The longest standing member of the NIP squadron, REZ is now a certified veteran of tier one CS:GO.

His time on NIP has seen the roster go through multiple overhauls and the eventual departure from being Swedish speaking, and now it finally seems ready to bring trophies to the storied organisation once more.

After their 1-1 victory over OG, we caught up with REZ to discuss the closely-fought map and the strong performances from himself and his young teammate, headtr1ck.

Photo: Stephanie Lindgren

Interview with REZ

With that win you're 2-1, how are you feeling?

REZ: "We're feeling great at the moment. I think we're playing strong CS and we're proving we have good resilience even though the score can be against us, we can play really good Counter-Strike and bounce back. I think it's a really great aspect for us to have found going ahead. There'll be much more tough and important matches for us now going ahead, so I think it's really important that we keep our heads up"

You've been playing really well individually, is there something you've changed or are you just feeling it?

REZ: "Honestly, I am just really feeling it right now. It also helps with how well the whole team is playing and how well we're reacting to things. It helps me and my performance, it's much easier for me to play when everyone is doing their job. That's just how we're playing at the moment, everyone is playing their roles correctly and they're doing their part. That makes it so much easier."

Photo: Stephanie Lindgren

headtr1ck also just played well, he's still so young, are these the type of performances you expect from him?

REZ: "We still see headtr1ck as a player who is still learning. He's playing on these stages and at these tier one tournaments but he still has stuff to learn. He has to take in these experiences and try to control his nerves. Right now he's doing a really good job, but the further we go into tournaments it will only get tougher for him so I hope he can keep his composure and keep this level up."

How does headtr1ck handle the pressure?

REZ: "He's a very calm guy and that helps him a lot. In general, outside of the game, he's really calm and relaxed all the time, so I can't really ever see nerves from him. Perhaps sometimes he gets a bit quiet, but that's normal for him and something that will go away further down the line. When he gets more experience, it'll get easier for him."

In the 17-17 round you killed the bomb planter basically for free, is that the type of kill where you laugh to yourself that they've given you that?

REZ: "Yeah, that was where we won the game for sure. They were playing really sloppy Counter-Strike and after that round I felt like we had the game in the bag. We had the upper hand in the last few rounds, they played well but always knew what they were going to do, we always had a good plan going into the game. They even won rounds where we knew what they would do, so that was pretty frustrating because we couldn't close it. With that though, we knew we could still win the game because we had the mental edge."

You go into BO3s now, are you feeling confident about those?

REZ: "Yeah BO3 is always nicer I think, it's a comfort zone for me. You get the map you're always going to get and you've prepped really well, it's not like a BO1 where it can go  either way and you can play anything. I'm really excited."

Aleksib told us the other day that now you're roster is settled, he feels ready to push on and start taking down the elite teams, is that something you're also confident of?

REZ: "Right now, I think it's just a matter of team for us to start beating top tier teams. We still need time, headtr1ck still needs time, Krelle [k0nfig] needs to get more comfortable in his role, so there's still stuff to learn and work on as a team. I don't think we're there yet honestly, but maybe in a few months when we get more comfortable with the team and how we want to play the game it'll be easier."

So, maybe this Major is too soon but Copenhagen for CS2, you'll be winning that?

REZ: "Yeah I think CS2 is going to be a really good game for us. I think we actually have an advantage still being a new team, a new game with new metas will probably bring down the top teams and that will give us the opportunity to come up.

Are we going to see another NIP 87-0 streak?

REZ: "I hope so."