cadiaN on rifling: "Being open-minded to suggestions has been a big thing"
The Counter-Strike world was shocked in the past week as Astralis announced the signing of former HEROIC in-game leader, cadiaN.
The now-former AWPer joins the famous outfit after enjoying a fierce rivalry with the Danish giants while on HEROIC, and there's great hope that he will once again be able to push Danish CS back to the top after enduring a difficult spell with Liquid.
Signed to reinvigorate Astralis ahead of BLAST Premier Fall Final, we sat down with cadiaN as he awaits his debut to discuss the move, the new system he will be implementing, and whether or not Astralis can be competitive by the end of the year.
Photo: Stephanie LindgrenOn joining Astralis
You're now on Astralis, how are you feeling?
It feels good to be playing again. I tried to make the most of the time when I wasn't playing, treating my mind and my body well, but I'm very excited to be back and eager to get going.
Hopefully, we'll have a good start here at Fall Final.
You've had your rivalry with Astralis in the last few years, but in terms of your wider story and way back when you were with Rogue, did Astralis always feel like something that was meant to happen one day?
In earlier moments of my career I was looking towards Astralis a lot. But, for sure, with all the success we had with HEROIC, it wasn't the primary goal to end up here.
No, circumstances have changed and I want to play with the best Danish players and in a roster that I believe can win. I want to play with people I enjoy spending my time with and that's why Astralis was the only team that I have been considering for quite a while.
Does that mean that as soon as the Liquid time was done, you instantly had your heart set on Astralis?
It's been my primary target.
Photo: Michal KonkolOn the new system
Let's talk about the big individual change for yourself, you've said int he past that you were open to become a rifler, but was it a hard decision to actually make the change?
Yes, it's been something that I had to share a lot of thoughts on. When you've been AWPing for ten years, it's a big change do start doing something else.
But I thought that even though my ceiling was really high, it was at times hard for me to stay consistent as an AWPer. Then again, I had my best individual year last year, so I don't know if I could have reached more consistency over time.
As I said in a previous interview, there's only four or five players I would give up my AWP for, and device is one of them. It's already been a joy to see him in practice and how he delivers.
Also, we can be flexible when needed I can use the AWP as well.
Will we see you second AWP on CT sides then?
You'll see me do it on some CT sides, but actually, jabbi has been pulling out the AWP once in a while when he's been feeling it and he's been doing a pretty good job as well. Maybe, if we have the economy to support it, we'll see him do so at BLAST as well.
Interesting, it was always stavn in HEROIC who would second AWP, how come jabbi has been doing it more recently?
I don't know, I think jabbi has just been on a villain arc lately. He's doing his plays, his moves, and sometimes he just says "I'm buying the AWP now."
Photo: Stephanie LindgrenIn terms of your place within the system, we have traditional IGLs who operate as small-site anchors and supportive, rotator IGLs like Alekisb and apEX who operate in different roles, which IGL will you be?
I wouldn't necessarily say apEX is a supportive IGL, he takes up the most important CT roles on more or less every map. He plays Connector on Mirage, Outside on Nuke, so I'm not sure I'd put him in that category with Aleksib.
I don't want to share too many details yet for preparation purposes, teams are going to spend some time learning how I want to do things and for now, that will remain a secret.
In terms of rifling compared to AWPing, that puts you in a very different spot in terms of strategies and defaults, how do you think that will affect your oversight on a round when it comes to mid-round and late-round plays?
If you consider how we were playing in HEROIC then it was a very dynamic playstyle, everyone needed to be able to run in as the first guy and also able to play the late-rounds and the clutches.
That benefits my situation now, and also I am one of the most experienced players in the scene currently, so I think I'll do a bit of both.
My philosophy has always been that in order to create the best team, you need to make sure that people are dynamic. Of course, there will be some players who thrive more from running in first and some from leaning back and offering the grenades and trading, but that's a natural dynamic that will create itself over time.
I value one thing in this team from what I've seen so far that I also saw in HEROIC: everyone is willing to sacrifice at the right moment and that is a very valuable thing to have in a team.
A few people have worried about how rifling may affect your calling, do you think there may be a period of adaptation for you?
Of course, there will be situations where I don't have as much experience as someone who has been playing whatever spot it is in that moment for many years, but I think that I am a quick learner in that sense and I'll be able to adjust.
Also, I have four players who are very talented on the team and I'm asking them for feedback if they have previous experience in playing in those positions in terms of what I can do better. Being open-minded to suggestions has been a big thing.
I don't want to say that I will perform this way or that way in my new role, time will just tell how it goes. I have high expectations for my teammates and high expectations for myself. I'm feeling pretty good going into this next chapter of my career.
Mauisnake tweeted a few days ago talking about teams not really adapting HEROIC's system in CS2, is that something that surprises you or do you think some teams have actually adopted parts of it?
I think some of the things have been adopted, but also some of it has gone out of the meta.
There's many different ways of approaching CS, which is why it's such a beautiful game with different styles and philosophies. The way VP play, the way we played with HEROIC, the way NAVI is doing it now, there's many different styles. As long as you believe in your way, you can go very far.
Photo: Stephanie LindgrenOn the rest of the year
Your first tournament with the team will be in front of the home crowd, how are you feeling about that?
I really want to play in front of the home crowd, that would be a dream and a great way to start in Astralis. Not just for me, but for everyone on the team. Being greeted by the enthusiastic Danish fans would be nice.
It's also in a new venue, so we're not entirely sure how it's going to feel, but the previous HEROIC guys have nice memories of winning in the Royal Arena but it could also be fun to do that in a new venue.
Astralis haven't always had the best luck in Copenhagen, is that something you're hoping you can turn around straight away?
That's my hope, yeah.
What about the rest of the year? There's not long before the Major, so what are your realistic aspirations between now and the end of the year?
I think it's too early to really put specific goals down, but as long as we feel like we're developing and learning with every event then we're on the right track.
Is two and a half months enough to prepare for the Major? I'm not sure, time will tell. It depends a lot on what kind of team you are and the way that you want to be playing.
There's been rapid steps in improvement from my time with the team already, so if we maintain the same work ethic, discipline, and energy when practicing, then we will be able to perform at a high level quickly.
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