Fnatic Kaajak: "Abyss? I think it's the worst map in the game. But you have to play it so..."

VALORANT Champions Tour 2025 - Valorant Champions Finals started with a bang as the Accor Arena witnessed an unlikely result from its first VALORANT match of Champs. The Upper Bracket Final between NRG and Fnatic ended up being a 2-0 in favor of the North American side, a result not many expected. This meant that NRG enters the Grand Finale while Fnatic will have a shot at redemption in the Lower Bracket FInal.

Following the match, THESPIKE spoke with Kajetan "kaajak" Haremski, Fnatic's premier Duelist. Despite the loss, Kajetan stays hopeful as he spoke about the disappointing result, playing on the big stage, Yoru and Waylay, and more.

THESPIKE: I'll keep this short and sweet. One question about the game. About Ascent, your guys' map pick. It didn't really go your way so from the perspective of the team's Duelist, what was missing from that map for you to close it out instead of NRG?

Kaajak: We just started slow. We started the game 5-1 and we had it rough. We knew our defense side is stronger so we were still really cofident in that game. We won the pistol and then the bonus I think and we were playing well. It just came to some clutches and losing some moments we didn't play together. It is what it is. And Abyss, we just got destroyed. They were much better on Abyss.

THESPIKE: In the press conference Boaster wasn't very fond of Abyss. What's your take on the map?

Kaajak: Abyss? I think it's the worst map in the game. But you have to play it so...I mean, it's an ok map to play, but it's definitely not a fun map to play.

THESPIKE: In an interview you did for STRAFE, you mentioned that Waylay is fun to play. Obviously you are Fnatic's Yoru/Duelist main but you did whip out the Waylay today. So what makes Waylay fun and what went into the Waylay pick on Abyss today, the map your team hates.

Kaajak: If you play a couple of games with Waylay, the teams know how you play. They know where you dash and they setup for it or they know which positions you play on defense so it gets harder. So it's not that fun to play right now, but it was really fun before. You can do a lot of stuff with the dash, the recall, the slow so... It was much funner before than this right now so I still like it (Waylay) so it's ok.

THESPIKE: You're a rookie this year and yet you've come so far with Fnatic and you've taken up a huge role within Fnatic as the Duelist. So walk me through the atmosphere at the Accor Arena today on the big stage.

Kaajak: I think this was actually one of the problems that I didn't feel like I'm going to play a big game or something. I just walked in. Felt quite confident. Felt pretty relaxed but things didn't go our way. But it was fun. It was fun to play on the big stage.

THESPIKE: How would you rate the equipment on the stage that you've been given?

Kaajak: I mean the equipment is really good. I think it's the same like in the other area that we played in in Paris. So everything is pretty good, can't say a bad word right now. Maybe the monitors could be better but it's all good.

THESPIKE: 500hz?

Kaajak: At least 360, you know?

THESPIKE: We got a lot of news about updates and venues next year. We'll have Masters Santiago, Masters London, and Champions Shanghai. What's your take on those places and which one are you most excited for next year?

Kaajak: I would say Santiago because I've never been to Chile or Brazil or anything like that. That would be really nice. China is also really nice. London is quite important for Fnatic because they are from the UK so...But the most I'm looking [forward to] is Santiago, China, London, I would say.

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Note: Some parts of the written interview have been altered for the sake of clarity and or brevity.

Featured image credit: Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games