r1nkle: "Compared to w0nderful, I think we're pretty similar, I think I can beat him"
r1nkle has been a force to be reckoned with ever since joining NIP from B8 and the young Ukrainian is looking to continue his fine form in the second half of the year.
Refreshed from the player break and hungry to get back into the swing of things, we spoke to r1nkle ahead of BLAST Premier Fall Groups to see how he has been settling in on his new team.
Ukrainian sniper
You're coming back off the player break, how are you feeling?
You played a couple of tier one events with B8 but you got your first taste of tier one with NIP at Pro League, how much more prepared are you feeling for tier one after the break?
We'll see, we haven't really practiced that much with this team, so we might not have really good preparation in time for Fall Groups.
We'll play some online tournaments that we'll treat as practice while we're here at our boot camp, so we'll try to get into a good shape and do our best.
The team was looking good before the break, were you surprised at how well it seemed to be coming together in a short amount of time?
I won't say I was surprised, but I am very happy that we're all doing our best and it feels like a very good unit.
What's the atmosphere like in the team?
It's really good, everyone trusts in each other and helps each other when it's needed. We definitely enjoy playing and working together.
Adaptations
Joining NIP has meant that you've gone from a Ukrainian-speaking team to an English-speaking team, how are you handling the language differences?
At first it was really hard, I had quite a headache with it. I've gotten used to it now though and I've practiced my English by watching a lot of series, so now it's really easy for me to communicate with the team.
What about in a stylistic sense in-game?
In an international team you need to step up more in an individual sense, you can't communicate as well as you could otherwise in a way that would help stylistically.
How is alex as an IGL to ones you have had before?
He is a real captain, he's experienced and he tries to help me in game when I need it. It's nice to have him because it gives me confidence.
You've had some positive results as a team so far, however, anders seems to think that you guys will struggle in the new season, what are your thoughts on that?
We don't have pressure, we just need to continue to practice. In the future, of course, we will set real goals for tournaments, but for now we just have to do our best and try to go step-by-step.
Do you think it's wrong to expect you to struggle?
Every team can struggle, it happens. It's random, there are many situations that can happen in tournaments. You can expect everything.
On the flipside, Pimp said he thinks that you will be the underdog team that performs the best, is that a better expectation for the team in your eyes?
As I said, it can be random. Of course, we can do well, we're really feeling it and you need that, and you need the trust that we have in each other.
With that said, where do you think you are currently in a relative sense to the teams around you?
Compared to top teams, we're definitely underdogs, but we can do damage.
We don't really do rankings inside of the team, we're just doing our best in every game and we're not focused on who we are playing against.
Goals
What about on an individual sense? How do you look at yourself compared to people like w0nderful and s1mple in particular?
I can't really compare myself to s1mple because he hasn't been playing for a year, no one knows how well he will play or how he can even adapt to CS2.
But, compared to w0nderful, I think we're pretty similar. I think I can beat him and his team.
w0nderful has said that his individual goal is to be the best player in the world, do you share that same ambition or do you have other goals?
No, I don't have that goal. My goal is to be on the number one team in the world, not be the number one player.
How are you feeling about heading to Fall Groups? Do you have goals for it?
We haven't really made any goals or anything, but our desire is to just go step-by-step and to keep improving. We just want to give it our all in every game and have no regrets in terms of feeling like we could have done more.
Is there a place that the team would like to be by the end of the year? Would you like to be a playoff contending team by then?
Yeah, and I think we can do that and become consistent with playoffs and do so at the Major.
LIMITED TICKETS LEFT FOR FALL FINAL
Want to see the best players on earth battle it out in Copenhagen? You can in September live in the Forum
TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE WITH COUNTER-STRIKLE
Put your CS knowledge to the test daily with the Counter-Strikle Quiz. See how well you really know the pro scene!