HooXi: "The biggest difference between Swani and TaZ is that TaZ is not afraid to step on anyone's toes"
G2 had a rollercoaster of a 2023. Winners of both IEM Katowice and IEM Cologne, they were undoubtedly one of the best teams of the year, but they will be disappointed by their early exit at the BLAST.tv Paris Major.
With nexa now better integrated into their team and TaZ having had more time to work his magic, G2 hope that 2024 will see them enjoy consistency across the calendar.
In the run-up to Spring Groups, we spoke to IGL HooXi about 2023, the addition of TaZ, and how he's feeling about being matched up against NAVI, NIP, and Complexity.
Photo: Michal KonkolInterview with HooXi
2023 was an odd year for G2, you won two of the biggest tournaments on the calendar but didn’t get as far as you would have hoped in others, why do you think that was?
We lack consistency partly due to my playstyle as an IGL gives a lot of freedom to individuals which creates high highs and low lows.
How do you address that to become more consistent in 2024?
Together with TaZ we are trying to work on fundamentals and maybe add a bit more structure and “rules”, which hopefully will give us a better higher base level.
I don’t think it will happen overnight or that we will see the results here at BLAST but hopefully when we get a bit further into the year it will show.
Do you think it will be more challenging in 2024 given that Falcons have now come into the fold and teams like Liquid and Spirit are both expected to be at the top?
I think it will be more random than ever before. The game is just not in a good state right now and with MR12 as well. There will always be winners and losers to roster changes and we will see with time if these three teams come out on top.
Photo: Stephanie LindgrenYou’ve now had a little time to get used to working with TaZ, how is that relationship developing?
He is the biggest troll I’ve ever met, that is for sure. I think he is doing a very good job so far and he is hard working especially since he also works as a bodyguard on the side. Go look at his HLTV pictures from the Award Show if you don’t know what I mean.
How does he differ to Swani?
The biggest difference between Swani and TaZ is that TaZ is not afraid to step on anyone's toes.
If we fuck up, we will know and that is something that has been missing for a while which has been creating bad habits. We were obviously also focusing on mistakes with Swani but he is just too nice for the responsibilities that come with being a head coach.
You’ve been drawn alongside NAVI, NIP, and Complexity at Spring Groups, how are you feeling about that group?
I think it’s a decent group, a very open group. I think we should see ourselves as favourites, but not by much. But as I said previously, it’s CS2 so anything can happen.
In the last BLAST Groups people on your team said that they felt like they were still at boot camp and as a result you ended up missing out on Fall Final, how do you prevent that from happening this time around?
We did a boot camp now before going to BLAST and hopefully it won't bite us in the butt at the end of the year, because the coming months will be a grind.
BLAST Premier Spring groups begin on the 22nd of January, and you can watch all the action here on BLAST.tv.
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