mini: "I think Vitality is our closest shot and has the caliber to [make a deep run]."

Note: This article is a text port of our live interview with mini. The video interview can be found here.

Could you give me your general thoughts of the year when it comes to [the] EMEA region itself?

I'm feeling good right now because we're about to do the grand final, but obviously I've not held back on my opinion of EMEA this year. I think that we are struggling at the top end of things; I think that we don't [necessarily] have a team that is making those deep runs. I think Vitality is our closest shot and has the caliber to do so, but hasn't [necessarily] shown that they might be able to do that, especially now in their shakiness. So it's kind of difficult right now to see who our kind of podium level teams are. I think KC [is] doing really well right now. I think people are gonna be very surprised when it comes to the global event [when] we see them there because EMEA is a region where people don't tune in as much I feel like sometimes, and I think KC are gonna shock some of the fans that aren't watching EMEA right now.

I want to circle back to the topic of [there being] no real front runners when it comes to EMEA. We've had a lot of amazing teams in this league, [but they] also haven't quite been able to close things out when it [they] get to the international stage. We've seen some vast improvement for some of these teams towards the end of this stage, specifically KC now directly qualifying to Champions. Do you think that the teams that the EMEA sends to Shanghai will be able to keep that form up?

Well, there's Vitality who I think have been on a downward trajectory realistically, and I think it should be them picking things back up. FUT I have some worries about when they start losing games; they kind of mentally collapse a little bit, and Team Liquid have their own battles at global events. So really I think it comes down to – in this question – KC; can they keep up that level? I had some worries with their play style that they're a bit looser when they get into these kinds of big games [and I think:] ‘Are they gonna be able to handle the pressure?' And so far so good; they've been able to qualify to Champs and I'm hoping to see that in this grand final today and hopefully at Champs [that] they maintain [their] composure.

While we're on the topic of Champs, what do you think of the other teams that are – at this moment – most likely going to be locking in slots from other regions. Are there any teams that you specifically kept your eye on in terms of either maybe worrying about how they'll fare against EMEA teams or runners to [potentially] take the whole thing?

I've been watching Americas. Usually, I can't watch too much Pacific bar the ZETA kind of VODs and stuff. I usually end up doing the EMEA stuff and then watching Americas. 100 Thieves is the answer right now. I think they've obviously started almost halfway through the year; they really ramped [things up] and it feels like they are the team that are looking really dominant right now. Of course, Americas still has teams like LEV and NRG behind them. I don't know why I feel like I always go Americas bias with stuff; even though they didn't perform very well at London, but I think they do truly have the potential to have teams that can make podiums, probably three or four of them.

I also want to ask you what your thoughts are on the state of EMEA's coaching staff. This isn't really something that gets discussed a lot because usually the spotlight [is] on the players. I think it's really important though to highlight the development potential that some of these coaching staff, duos, pairs, teams, even have focused solely on making sure they uplift their players. I wanted to get your general thoughts on what you think of the scene within EMEA when it comes to the coaching staff.

I think part of the issue is that some of our best coaches are currently coaching in Americas; bonkar, nbs, and d00mbros [are] all finding huge success in Americas right now and some of the best coaches that we should be having in our region I think [are] part of the reason why maybe some of these more traditional teams are falling down right now. I'd say that we got the Heretics even Vitality showing a little bit FNATIC like these are kind of legacy orgs that haven't necessarily kept up with the playstyle that's happening right now, and I think that the coaching staff and these teams kind of need to kind of go back to the drawing board and see what they can do. But when it comes to the other teams, I think we've got ZE1SH doing a really good job right now. I think there are a lot of Turkish coaches especially [that] just understand what this playstyle is about and [are] just leaning into their kind of Turkishness, which really suits this matter.

I was talking to Lohan yesterday [about] the topic of making sure a team found its own identity in the sense of not trying to look at these other top teams in other regions and copy what they're trying to do like LEV or Paper Rex. Do you think it's important that a team goes back to the drawing board and tries to figure out exactly what works for them and make it their own without really relying on outside factors in terms of copying other teams?

I think it's always about identifying what is strong and I think some teams are very poor at doing that. They look at other teams who are winning and think that that is strong. Sometimes it is strong, but most of the time it is a combination of strong and the fact that their players are able to do these things. For instance, LEV; I don't necessarily think Neon Phoenix is a must-play for almost any team in the world. I don't think it is the strongest thing you can absolutely do, but when you are LEV, that is what you're gonna have to do because that is the kind of team you have in there. Their playstyle with the Chamber [where] they have a Chamber one side of the map [and] they've got the Neon Phoenix the other side of the map really makes a lot of sense and I think we're seeing unfortunately a lot of teams just look at that, trying to copy and paste it in very bad ways, and then looking at their players [and] be like ‘Wait We don't really have a Neon player. Oh, we can't even play the Chamber. We have to play Cypher.' To me, I think identifying what is good and then kind of applying that to your team's abilities is basically what a coach should be doing and unfortunately something seems to be missing sometimes for some of these teams.

Sometimes a team will struggle to find its identity, maybe not perform as well as it needs to, and a change needs to happen. Have there been any specific [roster] changes throughout the entirety of this year that have either maybe shocked you or drawn some kind of emotion out of you? [Were you] expecting it, were [you] waiting for it to happen, anything of the sort?

I think with FNATIC, [with] Milan being dropped. I think [that] was a surprise to lots of people. There's not really too much more I could say. I don't want to hound them for the decision. I think that I was quite clear on the desk about it when it did happen. I thought that ENGH would be able to provide something to the team, but it seemed like he ended up kind of being almost outside the process of Desmo and Boaster in some regards. At least that's what seemed to have happened. So yeah, I think Milan got done dirty just a little bit.

I want to talk about you now. We haven't seen you take into the coaching booth [in a while]. How have you been faring in these new roles that you found yourself [in]? You helped out Paper Rex at one point and you're currently [a] coaching advisor for ZETA, helping them with their needs. How have you been doing since you started picking up these roles, especially the desk?

I've been honestly enjoying it so much. I really enjoyed my time as head coach, but it is the most stressful thing you could possibly do, especially for someone like me who really puts a lot of pressure on myself to succeed. A lot of it is kind of out of your control. Every single game day, I felt horrible. Even during [the] superteam era, where [we were] expected to win every game, I knew in the back of my head we probably were gonna win those games, but I still wouldn't be able to eat that day and it would be a horrible experience. I'm very much enjoying being able to watch the game from a different lens and angle and of course still helping these teams. [It's been] a truly different experience working with a team like ZETA DIVISION who has very different expectations, don't even speak my language, [and] have very different ways to approach things. So yeah, I'm just really enjoying being almost like… I don't want to say connoisseur, but I kind of like being able to see all these different roles and aspects. I'm truly enjoying it and I'm truly enjoying the fact that I'm able to live my life a little bit more than just being mini 24/7.

One thing I do want to focus on as well is since you've worked with a lot of these different teams, have there been any different kind of team cultures that have piqued your interest or you've just really fallen in love with over your tenure as [an] advisor, coach, [or talent]?

Paper Rex is the obvious one. I think that if I was to do a lecture on how to run a team from my point of view and style, almost everything would be countered by the way Paper Rex does stuff. They do everything almost different than I would do it and yet it works for them. I think the conclusion for me was there are different ways to do things and it just depends on the kind of philosophy of the team. I think that is one of the reasons why alecks is such a good coach because he does have a way that he wants to apply things. I think the great coaches, people like me and him, we have our own kind of way of doing things, not necessarily right or wrong, but there is clearly something to follow. I think that they taught me how to have fun a little bit more. [I] had quite a bit of fun with them. When I was in FNATIC, we didn't [have] too much fun. Our managers would try and make us go outside a little bit, but ultimately we were locked in a little bit too much at times and I think Paper Rex really understand how to balance things.

Are you excited for the upcoming changes to the competitive season that we'll see incorporated in 2027 and onwards? Any hopes for EMEA or other regions to maybe flourish in that sense?

I have a lot of thoughts. I'm a little bit worried because our meta is the most… I don't want to say random, but it truly is harder to win games without good form right now. I think that if this meta continues, next year when we're in a more open system, there's gonna be a lot of online play. We're gonna see a lot of interesting storylines, but I am worried that we're not gonna see consistency across the year for a lot of these teams. I'm happy that I'm not a coach in the kind of head coach sense for next year and I get to kind of just enjoy the schadenfreude or whatever of all the coaches experiencing these Tier 2 demons and 16 year-olds just beating their asses and randomly winning games. But yeah, as an analyst, I'll thoroughly enjoy it.

Anything else you might want to let the fans know out there?

I'll be streaming a lot of VOD reviews coming up to Champs and kind of looking at all the regions. Won't be working, but I'm gonna be dissecting all the teams and kind of figuring out who's looking good. I don't have time right now to watch everything, so I think that I gotta enjoy watching back all the VODs of say, Pacific and Paper Rex and stuff and see ‘Why are they losing right now?'