge Jovi has navigated repeatedly in the Pacific is coaching multinational rosters where English serves as the operational language. RRQ features three Indonesian players alongside a Russian and a Vietnamese player, creating a linguistic puzzle that a coach must solve off the server as much as on it. Comparing the experience to his time at TALON, Jovi was direct about the contrast.

"At least here in RRQ, they all speak English. On TALON, I had to [use] ChatGPT [to] translate and speak broken, slow English with them-their main language was Thai. With these guys, I can have full conversations because they understand English fully. It's completely different and easier here."

Living Up to Last Year's Standard

RRQ's 2025 season set a high benchmark: Stage 1 winners and Stage 2 runners-up. Jovi, who joined ahead of this season, is acutely aware of what the fanbase and organization expect. The ambition isn't merely to match 2025 but to exceed it.

"They definitely set a bar last year that anybody and everybody should want to reach. But it's also a personal goal of mine to lift a trophy as a head coach and make it to those international experiences."

Neon, Sentinels, and a Shifting Meta

With Riot announcing an incoming Neon nerf alongside shotgun changes, Jovi, just like every other pro player and coach, welcomed the shotgun nerfs. He was also in agreement that Neon herself was only a symptom, not the disease.

"I don't think Neon really was the issue. Sentinels and Initiators were nerfed, which just made it harder to deal with her, so she felt more broken. But I'm glad for the shotgun changes."

On what meta might emerge post-nerfs, Jovi expects Jett, Phoenix, and Reyna to see increased play across different maps and regions, adding that every remaining Duelist is still viable in the right hands.

Loss against T1

RRQ's playoff run came to an end at the hands of T1, who defeated them 2-1 in a hard-fought lower bracket clash. It was a result that stung, given that T1 had also beaten RRQ earlier in the group stage, but Jovi had seen it coming, refusing to underestimate them before the game started.

"Those players are all just incredible players. They have so much experience and accolades that at any moment they can just show up. Whoever shows up tomorrow is going to be the winner. That's really what it comes down to."

T1 did show up. The 2-1 scoreline was a testament to the quality Jovi had spoken about, and RRQ's playoff journey was brought to an end.

For a side still finding its footing under new leadership, the lessons of this run-slow starts, mechanical gaps, and the unforgiving nature of APAC's best-will be the foundation they build on heading into Stage 2.

Watch the complete interview with Jovi below:

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Featured Image Source: Riot Games