VIT Derke talks setbacks, building confidence, and playing with Jamppi

Nikita “Derke Sirmitev has been playing for Team Vitality (VIT) since 2025 and helped the team achieve regional glory with a Kickoff title. However, since then, the team has struggled to regain momentum and has yet to qualify for an international stage.

In the mid bracket, they needed to overcome Fnatic to keep their dreams of qualifying for the International alive, but they couldn’t halt Fnatic’s momentum. Later, in the lower bracket, they faced Team Liquid on a winning streak and again fell short, ultimately being eliminated from the VCT EMEA Kickoff.

In an interview with esports.gg, VIT Derke reflected on their loss to Fnatic, running a double-duelist composition alongside Jamppi, and what the team needs to improve ahead of Stage 1.

Team Vitality revamped most of its roster for the 2026 season, retaining only Derke. As the team continues to experiment and adjust to the meta, it slipped into the middle of the bracket. There, they faced Fnatic, but their momentum wasn’t enough to overcome Derke and Chronicle’s former squad.

“It was a very hard game for us. They were playing really well, and everything that could go wrong for us was going wrong,” VIT Derke admitted. “We lost all our pistol rounds, which already puts you four rounds behind. When you have such a bad start, it’s hard to get back on track.”

For VIT Derke, losing the first map was not demotivating for the team. Individually, he felt confident in his performance and believed his aim was not the issue. “I just feel I didn’t have many opportunities to actually take fights, because I’m on more of a melee, dashing duty and things like that,” he explained.

On the first map, Derke played Waylay, an agent focused on being the first to enter the site, gathering information, and safely repositioning using her signature ability. "You don't get to shoot much, even though you are a duelist, which is funny," he added.

The “mosquito composition” refers to a double-duelist setup built around Yoru and Waylay. Popularized by DRX, the strategy revolves around aggression, damage, and quick disengagement. Both agents have a high mobility kit, allowing them to dive onto a site, secure kills, and escape safely.

Derke feels very comfortable with Elias "Jamppi" Olkkonen in this composition. "We are slowly getting better, which is a good sign," VIT Derke stated. On other maps, like Corrode, the duo goes for a Phoenix-Yoru composition. For him, Yoru is still a good pick for him since he can roam around the map and play operator sometimes.

Team Vitality has not qualified for an international event since the Masters Bangkok in 2025. This year, they were very close once again, but they didn't manage to reach the bracket's finals. After the loss against Fnatic, they had to face Team Liquid and ended up losing by 1-2.

Until Stage 1, the team will have some months to practice and work. Before the tournament arrives, the team needs to work on building its confidence, according to Derke.

For the player, facing his former team doesn’t feel any different. It’s all in the past. He believes players quickly get used to it and don’t place too much importance on it. “Chronicle was having fun interacting with them, but that’s just a normal thing to do. I’m so locked in on my monitor that I don’t see what’s happening, and I’m not the kind of person to stand up,” he explained.

Derke added that he usually doesn’t stand up during matches, partly because he had an iron deficiency a few years ago and partly because he’s not used to it, coming from a background in Counter-Strike. As for Jamppi and Chronicle's barking during the matches, Derke is already used to it. "I'm sad that we lost, but I was happy hitting shots. You can't win all the matches, but I felt I was in a good place," he laughed.

Team Vitality will return for Stage 1, but the group draw for the EMEA region has yet to be announced. We’ll have to wait until the end of the tournament to see which teams they will face in March.