asap on THUNDERdOWNUNDER: “With this roster, it’s easier to play against international teams than against Australian ones.”
THUNDERdOWNUNDER rifler Tyson “asap” Patterson spoke in an interview at the IEM Cologne Major 2026 about the team’s strong start to the tournament and shared his impressions of the match against MIBR.
On the victory over MIBR
It all comes down to the experience of the players I have on my team. That makes it much easier to play against stronger opponents. It seems to me that in my previous teams, when I played at international tournaments, everything felt very difficult compared to matches against Australian teams. But with this roster, playing against international teams is easier than against Australian ones. So it’s kind of the opposite. I think MIBR treated us with a lot of respect. And that made things easier for us because we were able to play the tactical Counter-Strike that we want to showcase.
On preparation between Bo1 matches
To be honest, we had practically no time to rest. We got back to the hotel, and before we even had a chance to unpack our cables, we were told to head back down to the shuttle. So on the way, we just watched some footage, went over certain plays, and fine-tuned our positioning. But you can’t get much done in half an hour.
On our opponents’ potential instability
Any team can get nervous on the first day of a LAN tournament. So we’ll just play our own Counter-Strike and focus on our own game. We won’t worry too much about what our opponents are doing.
Right now, THUNDERdOWNUNDER is in Pot 1:2 of the first stage of the IEM Cologne Major 2026. Today, Tyson “asap” Patterson’s team is set to face FlyQuest in a single-elimination match—the game starts at 3:00 p.m. Moscow time.
Photo — Enos Ku, ESL.
Daniil Korzhuev
