Derke feels reborn after moving on from FNATIC to Team Vitality

Team Vitality is a new environment for Nikita "Derke" Sirmitev. After spending the majority of his VALORANT career on FNATIC, he's found himself on a different team, but with a victory and high expectations ahead of him.

After Team Vitality's first series against Karmine Corp, esports.gg spoke with Derke around 2 a.m. local time, as they advanced in the 2025 VCT EMEA Kickoff tournament. We spoke about his new home and the settling in with the team via the match itself.

"I know it’s incredibly late, so seriously, thank you for taking the time to talk to me. I’ll make things quick."

Derke: "Thank you as well. I'm a bit off right now <laughs>."

"Understandable! So, it’s been almost four years since you’ve played a VCT match in a jersey that is not FNATIC’s. Did it feel weird at all, walking on stage repping Team Vitality today?"

Derke: "Watching them play was kind of a bit weird, but also kind of fun. I think it's a new beginning for me. Kind of like I'm reborn. New team, new confidence, new teammates that are like really fun, young and stuff. So, it's like everyone gets us and we have a lot of experience. But it was weird at the same time, and it was exciting. Mostly just excited for it."

"And with this being a new team, you’ve obviously had time to practice, but things still must feel pretty fresh right?"

Derke: "We practiced a lot and our practice has been insane. I feel like today we showed it, for example, on Haven, which was amazing. Even on Bind, we got our game going on some rounds. It was fine that we lost it, because we know it's their really strong map.

"We know how they play and we have some interesting thoughts about our weaknesses that we found during practice. I feel we had shown more of those weaknesses during officials, so we know what we actually need to work and how to figure these thing out.

"We just played our game, and lot of the times it was good. They showed a really good game, too. Started to come back in the second half, and then we played that long OT. But I think the game was a tough one, because they're a strong team.

"We're not really used to officials yet. We haven't played anything off-season, just prac, prac, prac. I think in practice, when you practice for so long, make changes during practice, you kind of get some bad habits. Like over-peeking, oh, let me just peek this thing. Oh, this team let me do this.

"I think those bad habits show later on in officials, like today for example, but also, we haven't played an official in a long time. So, people will naturally feel a bit different how they talk and do other things. Some people will communicate different, some people will do more, some people will do less, you know?

"So, it was good to see what our first game brings. We were super happy to win this one, but honestly I'm probably more happy that we know what to work on after showing some weaknesses and losing a lot of rounds. Now we actually know what to target and I think in the long term, it's going to be way easier for us because of that. Because if it'll be easy game, maybe next game we lose and then who knows what's going to happen."

"Well, is there anything you’re doing on Team Vitality that you might not have done on FNATIC? Or perhaps even weren’t allowed to?"

Derke: "I mean, sayf gives me more freedom. More full trust and I feel like I have a lot of trust from the boys. They want me to make those plays, instead of being more disciplined and stuff, which is good. But also, I know the ways in how FNATIC work, and sometimes the discipline is the right option.

"I think I'm also trying to help young players, like Kicks, on how to play the Initiator. Because the Duelist and Initiator synergy has to work really well. I think we got it pretty on lock. I think it can only grow and I've been really impressed with him in practice and even more today.

"Right now, he's just got to get used to the stage, the big games when people do stuff he hasn't probably seen. And Less, for example, brings a lot of like ideas during the game, how we should move and helps sayf in terms of IGLing.

"But for me, I think I bring more of the micro plays, with how I want to play., The Duelist aspect of what I'm calling. Like, 'Oh, I want to go here, let me get the first blood here. Oh, that's a gap here. I think we can hit it again, it was too easy.' Stuff like that. think I'm really good at talking about those things and just noticing the economy, Ultimates, and stuff for people to make adjustments to."

"The first two maps were pretty straightforward. You both won your map pick, then off to Abyss. Map three, a lengthy overtime. When you won the map, were you as excited as you would have been if it ended sooner? Or was it more of a relief that you finally get to leave?"

Derke: "<laughs> That we won, of course! We were going to be happy no matter what, that we won. It'll suck to lose. It's always like that. I know the feeling of losing, I know the feeling of winning and then even if you win and you go backstage and you see the opponents that just lost, it's like you just don't want to feel that, you know?

"And of course, you don't want to rub it in, but it feels good to win these games, no matter what. So, I think, for me, I'm happy that we won. And there's the relief that it's late already, so, we won now. And also, I'm just happy that, even though it was hard game, we showed some weakness, and we know what to work on and I feel like everyone's going to be easier after this."

"Can we talk about those Jett knives? I mean, low HP, you dive off the map and float to their side. Boom, boom, boom. And make it back safely. It’s clear that play was intentional. Can you just tell me about the call there, how it was set up by the team and then executed by you?"

Derke: "We were a bit lost, but just in TeamSpeak or whatever, we wer saying like, oh guys stack there. And I'm like, you know what guys? I'm not going to do any of your plays. I'm one HP, it's no point for me to be holding anything. I'm just going to go for this play.

"If it works, it works. Amazing. If not, then you know, maybe I take one, maybe I take nothing, but I'm one HP and it's a bit hard to play on site and get those one on one duels. So, maybe I'll go for some cheeky play. And it was good, because I know that they're throwing a lot of utility at the same time.

"Then we have to wait it out, and especially on LAN here, someone flying over like a Jett or Raze. It's really hard to hear that. So I was like, I'll take the timing. It actually paid off. I'm just a player who likes to try these things. I do that a lot in practice and then it's just easy to apply in officials. I mean, if people really know me, they know that I test the limits of a lot of stuff."

"So, it’s still early in the season. This was your 2025 debut, on a different team. With a slightly different format and a stretched out calendar, how far do you really feel this team can go?"

Derke: "I think we can go far, of course. Everyone knows our potential is insane and probably top one. I think it's just hard work. We need to come out to the office every day, show up. And even sometimes when it gets tough, we just need to show up and do our thing.

"We know what we need to work on and as long as we don't get complacent and lazy, like some other teams might get later on through the stage, we'll take that top one spot in our league. I think the potential is insane, as long as we fix those mistakes. We're looking so good.

"Even today we won against KC, I don't think they're a bad team. I don't think anybody thought that it would be an easy game for Team Vitality. They played a lot of their own game, they showed some cool stuff.

"And honestly, I think playing KC in the early stages of the year is way harder than playing them in the late stages of the year. Because they had so much time in the off-season, and they're known for cheesy plays, cheesy comps, and stuff that can you throw you off.

"Like last year they were doing an Astra wall and Yoru coming out of it and killing everyone. 'Wow, that's the greatest thing ever.' But it worked for a couple games and then what? Maybe for Kickoff, it's amazing, but if you cannot come up with that every game and use it for every tournament, then it is hard, you know?

"So, playing them in Kickoff as our first game, when they showed only like two maps before, obviously it's going to be a hard game, but we prepared for it. And after watching them play against NAVI, we were really confident we can win this.

"It's not really about them, it's more about us, like how we play, how we react. Even though today, there were a lot of miscalculations, there were a lot of misplays, I think we still showed a good game. We're the winning team, so people are going to remember that no matter what, and we're going to go home feeling good. And as long as we fix our mistakes, it should be all easy."

Stay tuned to esports.gg for more esports news and VALORANT coverage.