xertioN: "It's easier to play against [Cloud9] on T sides than other teams"

MOUZ might be playing with a stand-in at BLAST Premier World Final, but that hasn't affected them thus far and they are now through to the semi-finals after crushing Cloud9.

After the quarter-final, we caught up with xertioN to discuss what it's like to play against Cloud9, their surprise win, and whether siuhy is the best IGL in the world.

It was maybe a surprise for us all watching how easy that game seemed for you guys, was it a surprise for you as well?

Not really, to be honest. I think everyone is capable of what we're aware of as a team, and we spoke about it yesterday how maybe it will be a shock for everyone when we win this game.

To be honest, I think they're a great team and I think we played phenomenal today. I have a lot of respect for them so I'm happy with the win.

What's it like playing against them without them having a true AWPer? People have suggested it might be easy to take map control against them when you're on the T side.

Yeah, it's a little different. I think they had this issue on Inferno CT side that sh1ro really liked to play B, so I remember when I played against them I told my coach that I would like to peek them on A instead.

It's definitely something they have to look at, I think it's not positive even though they have five amazing players. It's a little easier to play against them on our T sides than you would expect against any other team.

Map one was 13-1, a real blink-and-you-miss-it kind of game, can you take me through it?

I think we just started off really good. We knew what they want to do and we were extremely prepared for that, it's a credit to our coach sycrone

who did an amazing job. We just knew what they were doing and we trusted in each other. We fought fire with fire and it worked, we won a lot of 1v1s and 3v1s that turned into 1v1s so I wouldn't really call it close, it was more us just overpeeking. We were just extremely ready and hitting our shots, maybe they were just not ready yet. It was a good game.

Map two began with you 7-1 down, why do you think you started so slowly?

To be honest, I think the rounds were close. Ancient is one of the maps we had one of the most changes on in teams of positions on CT side so I think that, especially me, I need to get some more experience playing in Mid and also playing together on B, but I think that we had good results in practice and it's a really strong map for us. Honestly, a couple of rounds, they won like a B rush, a B pop two rounds in a row, and after that they started going Mid and we shut them down and started to gain momentum. They played really well to make us uncomfortable, but we just reset and didn't let it hit us too hard to just focus on the next rounds.

For the comeback, was there anything siuhy, sycrone, or anyone else said to enable you to do that?

Definitely, sycrone's positive thinking helps us a lot. I think he really puts us back on the road. Also, Brollan is a really positive influence on the team, he's experienced and he gives unique comments that we have never had before in the team from anyone. I think everyone just came along and said we needed to win a couple of rounds, from 7-1 down we went to 13-7 so I would say mentally we withstood the challenge today.

What's it been like playing with Brollan then?

It's been incredible. I think he's a really sweet and kind person, and his level is incredible. People understimate how good he is. I don't want to put blame on his past teams because I don't know what happened, but his level here is something I am very proud of him for and the way he plays, I really enjoy it, I think we think the same and it's great to have him here with us. We'll see what the future holds.

We spoke to electroNic the other day and he said that Boombl4 is the best IGL in the world; if Boombl4 is the best IGL in the world, what does that make siuhy?

[laughs] I think it's a little difficult to compare IGLs, but I think Boombl4 is for sure a great one. For me personally though, siuhy is definitely the best.

But I think that every team will say their IGL is the best, their AWPer is the best, that's the motivation and the confidence you need to give to each other.