tOfu on missing The International 2025: “That period was, to put it mildly, shitty.”

I generally try to live in the moment. That period was, to put it mildly, a nightmare—there’s no denying that. I went to Hamburg for TI anyway—just to check it out, hang out with people, and, honestly, enjoy the sudden vacation. Although right before that, literally just a couple of weeks before TI, we’d been working our butts off. In our schedule, any break is worth its weight in gold, because there are practically no breaks during the season. But on the other hand, the longer you go without playing, the more fired up you get and the more you want to get back on stage. That’s just our nature. So it turned out to be a good mix: I managed to rest, and my hunger for victory returned.

Our mindset is great, even if our results might fluctuate during the tournament and we’re constantly fine-tuning things. For example, we lost to Team Falcons in the 1win Essence II, even though we’d easily outplayed them in scrims. And then, I think, we faced them again in the upper bracket final and lost 0-2. At that moment, that feeling came back—like everything was slipping through our fingers. Everyone was upset, so we sat down to analyze the match, and the next day when we took the field—it was a completely different vibe; everyone’s morale was back up. We made it to the final, swept them 3–0—and boom, we were back on track.

Sometimes, little details just don’t click during a match. The main thing is to give yourself time. We’ve gone over these moments a thousand times, been in these situations before, and tried different solutions. We’ve been playing, testing, adjusting, and gelling with each other all season. And when everything finally clicks the way it should—it’s a blast. Plus, we’ve all got a ton of wins and a ton of TI under our belts. Our team here is probably the oldest in terms of average age, so we’ve got a ton of experience. Yes, we missed the last TI, but at the two previous ones, Ace and I took second place twice—both times losing to Liquid in the finals. So we’re all motivated; everyone wants to prove what they’re capable of again.

If you let up, take a break, or just burn out—that’s it; you won’t be able to give it your all. Right now, there are plenty of strong players and teams that will run right over you the moment you let your guard down even a little. There are really a lot of teams right now capable of climbing to the top. Yes, based on predictions and form, there are three clear favorites for the finals, but we shouldn’t forget about the “magic” of TI. No matter what happens, everyone will give it their absolute all, so you can’t underestimate anyone at all. Any team that makes it to the playoffs has a real chance to advance further.