"I am only here for fun" - Sayf talks about his VCT career, Team Vitality qualifying for Champions 2024, and returning to Duelist [Exclusive]

Team Vitality became the fourth and final team from VCT EMEA to earn a spot at Valorant Champions 2024. The roster, filled with experienced superstars and young talents from the tier-two scene, fought tooth and nail throughout the 2024 season. After a thrilling series against Team Heretics, the organization has made its first-ever Valorant Champions and second international tournament after VCT LOCK//IN 2023.

After this historic win for Team Vitality, I had the chance to catch up with the superstar Duelist, Saif "Sayf" Jibraeel, to talk more about the match, his career, and the team's growth.

Sayf discusses Team Vitality's victory against Team Heretics, return to the international stage, and the growth of runneR and Kicks

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Q: Hello Sayf! Congratulations on making it to Champions 2024. How are you feeling at the moment?

Sayf: I am feeling pretty good.

Q: I think a lot of people felt the map veto was heavily in favor of Team Heretics, yet Team Vitality managed to defy most odds to win the series. Did you personally feel the map veto wasn't as bad as what others might have thought?

Sayf: I felt pretty good about the map veto. I don't think Team Heretics' Sunset is anything special, to be honest. I understand the way the map is played and how their comp plays on Sunset. We just played well on retakes as a team. We had a general idea of what we wanted to do. We applied that in the game and it was perfect.

Q: I feel Team Vitality's Sunset is quite underrated, considering it is one of the best maps for the team. However, Bind was a big surprise, as the team has barely played this map throughout 2024. Talk to me more about the decision to decide the series on Bind.

Sayf: Our Bind is pretty good. The only problem is that sometimes, we like to close the game a bit too fast. We were 12-6 up and we kind of started trolling since we wanted to close it. Our Bind is one of our strong maps. We have a lot of strong maps, to be honest. That's for sure.

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Q: We have seen you guys permaban Abyss so far in Playoffs since Split was removed from the map pool. Can we expect this to be Team Vitality's new permaban or will the team experiment on the map and pick it in the future?

Sayf: It's absolutely not a permaban. I definitely think we are playing Abyss in Champions. I think we have prepared some stuff for it. Right now, it's a bit too early. We want someone to show their hands first or for someone to do something. But for us, we have it prepped if we want to play it.

Q: Do you personally enjoy playing on Abyss?

Sayf: I think it's a boring map but I am dominating aim-wise, so I'll take that.

Q: You returned to the Duelist role in Stage 2, which has been fantastic to see. Team Vitality's former head coach, Salah, was benched coming into Stage 2 as well. Was your return to the Duelist role influenced by the coaching changes or was it a collective team decision?

Sayf: It was a collective team decision. It didn't matter if Salah was going to go or not. It was just the new directive we were going to take. We were going to put everyone in roles that appeared to fit their identity. We were looking into this closely and had a team discussion.

The change in roles had nothing to do with Salah. It was just a general discussion after he left.

Q: Could you give us some insight on runneR's swap to the Sentinel role, considering he never played it in pro play before Stage 2?

Sayf: We looked at runneR's playstyle in general. I think we assessed what he is good at and noticed that he is better in a more passive role because of the way he was playing Duelist. So, we decided to put him on Sentinel and helped him understand the role. I think he has done a fantastic job in such a short span of time.

Q: I had the chance to talk to Salah back at VCT Convergence. He mentioned you being one of the biggest voices on the team and actively encouraged you to do so. Do you still maintain this role in the team, and how effective have you been for the growth of runneR and Kicks?

Sayf: I think it has helped a lot. It's not only me, to be honest. Trexx is doing an absolutely fantastic job in helping everyone learn and understand as well. Trexx and I are trying to say a lot of things to help the team, but it has also been the coaching staff. ceNdeR, Trexx, and I work very closely with them.

The ideas, approaches, reactions, and certain things we do are things they are taking on as well as learning. If we spot some micro mistakes, we tell them that we can do it differently. They are learning very fast.

Q: Who would you like to face in the Upper Bracket finals and what do you think is the better matchup for Team Vitality stylistically?

Sayf: Futbolist, obviously. I thrive in chaos.

Q: You mentioned your plans of retiring after the end of VCT 2024 a few months ago on stream. Are these plans still a reality even after making it to Champions 2024?

Sayf: It's nothing that I have decided on yet. It's something that I said is an option. Whether I want to retire or not has always been an option for several years. I always assess this situation after every year. It's nothing new. After each year, I look at myself and ask if this is something I would like to continue doing. At the end of the day, I am only here for fun. If I don't have fun, I don't need to continue.

I am only here because I genuinely enjoy playing the game and competing. Retiring right now is something that is not on the table because I am enjoying the journey I am on right now. I think retiring has certainly been an option but I am not looking at it right now.

Q: You mentioned earlier that you thrive in chaos. Are there any teams in particular that you would like to face at Champions 2024? Some of the Chinese teams perhaps?

Sayf: It's been a long time since I have been on the international stage, so I am just gonna say throw anyone at me, bro. I'll try my best.

Q: Anything that you would like to say to the fans supporting Team Vitality and you?

Sayf: To the fans, obviously, no one expected this journey for the organization. It's a hallmark because it's the first Champions for Team Vitality. It's also the farthest the team has ever come in the franchising era. I am super proud to be a part of this journey and to represent them on the big stage.

Thank you for all the support. It's been super insane. In every single game, we have had people behind us and I couldn't be more thankful. Thank you to all the fans.

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Edited by Dinesh Renthlei