Grim on the match against BIG at the Major: “That was the hardest loss of my career, that’s for sure.”

NRG rifler Michael “Grim” Vince spoke on the Half Time podcast about the team’s struggles throughout the season, their shift in playstyle, and the most painful loss of his career.
On joining NRG
It didn’t take me too long to adjust—I felt pretty comfortable in my roles. But then we started running into difficulties; we were trying to figure out what style of Counter-Strike we actually wanted to play. And that took quite a while: everyone was discussing it, trying to reach a consensus on certain things. And in the end, we figured it out.
On the match against BIG at the Major
I tried to calm everyone down, saying, “It’s okay, we can still pull this off—no matter what happens, we have extra time.” And I think that the moment you lose a 12-0 lead and the game goes to overtime, people’s mental game just completely falls apart. It’s hard to stay focused. And the opponent has such momentum that it’s really hard to win. That was the hardest loss of my career—no doubt about it. It was really hard to stay mentally strong after that. Because I remember how we were all at the hotel, and Fallen hugged me and was like, “What just happened?” And I said, “I don’t know. I don’t want to talk about it.”
On his mental state after the loss
Sonic said he was deleting all his social media for a week or two. And sometimes you have to do things like that, because after a match like that, you’re going to get a billion hate comments, comments about your family, and all that stuff. So it’s better to just avoid it and not look. As for me, I needed a week or two just away from CS—or even without thinking about it at all. I didn’t even watch the Major until, I think, the playoffs started. I just needed some time to stop thinking about CS. But now I’m fine—I can process it all calmly.
On Getting Back in Shape
I’m happy with how I’m playing here right now. It took me a couple of months to get used to it. I was a little nervous because I switched to a different team after playing with the same captain for almost four years—basically, with the same core group of players. I didn’t know how to play with other people. But this team welcomed me very warmly, and everything turned out to be pretty easy. I’m happy with how things are going, and I’m grateful for all the positive messages I sometimes receive. I still get more positive feedback than negative. That’s how I’d put it.
Earlier in the podcast, Michael “Grim” Vince shared details about the closure of Complexity Gaming, the roster’s transition to the Passion UA banner, and explained why he ultimately decided to leave the team and join NRG.
Photo by Viola Sophie Schuldner, ESL Gaming GmbH.


