Interview With Dsyre player Calvin "MAGiK" Spaaij

Carriço: The first question would be how did you get into esports?

MAGiK: I think it was because of Fortnite. Before Valorant I played Fortnite, and then obviously it was really easy to transition into Esports, by doing cahs cup, World Cup, and all that stuff. I think that when the World Cup came out and trios Cups, that’s the moment I realized that I really wanted to compete. I finally felt that I got a taste of how Esports is. Obviously, it wasn't perfect in Fortnite.

Carriço: Why did you choose to become a professional Valorant player? 

MAGiK: Back then it was project A. Project A was announced and came out, I think a lot of people were not really in love with Fortnite, or just playing because they are big and obviously are contracted. 

But for me, I transitioned to a content creator for the organization I was at the time. Because I just didn't enjoy the game that much and didn't have the time or effort to continue as a professional Fortnite player anymore.

So yeah I was a content creator and I just told the organization, I want to try this game, I played a bit of CS.GO and the game looks fun. It’s a mix and it's fresh, and I will be just doing that. If you support me that's amazing but it's a personal decision I’m going to project A. So yeah it was just a decision I made back then. 

Carriço: Can you talk a little bit about your path in VALORANT before joining Dsyre?

MAGiK: My career, how it started was I started with 123tap, with Hyperzxz, JorisBE, Fraeei, and SAFA I think, back in 2020. We played some tournaments, some really really bad Dutch Lan. It was all really badly organized, and small and etc but still I loved it I really enjoyed it.     

Then VCT came out, I was on a team called Ignite, we did some games there and we were actually quite decent. Then from Ignite, I went to M4LIK, obviously a more known name. SO yeah in M4LIK we kinda had a dream run, we came into top 16 and won one game versus BK ROG Esports and then lost in the lower bracket twice. For us as an unsigned team and new to this game and Esports, it was amazing. 

Then Vexed Gaming came in and picked us up as five. I played on the roster for five months, and in the last month, I was inactive obviously looking for new opportunities. I had a lot of offers I was able to explore, there were some tier 1 rosters and tier one organizations that wanted to trial me. Unfortunately, it didn't work out because due to me still being a student. But it was amazing.

Then Dsyre came, and I was like really at the point where I was thinking “okay I might just wait with Esports until I’m done with my studies and then I will see what happens”. I was in a bad place personally, and then the shining light Dsyre just came and said “come on let's trial we need a player”, and I’m like let's go. 

With the organization personally it really clicked immediately, and I did two or three trials and they were like “ oh yeah we want you”, and I’m like nice let’s go. It all went super fast, and yeah I just started playing, and that's where I am right now. 

Carriço: How do you manage the school life with the professional Valorant player life?

MAGiK: I don't recommend it, I definitely, don't regret it but I do feel like it's a bit too much for me. Because I do an internship, the last six months of my study are an internship. So I work at a Law Divorce firm, so I have to do mutual divorces, and it's just like a normal job. SO some days I have to wake up at seven AM and I will be home at 5 PM. Then I have practice from 5 PM until 10 PM.

So personally it can be really really tough, and yeah it took a toll on my mental, the body, and especially when we have officials. Although my internship has been really calm with it and giving me days off on play days like officials. But still, it’s hard to balance, but if you really want something you just got to make it work, there is no good way to balance it because it's not meant to balance two full-time jobs at once. So you just got to go with the flow and just do whatever works and survive. 

Carriço: You play as a flex what are some things that make an excellent flex player at the pro level?

MAGiK: Personally it's a bit tough for me to say because I’m normally a controller main. But we decided it would be better for our team to do some changes inside the team, role-wise. So I'm mostly Sage, Sova, Bridge, Viper, so I still got one of my controller agents, and the rest is kind of like a flex I would say.

I don't know, I think the ability to learn quick I noticed that you got to want to learn quick, and you got to adapt. Because you are mostly, for me personally I’m not benign put on the stage in some maps, I don't have to play KAYO or Skye and Fade. But normally as a flex, you will be thrown into different agents on different maps. So I think the ability to learn quickly and to adapt when needed is one really really good quality as a flex. 

Carriço: How is it to work with these groups of players at Dsyre? 

MAGiK: It’s super fun. Murii is a very fun person and makes a lot of jokes. He brings super positive energy, and then SimonD4rk is just such an explosive guy, he is the typical entry with the mic in his mouth saying “ go go go”.  

When we are all in good vibes it's amazing. I feel like Maru is this calm fresh air that we need. He is the calm guy and brings calm to everyone else on the team. Because I can be a little bit stressed, because if someone is yelling I’m going to yell too. But then Maru who has always the same vibe will make sure to calm us down when needed. 

