Joblife Doma reflects on his career: "People thought we were a bunch of rejects"

Domagoj "Doma" Fancev's career has been defined by its fair share of ups and downs, with the player frequently moving between Tier 1 and Tier 2. However, Doma believes his hard work has finally paid off with Joblife, as the team continues its run through the Lower Bracket of the VALORANT Champions Tour 2026 - EMEA Stage 2 Play-Ins stage.

Speaking to THESPIKE after the victory over PCIFIC Esports, Doma reflected on the journey that brought him to this point, including the pressure and sacrifices Tier 2 players endure in their pursuit of reaching the highest level of competition.

VALORANT Champions Tour 2026 - EMEA Stage 2

Joblife

2

X

1

PCIFIC Esports

Lower Bracket Round 2 of 6, Best of 3 - August 13, 2026 - 3:00PM

13

Lotus

6

8

Ascent

13

13

Split

10

Joblife

player

Rating

ACS

K/D/A

+/-

K/D

KAST

ADR

HS%

FBSR

FB

FD

Pa1ze

1.25

268

58/46/9

+12

1.26

74.4%

165.0

33%

64%

18

10

runneR

1.15

228

52/44/15

+8

1.18

76.0%

164.7

27%

67%

10

5

UNFAKE

0.88

171

39/41/15

-2

0.95

72.7%

110.0

31%

50%

3

3

Doma

0.83

163

36/39/21

-3

0.92

78.3%

106.2

20%

33%

2

4

kamyk

0.83

159

35/39/18

-4

0.90

75.9%

110.7

27%

38%

3

5

PCIFIC Esports

player

Rating

ACS

K/D/A

+/-

K/D

KAST

ADR

HS%

FBSR

FB

FD

WADDLE

1.24

242

54/42/21

+12

1.29

72.8%

166.8

40%

67%

6

3

NINJA

0.98

199

46/40/12

+6

1.15

68.2%

133.7

20%

39%

7

11

al0rante

0.93

176

42/41/16

+1

1.02

60.9%

116.3

36%

63%

5

3

seven

0.81

180

36/48/16

-12

0.75

75.1%

124.4

27%

17%

2

10

Qpert

0.73

144

31/49/19

-18

0.63

59.8%

93.6

25%

44%

7

9

The end of the curse

In Tier 2, Joblife fans might have considered the organization cursed when facing Turkish teams, as their record stood at zero wins and 10 losses. On August 13, that curse was finally broken, as Joblife secured its first victory over a Turkish team, defeating PCIFIC despite not having a single Turkish player on its roster.

THESPIKE: Considering you had to fight your way through the lower bracket, how does it feel to win this match against PCIFIC today?

Doma: "On Lotus, I think we played really well. On Ascent, we were maybe a bit scared to close the game out, because we definitely had the chance to finish it at 8-8. We had the defense on Ascent, and they didn’t have a very good composition for attack. Then, on Split, I think we showed our good side. It wasn’t our best map since we had already lost twice on it, but we showed that we can still play really well on it."

THESPIKE: Joblife had lost 10 straight matches against Turkish organizations, and now you finally managed to beat one. Took you long enough, right?

Doma: "Honestly, they don’t have any Turkish players, so it’s not quite the same. It’s only the organization that’s Turkish. But a win is a win and we’re still happy with it."

What is takes to be a flex player

Over the last two months, Doma has played 11 different agents, showcasing the depth and versatility of his agent pool. For him, players need to be able to adapt and play any agent, regardless of their personal preferences.

THESPIKE: You have such a diverse agent pool, ranging from Controllers to Duelists, and we’ve now seen you playing more Cypher. What’s it like constantly adapting to different roles and agents?

Doma: "As a VALORANT player, it doesn’t really matter what role or agent you play. If you know how to play the game, you should be able to adapt to any role. Two or three days should be enough to learn the mechanical aspects of an agent. If you’re a smart player and don’t make mistakes, I think you should be able to play any role in the game."

Proving his value on the stage

THESPIKE: Tier 2 teams have finally had the opportunity to prove themselves on the main stage. What’s your opinion on this format, especially considering how well the Challengers teams have performed so far in the region?

I really love that this has finally happened. It’s been too long that the system was very closed, where you had teams having bad years and then that was it. But now, you actually have someone who’s grinding all year and still trying, even though they have to play online and probably have lower salaries than Tier 1 players, coming into the league and showing these teams what it’s all about. If you’re in a bad spot as a Tier 1 team, you just lose and that’s it. You still have next year. But in Tier 2, you have to grind really hard to get there.

THESPIKE: What is the biggest misconception people have about Joblife?

I think the biggest misconception is that, before we actually played here and people saw us, they thought we were just a bunch of rejects. Now, with other Challengers teams and us, we’re showing that Tier 2 players are actually good. That’s the biggest misconception. Just because you’re in Tier 2, it doesn’t mean you’re not good. There are actually a lot of really good players and teams there.

How to be the better version of yourself

Doma’s esports career began in Fortnite, where he competed in several European tournaments between 2019 and 2021. After his team disbanded, he switched to VALORANT and worked his way through several European organizations before joining Fnatic in 2021. Since then, Doma has spent much of his career in Tier 2, before finally returning to the big stage with Joblife.

THESPIKE: If you were to retire from VALORANT one day, what would you want people to remember you for?

Doma: "I think people see me as a cool, funny guy. I’ve had a pretty crazy career, with a lot of ups and downs. But I think that’s what makes the story interesting. You can think it’s over, but there’s always a chance to come back."

THESPIKE: Do you think the young Doma would be proud of where you are now?

Doma: "I think he would be. Obviously, I think a younger Doma would have had higher expectations for where I would be by now, especially because I was once at the top of VALORANT in the world. But I think he would be proud of where I am today."

VCT EMEA 2026 Stage 2

The VCT EMEA 2026 Stage 2 Play-Ins stage goes from July 15 to August 30. Only four teams will advance to the Playoffs, where they will battle for a place at VALORANT Champions 2026, which is set to take place in Shanghai, China.

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.

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