Insider Gaming spoke to Danil ‘donk’ Kryshkovets after Team Spirit’s victory over Vitality in the EWC Counter-Strike 2 quarter-finals.
The Russian rifling prodigy was typically laconic as he reflected on a significant victory for Spirit, who had not previously defeated Vitality since the addition of Robin ‘ropz’ Kool.
Insider Gaming interview with donk at the Esports World Cup 2026
Your first win against Vitality since they added ropz to the roster. How does it feel to get the win against Vitality?
Nice.
Instead of talking about yourself, you always talk about the team and the team environment and wanting to work well as a team, you know. How pleasing was it to deliver against Vitality?
I don’t know. It’s not about Vitality. It’s about ourselves.
What pleased you today in terms of your own play?
We were good in our things, and that’s it. We are just good.
It felt like Spirit got the right balance of aggression today. Do you feel that way?
I don’t know. I was just playing my game. We were doing sometimes mistakes, sometimes we are doing great rounds, so I don’t know.
You feel it in any game that sometimes, like, ‘this round is bad, this round is great,’ and you always feel this.
It felt like on Anubis you lost a lot of clutches. How do you feel about those rounds?
Just unlucky, to be honest. This best of three had, like, 12 clutches, and we lost 10 of them.
So, we must be better. So, you know, obviously… I mean, we must become better.
What kind of things are you working on to get even better in this tournament?
I think not playing only duels and playing as a team. To be, like, one mechanism and play together.
You had an amazing individual performance on Mirage, especially. Were you just in flow? What does it feel like for you?
I wouldn’t say it was a flow. Like, I don’t know.
Like, I didn’t do much, I would say, in terms of… I killed a lot of echoes and forces, like, not buy rounds. So, it’s like, okay.
The Grand Final of this event will be in the Accor Arena. What would it mean to you to be able to lift this trophy?
It will be great. It’s like any other event’s trophy, whatever.
Darragh is an Esports Journalist for Insider Gaming specialising in Counter-Strike. He loves to explore how esports teams work, or why they very often do not.
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