twist: “It’s pretty tough to prepare for matches when you have such a packed tournament schedule—that’s the truth.”

We had a pretty solid plan for this match; we understood our opponent’s playstyle and how they were likely to approach the game. We had a very tough start on Inferno, but in the end, we managed to take that map. Dust2 didn’t go well, but on Anubis, we managed to gain a foothold and pull ahead. It wasn’t the easiest series, but most importantly, we were able to win it despite the fact that our opponent was very strong, and I’m really happy about that.

It’s pretty tough to prepare for matches when you have such a packed tournament schedule—that’s true. We try to bring our laptops everywhere so we can at least watch demos and study our opponents. The lack of time and proper conditions for full-fledged practice really gets in the way, but there’s nothing we can do about it.

We always have post-match debriefs. Yesterday we talked to MaiL09 and made it clear to him that he didn’t let us down at all, as he thought he had, but that it was just a tough game—that’s all. Everyone feels the pressure from time to time; that’s normal. I rarely feel that way; I mostly enjoy myself and have fun, but we shouldn’t forget that there are young guys on the team who’ve never played in such major tournaments against strong teams before. If you look at FaZe Clan, for example, I’ve faced them a ton of times, but for them it was their first time, and on top of that, they grew up watching their roster—that also affects the situation.