SAWO: “This was one of the easiest MCC finals for our team.”
The main regional tournament of MCC Season 8 wrapped up on Saturday—and Stanislav “SAWO” Reshnyak’s team claimed the championship for the eighth consecutive time. After a dominant 4-0 victory over Aurevia Team, we spoke with the Team Spirit roamer: he shared his impressions of the tournament and talked about the team’s plans ahead of M8 in Istanbul.
Hi, congratulations on the win! Tell us about your initial impressions—of the game, the stage, the audience, and the tournament as a whole.
Thanks! Overall, I was satisfied with the LAN tournament; everything was well organized. The only thing I didn’t like was splitting the playoffs into two parts. Because of that, the tournament ended up being pretty exhausting.
How easy or difficult was this final from a gameplay perspective? Would you say it was one of the easiest MCC finals?
Yes, it was one of the easiest MCC finals for our team. It was pretty straightforward.
What accounted for Aurevia’s early lead in the second and third maps? Was that a deliberate decision on your part to focus on the late game, or were there simply some mistakes and shortcomings?
In the second game, our drafts weren’t the best. We made a few serious mistakes.
What can you say about Aurevia’s performance overall? In your opinion, will this team, in its current form, be able to advance from the wild-card round to the M8 group stage?
Aurevia really performed well. At first, I doubted that after Zaur left, the team would be able to compete effectively against Team Yandex. However, they’ve proven that with the right motivation, smart substitutions, and support from sponsors and others, they’re capable of playing at a high level.
It’s still quite difficult to assess their chances of advancing from the wild-card round to the main stage, since I’m not yet familiar with the full list of participants. Nevertheless, I’m confident that with serious preparation, sufficient effort, and a mandatory boot camp in Asia, Aurevia has every chance of making it through the wild-card round.
A few weeks after the map modifiers were introduced, has your attitude toward them changed? Do you think there could be a team now—or at M8—that’s stronger than its opponent on one modifier but weaker on another?
Personally, I’m not a big fan of the modifiers. Some of them have virtually no impact on gameplay, which is perfectly fine by me, while others have too much influence on the course of a match. For example, there are teams, such as the Turkish team Aurora, that are particularly strong in the early game and prefer to build up an advantage right from the start. Combined with the healing Turtle, this allows them to dominate the early stages of the match even more effectively.
How do you assess the current meta for heroes in your position? Who would you single out from the latest additions?
Right now, I’d highlight four particularly strong roamers: Masha, Kaleya, Marcel, and Atlas. That said, Masha is almost always banned. Overall, I’m satisfied with the current meta. I’m relaxed about any changes, since our team is able to adapt quickly to new conditions and gameplay trends.
Tell us what’s in store for you after this final: how will you prepare for M8?
After the finals, we plan to take a break for about two weeks. Then we’ll gradually get back into the training routine: we’ll start playing ranked matches and practicing with other teams. In about four weeks, we’ll head to Malaysia for a boot camp, where the main phase of our preparation for M8 will take place.
How much harder will it be to prepare for the World Championship as the Mid-Season Champions, when Team Spirit will be considered one of the favorites?
I hope we won’t be seen as the tournament’s top favorites. But even if that happens, nothing will change for us.
Thanks for the interview! One last question: what would you like to say to the fans after the finals and before the break leading up to M8?
A huge thank you to everyone who supports us and cheers for Team Spirit! We’ll do our absolute best to win the championship title at M8. Be sure to follow our matches—the best is yet to come! And, of course, keep supporting Team Spirit!
Photo: Team Spirit.
