tenzy prioritizes team success over individual accolades as magic rebuilds after Astana breakthrough

Magic's rifler Nikita "tenzy" Kochenyuk has emphasized that team results take precedence over individual achievements, even after earning an EVP award at EWC. The recognition came during a qualifier match for IEM Beijing, but tenzy said it did not substantially shift his priorities.

At Astana, magic recovered from an 0-2 group stage start to reach the playoffs, a turnaround tenzy credited to internal communication and emotional openness on stage. "We weren't ashamed of our emotions in front of each other, in front of the arena, and we opened up completely," he explained. The fourth-place finish at Astana secured invitations to BLAST Bounty and EWC, though magic struggled to replicate that success immediately.

A lengthy break disrupted the team's form before BLAST Bounty, where tenzy said magic underperformed. "We'd just come out of a long break, the team hadn't seen each other, there was no visual, physical contact, and we just needed to play more," he noted. By EWC, the team began rebuilding consistency and made the playoffs, finishing in the top 16.

Entering FISSURE Playground 3 in Suzhou as FUT's replacement, tenzy assessed magic's standing as top 20 globally, though he acknowledged the team still lacks the consistency that develops over time. He expressed no sense of entitlement regarding playoff qualification, framing the goal as playing well collectively rather than chasing mandatory results. "We just go into the game and our task is simply to play our own game, and whatever result comes out of that, that's what it'll be," he said.

Looking toward the remainder of the season, tenzy's primary objective is helping magic secure a Major berth. While satisfied with his current individual form, he emphasized wanting to recapture the level displayed at Astana. "Right now, in this exact moment, I could say I'm satisfied," he said, "but if you take a certain stretch, the one that was at Astana and after Astana, at the next tournament, I'd really just like to get back that form I had there."