Swani came into 2023 as the interim coach of G2, now, at the end of the year, he departs from a full-time position as their coach as a champion of both IEM Cologne and Katowice.
While G2's time at BLAST Premier World Final may have ended in disappointment, in our interview with him he reflects fondly upon the past year and seems excited to be able to spend next year cheering on his "family" from home.
A disappointing result for you guys, how are you feeling?
Pretty shit. I feel like we had both games in our hands.
Against FaZe we should have easily closed it, and here, Inferno we had the perfect reads, we knew what they were doing and we still lost. Then on Nuke the first buys didn't go our way and we just threw the event.
It feels like the Aleksib clutch was the big swing round on Inferno, what happened during the round and to the team's mental?
We were fast to get it over with, we knew rounds like this can happen and we were just hunting too fast. In the end, he won the 1v1 against nexa, and obviously, your morale goes down a bit and you're not the same team anymore. We still tried to do our best, but if we win this round it's 9-3, 10-2, and we're not having this conversation.
This is your last event with the team, does that make it more disappointing that it's ended this way?
Yeah, of course. I feel like we played some of our best Counter-Strike in CS2 and because people saw us play like shit in CCT, I'm really happy with how we played and if they continue playing like this, you can see a clear progression. I'm really happy with how nexa has been integrated and if they have the same energy, he's bringing a lot of energy, I don't see why they can't do good next year.
On a more positive note, how are you looking back on the year overall?
I'm very happy myself. People say we're inconsistent but if inconsistency means winning Cologne and Katowice, I will happily take it. You can ask Heroic, they were consistent top four but I'm sure they would take the trophies. I don't know why people always say "You are inconsistent, you are bad", good luck replicating two big IEM trophies and if you think you can do it, good luck.
Will you be cheering the boys on from home next year?
Of course, I have spent three years with NiKo, four years with huNter-, they are friends for me, they are family. I will watch and cheer for them and always wish the best for them. I spent more time with them in the last year three or four years than my family or my girlfriend so they are tied to me.
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