Carriço: How important is it to have a great team environment, do you think in order to find success a good team environment outside the game is necessary?   

MAGiK: Oh yeah definitely. People underestimate how important it is to have a good environment. Because it kinda the same as when you are going to school and it's like super boring, you hate your teacher, you hater your classmates you aren't really going to learn. 

But when you are having so much fun, the teacher is nice, the people are nice, and you are just enjoying being there, the speed of learning and growing as a person, and also as a player goes up a crazy amount.  

I feel like a good working environment, you don't have to be best friends with your teammates I’m not saying that, but you definitely should be good on a personal level, and not have any bad blood, or weird vibes with them. Because that will make it ten times harder I feel like.  

Carriço: How would you evaluate your campaign in this VRL split so far?

MAGiK: I would say it was good. A bit of a disappointment against Wave Esports to be honest. What happened there was just a flop from everyone kinda. We were also disappointed, we were like “ how can we even loss this ?”. We kinda got annoyed going into the second game. Because the Split game ended on a defuse we didn't hear. We had SimonD4rk ready with a nade and were ready to pick of it, and we were like “it's defused”. We lost the game, and we were kinda confused about how was that possible, so we got upset with that. 

The second game just didn't go our way. I personally didn't play well, I wasn't really adapting. So after that game, we did a role switch, to make sure that personally me I got a fresh agent, I just have to wake up.   

Not disappointed, not super excited, because I felt we could have won more, and we gave away too many rounds to some teams. But yeah compared to the last season this is a really good season for us. But also with these new players, it’s not a surprise. I would say I’m okay with it could be better but happy to be there. 

Carriço: Do you think this Split you will be able to go all the way and get that trophy?

MAGiK: I mean why play if you don't think you are going to win. We are all here to win, it doesn't matter want seed we are going in as, we are just going in and we are going to win. We just got to see how long it takes.

Dsyre built this team with the goal of going to the VRL EMEA finals. Which you qualify through getting first in your respective league like DACH. So yeah we kinda set our minds on that already. So it's not like “ we really want to win this DACH split”, because we are like we got this, we are confident, and we are going to make that. This team was made to win or at least play in the VRL Finals. 

In DACH obviously, the teams are good, and I respect them a lot, Like Mouz, Angry Titans, and Ovation. But yeah I feel like we can definitely win this. 

Carriço: What are some of the things you think you guys as a team need to fix or improve?

MAGiK: For me personally I feel like I have to get a little bit more knowledge of the game, some experience. I noticed sometimes I'm getting a bit nervous and not playing like I am supposed to be playing, and like I play in practices. It’s a big difference between playing in practices and officials. 

I wouldn't say I know about the others, because is more of a personal thing. I’m really focusing on myself right now, with the coach obviously. Since I've got some mistakes I’ve got to iron them out.

So I wouldn't really say I know about the others, but for me is definitely more knowledge, some experience, responsiveness, and my reactions to the game. Is kinda like understanding what step 2 or step 3 of the plan is, and communicating that. Because sometimes I know what I’m doing but I’m not communicating it, and I have step 1 but I don't know steps two and three. Or I know it but I don't communicate it to the rest of the team. 

So I kinda assume they know, but then they do something opposite. So for me is just growing as a player a little bit more, gaining some more experience, and improving by communicating. 

Carriço: What are the main goals for Dsyre for the remaining of this year?

MAGiK: Obviously Dsyre is quite new, they kinda want to make their name with Valorant, so obviously we want to grow the name, we want to show Dsyre to everyone, and that we are here to play. 

So yeah we have the DACH league and we want to win the DACH league, and then play in the VRL finals. Then I think towards October I think there is the Ignition series, and we want to do well in that also. It is basically just about being the best teams we can be, just improving, showing the world Dsyre, and just being the best teams possible. 

Carriço: What are your goals as a player for the remaining of this year?

MAGiK: Obviously me going full-time in about three weeks, I will be finishing school, and I will have my diploma. So there is a lot of height and stress off me. So for me personally I want to be able to learn really quickly and improve myself as a player. 

Now that I have more free time, I personally want to work on myself more, and see what I can do for myself and that I can bring more to the team. I will be putting more time and effort into myself, to make sure I can be the best player for my team. 

Carriço: Is there anything else you want to say to the Dsyre fans or to your own fans?

MAGiK: Just support us, have some fun with us, have a laugh, and hopefully see us in the VRL EMEA finals. 

Carriço: Calvin, thank you a lot for agreeing to do this interview, it was a pleasure talking with you, I had a lot of o fun. I hope you also had a lot of fun and enjoyed the interview. I wish you all the best in the DACH playoffs, I hope you guys win the DACH league and reach the VRL finals. I hope I can talk with you again in the near future.

If you want to check the full interview you can do it here: