DetonationFocusMe have reached their goal of reaching the Worlds 2021 Group stages. Now, they are looking to take their miracle run a step further.
Riding high off of their first place finish in Group B, DetonationFocusMe were looking to continue their miracle run against T1 in the Worlds Group Stages. As the Japanese team sat in their seats and finished the draft, coach DFM Kazu felt they had done all the preparation needed to have a competitive game against T1. Unfortunately, LCK’s third seed proved too strong as they were able to dominate the Japanese team in their game. After 20 minutes, DFM’s nexus was gone and T1 boosted their standing to 1-0 while DFM fell to 0-1.
Following their loss to T1, Sage Datuin had the opportunity to speak to DFM’s coach Kazu to talk about rejoining DFM in 2018, their goals for the rest of Worlds and his goal of reaching the Worlds Quarterfinals.
Sage Datuin: You speak English, Japanese and French. How were you able to learn all these languages?
DFM Kazu: I was born in France and grew up there until College. At home, I would speak Japanese to my family. Living in France, I got to learn English and French while at home it was all Japanese.
Sage Datuin: You were actually part of DFM back in 2014 before leaving for two years. Then you came back in 2018. How did the team change in your second stint?
DFM Kazu: When I left DFM, there was no conflict between us at all. There was simply a difference in opinions on how we should play the game. It was a discussion of individual or team play and which we should focus on. There was never any bad blood between us. I went my separate way before coming back as a coach in 2018 and it was slightly different. We were all on the same page of how we wanted to play the game so I have stayed here since.
Sage Datuin: Let’s talk about qualifying for the group stages. What was preparation like going into this week?
DFM Kazu: Nothing changed for us. The day would consist of practicing during the daytime, having a team dinner at night and just hanging out with each other. We scrim, practice, go over our practice and then relax a bit. Nothing really changed.
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This was primarily because of Cloud9’s performance. Once HLE won their game as well, we knew where we would be heading so we already started preparing for this group immediately after beating C9.
Sage Datuin: Your first match in the group stage was up against T1. Aside from the result, what was it like being able to face them in the group stages?
DFM Kazu: It is an honor to play against T1. We spent years studying and learning their game. A lot of how we got better as a team was because of constant hours watching T1 vods. Same time, we prepared against T1 so we could beat them today. That did not work out and it was really one-sided as well. We have some time again before we face them again so in those three days, we will look to get revenge and beat them.
Sage Datuin: In a scrum, you stated your ultimate goal is to reach top 8 at Worlds. Now that you are in this group, what are your thoughts on the people you need to beat in your group?
DFM Kazu: Something that never changed about us is our mindset that we can beat anyone. Even though all these teams in our group are very good, they do not scare us. We know how good we are. They are not overwhelmingly better than us. The quality of our scrims, the meta and everything is on a different level for them. I understand that, but I still have confidence that I can reach this goal of top 8 with DFM. We will practice and continue to work hard to reach that stage.
Sage Datuin: Any final words to new and old fans of DFM?
DFM Kazu: Although we lost today's game, it was a very important game for us. Even though we got completely stomped, it is something we can learn so much from. At the end of the day, we are in the group stages and that is surreal. Same time, I don’t want to just settle with group stages. I want to make it into the quarterfinals. We will continue to work extremely hard and prepare a lot so we can achieve new heights for Japan.
Stay tuned to Esports.gg for the latest League of Legends news and updates, as well as coverage from Worlds 2021 to see how DFM Kazu does the rest of Worlds 2021.
