Heretics MiniBoo, "I Want To Win Six Trophies In VCT 2025"

Team Heretics, the runners-up of VALORANT Champions 2024, are returning to action after two and a half months at the Red Bull Home Ground Main Event, taking place from November 21 to 23 in Berlin. Ahead of the event, I caught up with their star duelist, MiniBoo, to discuss about their preparations and goals for VCT 2025, his reaction to the upcoming Neon nerf, his thoughts on other VCT rosters, and much more.

Apart from this, I also asked him about his ideal mixed-gender roster and his thoughts on Florescent joining Apeks (as per the report by Sheep Esports). Check out the complete conversation below!

Rabia: I'm going to start off by asking about team practice. You had a few months of break after Champions, and you're in the bootcamp nowadays, I think. How is the practice going overall and have you rested well?

MiniBoo: We are not bootcamping. All of us were at home in our own countries, but yeah, we started practicing about a month ago. The last few weeks were kind of intense; we were making some changes in the team. You’re maybe going to see that in the Red Bull Home Ground.

Overall, we are super happy and excited to come back and play VALORANT, and everyone is more motivated to play because of the second placement at Champions. We always love playing officials because there are some pretty good teams to compete against, so we’re really excited.

Rabia: That's great! Which team are you looking forward to playing against the most?

MiniBoo: Honestly, from the whole tournament, I’m most excited to play against T1. The roster seems really fun and I like Meteor and other players in the team. For me, it’s more exciting because they’re from Asia and not from Europe like the other teams I’ll face in Kickoff.

Rabia: I look forward to seeing you guys in action! Also, I want to ask about your recent trip to LA. You were invited to the Tarik Ludwig Invitational, where you did vlogging for the first time as well. How was your overall experience and when can we expect more vlogs from you?

MiniBoo: I was thinking of doing vlogs for the Red Bull Home Ground, but it’s hard, you know. I’ll probably do it again next season, but it’s quite hard and I need to get used to it. But the tournament was really enjoyable. Sentinels welcomed us really well, their hospitality was great, and overall, the experience, the people, the players, and the games were really fun.

Rabia: Glad you enjoyed it and Heretics is producing great content, so I look forward to seeing a lot more from you as well!

MiniBoo: Thank you so much!

Rabia: Coming to VCT 2025, like we were discussing, there have been a lot of changes made to the overall schedule, making the season a bit longer. We know there has been a lot of criticism from pros about the hectic schedule players have been going through. How do you feel about the new changes made to VCT 2025?

MiniBoo: I think the changes are valid, and they’re good. Obviously, it’s going to be sad for those teams who don’t qualify for playoffs since they’ll have to wait for two months to play on stage. But for those teams who go to international events, it’s going to be way easier than the previous year because they’ll have bigger gaps to come back.

Overall, I think coming back home is a really valuable thing to avoid burnout, especially for me and my teammates. I mean, it’s impossible to create the best format for everyone because someone who loses will always have to wait a lot.

But I see Riot is trying to prevent burnout and the hectic schedule, so I respect them for that and this year is going to be fine. I think it’s going to be better than the previous one.

Rabia: Absolutely and it will give teams a bit of time to adapt to the changing meta as well.

MiniBoo: Yeah, that's true!

Rabia: I also want to touch on the expectations you guys have for the upcoming season. We know that Heretics had an incredible 2024 season and you guys were runners-up in almost every event. While I understand that it’s sometimes a bit frustrating not to win an event, considering that you guys played together for the first time and it’s a long-term project, as Neilzinho mentioned, the year was a great success. So I want to know what kind of expectations and goals you guys have for the upcoming season.

MiniBoo: Moving into 2025, I think our standards are set way higher than before because we’ve already played one year together. We have the experience now and overall, we have fewer distractions—like, there’s no school for me anymore. So obviously, we expect more from ourselves and we’ll play better than before.

