FUT began their EWC campaign with a 13-10 victory over TYLOO on Mirage, leaving it late to close out the game after taking a commanding 9-3 lead on the CT side.
The French event marks Yasin "xfl0ud" Koç's first LAN appearance with FUT after joining the Turkish organization from HEROIC in the off-season. The move was like a dream come true for the 23-year-old, who is overjoyed with the amount of support he has received from the Turkish community.
"I had maybe some kind of [other] offers, but from teams that were not as high," he told HLTV after the match.
"But even if I got better offers or same-level offers, I would [still] choose FUT because, besides the organization, the roster is so good, players are so young, and every team is probably asking for players on our team right now. So I'm very happy to be here."
xfl0ud put the loss to 3DMAX in BLAST Bounty down to the limited time of practice the team had and said he feels much more at home now in his new setting.
When asked for his thoughts on the roster's potential, he said he believes the team can once again break into the top-5 in the ranking.
"I think if we can be more consistent and if we can keep learning, keep grinding and keep evolving, I think we're going to be a top-five team in the long term," he said.
First game, first win here at EWC. A close game towards the end after a 9-3 first half. Give me your thoughts on the game.
I think our CT side was pretty solid. I think we played pretty well. We had good reads in general, but on the T side, I lost [the pistol round]. After I got three kills, I lost a 1v1, a pretty easy kill. I couldn't shoot. But after that, they started to come back, and we struggled in the first buy, first two gun rounds. We tried to take timings, which were very good timings, but I couldn't shoot, for example. But, yeah, end of the game, we managed to kill them, and it worked out.
This is your second tournament with the team, the first one on LAN. Talk to me about how things went down in the off-season. Were you looking for a new challenge? Did you have other offers? What was it like for you?
For me, FUT is a safe home. I feel they are approaching me like a family because they are a Turkish organization, and I have followed them for a long time. I like their branding. So I like to be here. I love to be here. I had maybe some kind of [other] offers, but from teams that were not as high. But even if I got better offers or same-level offers, I would [still] choose FUT because, besides the organization, the roster is so good, players are so young, and every team is probably asking for players on our team right now. So I'm very happy to be here.
And how special is it for you to play again for a Turkish organization, especially one that is as big and as popular as this one?
It feels very solid and special. In Eternal Fire, it was also a Turkish organization, but we were a full Turkish team, so maybe you were not feeling that special. But now — of course, I'm not looking to be popular — I feel very nice and very happy when I see the love from the people and support from the Turkish fans.
You are the oldest player on the team at 23. What is it like to be surrounded by these young players, all with a lot of potential?
Since Sangal to HEROIC, HEROIC to FUT, I've been the oldest guy on my teams. So, okay, I'm the oldest, but I don't feel that I'm that old. My soul is still, like, 18, I will say. But it's very nice because maybe when I was young, 18, 20, I thought it was better to play with old players so you get some experience for the last two years. I think it's way better to play with young players. They can be bigger hitters; they can evolve faster, I'd say.
The team has some of the most promising players in the scene. You have dziuggs and Krabeni, for example. What is it like to play alongside them? They have a lot of potential. Some teams, I guess, have been asking about them. So is there anything about them that has surprised you?
I already knew their potential. To be honest, I wanted to play with dziuggs even before. Of course, he's not my dream player, but it was more like, 'Oh, bro, this guy seems very good. I want to play with him,' because he's a very solid anchor, and from the current scene, you don't have a lot of solid anchors. He's shooting hard, he's so smart, and he's very talkative. That's what I like to see from an anchor player.
And for dem0n, he's, I think, one of the best shooters I have ever played with. So I like everyone here, not only those two players, but everyone is doing their job at a top level, and I'm very happy to be here with them.
Let's talk a bit about Bounty. That was your first tournament with the team. You couldn't make the LAN finals. You beat SINNERS, then you lost to 3DMAX. What were the main lessons from that tournament?
I think we started the season a little bit late because players were not ready to start the season yet, and I was on my honeymoon. So I think that was the biggest issue. We played Bounty with one or one and a half weeks of practice. And when we lost, I learned my lessons. We've been playing for one month now, I think, if I'm not wrong, so I have adapted to the team. I know the tendencies, what players are doing, all players. So everything is good now.
But at that time, as I said, I hadn't adapted to the team. Maybe there were some calls I was missing out on. Maybe some voices are new, so I can't recognize their voice, these kinds of things. And of course, I play in news positions right now, most of my CT positions have changed. So now I am more like myself.
Now speaking about this tournament, one of the biggest of the season, what kind of targets have you set as a team? What is the minimum goal for everyone here?
We haven't talked about team goals, but my individual goal and probably everyone's goal is reaching at least the playoffs. And if you can go to the semifinal or final, that will be the best performance we can get out of it with this kind of short practice time, I would say. Right now, I want to see us in the playoffs.
FUT has obviously made it to the playoffs in many, many tournaments, even won a title. When you look at the potential that this team has, once you've had more time to practice, how far do you think that this team can go?
I think this team can reach top five in the long term. And I think if we can be more consistent and if we can keep learning, keep grinding and keep evolving, I think we're going to be a top-five team in the long term.
TYLOO
Yi 'JamYoung' Yang
Dongkai 'Jee' Ji
Jingxiang 'Mercury' Wang
Qianhao 'Moseyuh' Chen
Su 'Zero' Jingshen
WeiJie 'zhokiNg' Zhong
Yasin 'xfl0ud' KoçPast 3 months
HEROIC
Ludvig 'Brollan' Brolin
Linus 'nilo' Bergman
Tim 'susp' Ångström
Antonio 'MartinezSa' Martinez
Christoffer 'Chr1zN' Storgaard
Joonas 'doto' Forss
FUT
Yasin 'xfl0ud' Koç
Dmytro 'dem0n' Myroshnychenko
Aulon 'Krabeni' Fazlija
Nikita 'cmtry' Samolotov
Džiugas 'dziugss' Steponavičius
András 'coolio' Fercsák
3DMAX
Bryan 'Maka' Canda
Lucas 'Lucky' Chastang
Kévin 'misutaaa' Rabier
Jeremy 'Kursy' Gast
Filip 'Graviti' Brankovic
Damien 'wasiNk' Dufour