slaxz-: “I’m really sad that I won’t be able to visit the LANXESS Arena as a player.”
M80’s CS2 sniper Fritz “slaxz-” Dietrich shared his thoughts in an interview at the IEM Cologne Major 2026 following his team’s elimination from the championship, discussed what the team needs to work on after the tournament, and wished other German esports players good luck at the event.
On his feelings after being eliminated from the tournament
We started the match on the defense side on Dust2 and, to be honest, played like total cowards. It’s very hard to win when you let your opponent do whatever they want and just hope to guess the direction of their push. In the current version of Counter-Strike, it’s impossible to win that way. After switching sides, things went better: we had a good plan, and the team executed it pretty well. Our communication was solid, the calls were on point, but we fell short in the end. On Inferno, unfortunately, we crumbled under external pressure. We had some great rounds and opportunities to take the map, but we didn’t manage to pull it off.
On the upcoming work to address mistakes after the tournament
I think, from a tactical standpoint, there are a lot of different things we need to work on in attack. We need to build a system where everyone feels comfortable and always knows what to do and how to do it. I’m not entirely sure how the team will learn to handle the pressure. We just need to stop giving away rounds where we have the advantage. Maybe we should consult with Team Falcons about this.
On the playoffs and players from Germany
I’m really sad that I won’t be able to visit the LANXESS Arena as a player. It would have been great to play there, so I hope at least some other German esports players will get to do so. A big thank you to everyone who watched and cheered for us!
Earlier, M80 lost to Legacy in the second stage of the IEM Cologne Major 2026 with a score of 0-2 in a best-of-3 series. Fritz “slaxz-” Dietrich’s team finished in 20th–22nd place at the tournament and earned $10,000 in prize money.
Photo — Luc Bouchon, ESL.