We don't want to sit on the same place, we want to improve, get better and we have all the resources and tools to do it. And if we don't do it then it's on us so we want to win titles. For everyone here in the team, the first place is our target and I would say I would like to win six titles — Kickoff, Stage 1, Stage 2, Masters Bangkok, Masters Toronto, and Champions.

We don’t want to stay in the same place; we want to improve and get better and we have all the resources and tools to do it. If we don’t, then it’s on us; so, we want to win titles. For everyone here on the team, first place is our target. Personally, I’d like to win six titles—Kickoff, Stage 1, Stage 2, Masters Bangkok, Masters Toronto, and Champions.

Rabia: I love that confidence! I hope you guys get a lot of trophies in the upcoming season—you deserve it.

Also, I want to ask about one of your recent tweets. You wrote and I quote: “Can someone make a photo of me with a McDonald’s hat pls” [both laughing]. We know you’re one of the best Neon players out there and you brought Neon into the meta, especially on Sunset, even when she wasn’t such an overpowered agent. However, there are changes coming to her in Patch 9.11. What’s your reaction to it and what would you like to see in terms of nerfs?

MiniBoo: Honestly, I enjoyed pre-buff Neon because, after the buffs, every duelist in the game—even typical Ranked players—were good with her. So honestly, I’m happy about the Neon nerf because I even played Yoru really well before people started picking him up and I enjoy playing agents that aren’t popular. I think my strength is developing something new and playing it. So even with the nerf, if she’s playable, I’ll still use Neon—it just depends.

The tweet was obviously sarcastic and I can play every duelist [laughing]. It’s just annoying when you play Ranked and some random guy slides and kills you—that’s really frustrating. So yeah, I’m happy about the nerf.

Rabia: Yeah, we see it a lot of time in competitive; there'll be a 2v5 situation but the player will activate Neon's ult and win the round. 

Yeah, we see that a lot in competitive these days—there’ll be a 2v5 situation but the player activates Neon’s ult and wins the round.

MiniBoo: Exactly—she's so strong!

Rabia: You mentioned that if she’s still playable, you’d love to continue playing her. But what if the nerfs are too strong and she’s pushed out of the meta? Which duelist would you prefer after her? And why is it Reyna [jokingly]?

MiniBoo: Raze is the agent that’s always there for you. No matter how strong other duelists are, you can always play Raze at a decent level. So I think Raze is always a good option. I like Jett a lot too, and Yoru as well, but Reyna? I don’t think it’ll work—our coach wouldn’t allow it [laughing].

Rabia: Why not try it at Red Bull Home Ground, just for fun? Haha! 

MiniBoo: Haha, we have a different mentality. We prefer to stick to what’s consistent and what’s going to bring value. For now, Reyna isn’t that agent that brings consistency.

Rabia: I agree with that! I was just kidding, haha. 

Next, I want to do a little rapid-fire with you. I’ll give you the names of a few teams, and you just place them in a tier for VCT 2025. Cool? Let’s begin!

Rabia: Last question before we wrap up. I don’t know if you’ve seen the recent roster leak by Sheep Esports, but according to them, Florescent has reached a verbal agreement with Apeks for VCT 2025. If the deal goes through, what do you think about this move? And if you were given a choice, what would your favorite mixed-gender roster for VCT look like?

MiniBoo: Florescent is great, and she played really well in GC. I’ve watched a lot of her highlights on Twitter, and honestly, I’m really impressed—I’ve never hit those kinds of shots in my life. So it’s pretty amazing.

About the move, I think it’s going to be really tough because, to be honest, the level of GC and VCT is massively different—VCT is way harder.

But I think she’s the strongest player in GC right now, and she’s the one who can make that move. If I had to choose someone, it’d be her, but it’s going to be challenging. She’s young, though, so she has time to learn.

For my mixed-gender roster, I’d definitely go with Petra and Florescent. I’m not sure who I’d pick from VCT, but I’m certain about those two.

Rabia: Great choices—Petra and Florescent are the GOATs! Thank you, MiniBoo, for taking the time for this interview. It was lovely talking to you. Best of luck for Red Bull Home Ground and VCT 2025!