We had a pleasant interview with Anıl “Thenderlost” Arslan, former Orgless and current Galakticos player, who attracted attention with his rapid rise in the PUBG scene. We touched on many subjects from Thenderlost’s individual successes to their success as a team, their rise, motivation and future plans.
Note: The interview took place 1 hour before the Orgless/Galakticos transfer announcement. For this reason, in the following sections, the name Orgless is interchangeable for the players of Galakticos’ current PUBG team.
Who is Thenderlost? What can you tell us about yourself?
Of course, I’m Anil Arslan. I am 19 years old. I’m a player of the Orgless team. I’ve been playing PUBG since the beta. After a while, I said to myself that I need to reach the professional level in this game. We have come this far. Everything is going well now.
Actually, you have given an answer to this question. However, I still want to ask. Why PUBG? Did PUBG bring you to the professional scene? Or did you already had something in mind?
Frankly, I didn’t think about PUBG professionally at first. I was playing normal like everyone else. Then I stopped for a period of 3-4 months. Then my friends insisted. They said you have to start over, you’re playing really well. Afterwards, I started to play PUBG professionally by improving myself further.
Regarding your professional esports career, does your family support you?
My family has been totally supportive from the beginning. They have been with me throughout this journey.
So you only play PUBG? Are there any other games you play?
Valorant has been recently released and I tried it. It’s also a really fun game. But since it is an FPS game, it is a little different from PUBG. Since PUBG is a battle-royale type game, it is still a much more suitable game for me.
Did you have any prior relation with your current team members? Or do you just have Etiget Esports as a common point?
I’ve known Lyron (Yiğit Can “xLyron” Polat) since PUBG scene first started. We had never met face to face. We knew each other from the game. After joining the Etiget team, we met other team members. It has been going on for three years.
In addition, xLyron was also on Etiget for a while.
So you believe in this whole “team chemistry” thing? According to my personal observations, you have such a thing going on. I believe your success also depends on this. What do you think about this situation? Do you think that this situation has an impact on your successful career?
I think the team chemistry thing really does exist. Because you can communicate comfortably in the team. You are like brother and sister. This affects everything. Likewise in the game… I also believe that this chemistry is effective in our success. Because we do it as a business. That’s why we all have to believe. This is how we can go to the best levels.
So what do you think is the main reason for successes?
I think the main reason is our hard work. We really work harder than other teams. And we are very close to each other. This is the biggest reason.
If you were to express the effect of your hard work on your success with a percentage, what would you say?
Since working hard in PUBG is the key factor for success, I would say this rate is around 90 percent. Our success comes mostly from hard work.
How is your daily work schedule? How many hours a day do you work?
We personally play for 2-3 hours and do our own personal training. Then we continue as a team. It takes 6 hours in total on a daily basis.
All teams of course develop different strategies for different situations and positions. But do you have specific anti-strategy against your opponents?
Our whole game plan is already clear for each circle. This is for Europe, of course. Because we don’t know what each team is doing in MEA. Except for certain teams… Apart from that, we don’t have any difficulties because our game is clear in European scene. We always play prepared.
Onur provides support in the IGL position. But do you have an analyst or coach other than Onur?
Unfortunately, we do not have an analyst or a coach other than Onur. We also try to support Onur. Everything continues with Onur’s plan.
Do you think you would need an analyst or coach for the future?
Obviously, there is a need for this. We need to lighten the burden of Onur. So we do consider this for the future.
Do you do post-match analysis?
Of course. The day after the tournament is over, we analyze all the matches and identify our mistakes. We analyze what should be the right move. This is our routine.
Isn’t it hard to fight without an organization? Isn’t it difficult to continue without the support of an organization?
Obviously, this is difficult. But because we do this as a business, we have to endure these challenges all the same way. In the future, something good might happen in terms of us finding an organization.
Then I guess there is an organization you have agreed with. I would be happy if you share this with us. If you can’t share it, of course, I understand.
It would be much more accurate if I don’t share this right now. Because the announcement has not been confirmed yet.
(We did get a confirmation after this interview, which you can read here).
What do you think about the Turkish fan base only supporting certain teams and not supporting organizations other than the teams they are used to?
When the organization is big, followers and viewers gather around these teams. Regardless of success, they only meet around the name of the organization. There is such a strange situation.
What kind of attitude is there among professional players when there is such a situation in the fan base? How are your relations with the players from the other team?
Our relations are fine and are as they should be. So there is no problem. Since almost all the players are already familiar with each other from the past, there is no problem.
What kind of a competition do you have with other Turkish teams?
Since the world championship is on our agenda, of course, there is a competitive situation. After all, we are all competing for the championship.
Which competitors do you see as successful on the Turkish and global scene?
BBL Esports, for Turkish scene, and globally Virtus.pro.
Again, the audience is skeptical when it comes to your global achievements. They think you won’t be as successful as other teams. What would you like to say to those who think so? Do you trust that you will be successful globally?
Our goal globally is of course the championship title. It’s probably the same for every team. We also see and hear what the audience says. But in the current situation, I think the best they can do is support us.
Speaking of global, can you clarify the situation where you will be playing as a three man during the ESL PUBG Master Summer?
We wanted to play a substitute because there was a change in our squad. They also accepted this situation. However, we had such a right in only 30% of the matches. For this reason, we struggled with the full squad only on the first day of the matches. But unfortunately we couldn’t play the remaining days and we had to play with 3 players.
Did you know about this 30 percent rule from the very beginning? Or did you find out later?
We didn’t know about this at first. We played on day 2. But when we wanted to play on the 3rd day, we encountered this problem. After that, we had to play the remaining matches with 3 players.
From time to time, we may encounter a negative stigma against Turkish teams in different esports scenes. Sometimes even event organizers. Have you ever encountered such an attitude as a Turkish team in the PUBG scene?
I have never encountered such a situation in the PUBG scene. But, as you said, we hear and see things like Valorant or CS:GO, unfortunately.
What do you think about the future of PUBG esports scene? Where is the trend going? Will it rise or fall?
PUBG’ esports scene lost a lot of players because of its new format (Winner Winner). Professional players left the game. Viewers do not want to watch this format anyway. Even though they know this, they continue to do so. If they don’t change this format next year, I think they will lose a lot more players. In fact, I think PUBG esports scene may die completely.
I think you make your game plan according to this format?
Of course, we are developing different tactics. Because win condition is important. When you win, you skip ranking. With the arrival of this format, our game plan has been affected as well as every teams. In fact, for this reason, it is a game format that is not liked and preferred by the professional players.
What advice do you have for those who want to be esports players in the PUBG scene?
Those who want to be esports players in the PUBG scene should work hard and take time. Because PUBG is a much more difficult game than other esports games. Therefore, since it is much more complex, it obviously requires a lot of work.
What are your future career plans?
When PUBG esports scene ends, I plan to continue with a different battle royale game. In the same way, I am going to continue with esports. I think I did a good job in terms of my career in PUBG on both the Turkish and global scene. I will continue this in different battle royale games.
Have you ever tried Apex (Legends)? What do you think of Apex?
I played Apex once. The game is really fast. I think it actually has nothing to do with battle royale. Because it is very fast and its mechanics are very broad and advanced. PUBG is more suitable for me.
Finally, do you have anything you would like to add? What do you want to say to your followers?
On behalf of my team, I would like to tell our followers to continue to support us. Because we will achieve very important things in the future. Thank you very much for taking the time for us.
We would like to thank Anıl “Thenderlost” Arslan for agreeing to do an interview with us, and we wish him and his team success in their future careers.
