phzy: "We had a honeymoon period at the Shanghai Major"
He may have been out of action for a little while as Stewie2k stepped in for the PGL Astana qualifiers, but phzy is back and he's ready to frag.
With the crucial BLAST.tv Austin Major MRQs set to be played before Wildcard head to Copenhagen for BLAST Rivals, we sat down with phzy to discuss his career, the growth of Wildcard, and where he thinks his team stands amongst the other NA teams.
"If you win rounds when it's messy, it's still good enough"
We're a few months into the year now, how are you feeling about your start to the year?
It's been a bit up and down. A lot of the events we've played in we've made it close to teams ranked higher than us, and a lot of those games I think we should have won. That could have led to different results, especially now coming up to the Major.
In terms of the Major, you guys will have to play the MRQ in order to qualify, but where do you feel like you guys currently stand in terms of the NA rankings?
Right now, Complexity are playing really well, and they also beat us the last time we played them.
But, I'd put Liquid first, if you still count them, then Complexity, and then us. M80 are after us, too.
Wildcard impressed in the Perfect World Shanghai Major. Photo: WildcardYou joined the team in July 2024 and it feels like the team has grown a lot since then, so what's your perspective on that growth in the time you've been there?
I can't speak for how they were before me and susp arrived, but I think we made progress really fast, especially with our coach coming in. We had a honeymoon period in the beginning and at the Shanghai Major, so hopefully we can keep that form and do well in the tournaments to come.
You've had a pretty strange career giving your time with Rare Atom and then going to an NA team in Wildcard, how do you look at those moves and what made you make them?
After Sangal, I didn't really have many options, but I still really wanted to pursue CS and prove everyone wrong for not giving me a chance, and I came to love my time in China with Rare Atom a lot.
How do you feel like that time with Rare Atom and now with Wildcard, going outside of the comfort zone of a European player, has benefited you?
Especially with the last Major, being in China and it not being my first time there, that was a benefit to us all. I was the local guy there, so to say.
Other than that, it made me realise that you can never play perfect CS, especially when you're having struggles with communication, but what you can do is play the perfect way for your team. If you win the rounds even when it's messy, it's still good enough.
You mentioned that feeling of wanting to prove people wrong earlier, do you feel like that's contributed to the growth of Wildcard?
We're all really motivated in that sense, stanislaw has a similar story of being at the top in NA and then having to build this team from the ground up. Even before Wildcard came into the picture, he started playing with both JBa and sonic without an org first.
We all have something to prove, and we all really want this and to be at the top again.
stanislaw rebuilt his career alongside phzy on Wildcard. Photo: Jak HowardThe MRQ is your next event, you're one of the favourites for it, how are you feeling about it?
I'm not sure, we'll see what happens. Obviously, with me being away for some qualifiers, we haven't gotten to put in all the time that we need. It feels a bit weird to be back after two weeks of not playing. We're bootcamping now, which is good, getting some EU pracc before we head over to Texas.
I'm still confident, we don't have to face the best teams, but you never know. I'm sure the teams we faced in the Shanghai RMR felt the same way about us, so we shouldn't be cocky, especially in these tournaments.
A lot of people try to discredit AWPers in NA because it's perceived to be easier, what's your perspective on that?
The top teams in NA, it's basically what you'd face in Europe as well. However, the lower level is at a much, much lower level than compared to Europe. I would say that the "easier" games are way easier, but the top tier teams are around the same level.
What about AWPing right now in general?
It's harder than in GO, but I do think I've adapted well. I have better stats than back then but that could just be me improving as well.
It's hard to say, but it definitely feels harder.
You'll be playing at BLAST Rivals at the end of the month, how are you feeling about that event?
Honestly, I'm really excited for it, because it'll be in Copenhagen and I've been there a lot both for events and for vacations. I'm from Gothenberg in Sweden, so it's a very close journey there, I'm looking forward to be able to take the train to an event and not have to fly to it.
