m0NESY: “I promised that NiKo and I would win a Major together, and now that dream has come true.”

I don’t even know what to say. I’m just happy—I’m so thrilled for each and every one of us! I promised that NiKo and I would win the Major together, and now that dream has come true. Everything went our way today; we played in perfect sync, as one unit. The team fought hard, and our winning spirit—which never wavered throughout the entire event—was also present in the final. We just played the way we always do: aggressively, relying on our intuition, trusting our instincts, and trying to adapt to what was happening on the map.

I was advised to stay calm and not get too worked up about making it to the grand final yesterday. I think that really helped me get off to a good start in today’s match. To stay in that mindset, be in the moment, and not think too much about the future or the upcoming rounds—even if we suddenly lose them or, on the contrary, win them—it doesn’t matter. We just wanted to enjoy the game, this wonderful tournament, the fans, and the spirit of the Major itself.

I’m not even sure how the realization hit me. Something just clicked at a certain moment when one of my teammates landed another kill. To be honest, I don’t even remember who it was—and frankly, it doesn’t matter to me. We won, I stood up, started shouting, and then I saw NiKo and almost started crying. To be honest, I’m just incredibly happy for him. Of course, for the rest of the guys too, but especially for him. We’ve talked about this moment so many times. I tried to picture the journey he’s been on throughout his career. After all, NiKo has been playing CS for so long, and until today he hadn’t won a Major title—it’s unimaginable.

I think we really did have one of the toughest paths to this title. When I saw the bracket, I thought, “Okay, Vitality. What if Spirit is next? Okay. Then FURIA? Okay. Come on, guys, let’s go—let’s see if we can pull this off.” No problem—we can beat anyone and lose to anyone, so we weren’t afraid and just believed in ourselves. For me, it’s sometimes even harder to face opponents we don’t play very often—it can feel really uncomfortable and unfamiliar. Those are the teams that prepare the best for matches; they watch us, review our replays, and study our plays. We, on the other hand, have practically no information about such opponents.

Yes, I think Kyousuke has grown tremendously as a player. Obviously, he needed experience after joining the team. Now, though, I feel like he has great self-control and understands the game—knowing exactly when to be aggressive and make a difference on the map. He demonstrated this in the final on Anubis, where he made a lot of impactful plays around Point A. I’m incredibly happy for him; I’ve always told him he’d become unbelievably awesome.

Guys, zonic is the best coach in the world. How many has he won by now—five Majors? Six?! Six! I can’t even believe that number. He does so much for our team. He makes us work together so we’re in sync with each other on the server. We needed to understand each other better, and, in my opinion, that’s exactly what happened at this tournament—everything just clicked. Yeah, karrigan joined us a couple of months ago, and we started working together, but it was zonic who constantly pushed us and made us try harder and harder. We often take risks in rounds and can end up giving up a lot because of it, but I just… Well, I love him, that’s all. I don’t know how else to explain it—you just have to see it.

I didn’t know we’d end the season this way after karrigan joined, but I believed it would happen. I thought we needed to see and find out what this guy was capable of. He’s actually just some kind of wizard. Once again, he goes on a smoke run and takes out three USP players on Inferno! I’m yelling for him to try to stay alive, and he just wipes out the opponents again—and I don’t understand how that’s even possible. Needless to say, he radiates incredible energy, and all his ideas work wonderfully for us and for him personally.