xertioN: "Hopefully tomorrow we will be ready to face Falcons"
MOUZ were on top form today in their quarter-final versus FaZe, taking down their historic rivals 2-0 after a tight game on Dust2 and a dominant showing on Mirage.
Young stars xertioN and Jimpphat were in top form across the two maps, entrying bombsites and clutching up to send MOUZ through to the semi-finals for a match against Falcons.
After the game we spoke to xertioN about the momentum MOUZ took into Mirage, Jimpphat's performance on map two, and the rematch they will now play against Falcons after a disappointing game against them at IEM Melbourne.
"Finally we've beaten FaZe convincingly"
Congratulations on the win, how are you feeling?
We're feeling good, finally we've beaten FaZe convincingly. It's been a while, they've always been a hard opponent for us.
You had to make a bit of a comeback on Dust2, were there any nerves at all when FaZe took the lead?
Of course, you get into your own head a little bit, but I felt like we kept our composure. We won with a clutch, so it was also a bit lucky, but I'm just glad we closed it out. I think also the experience we had from previous tournaments helped us in this game.
You carried your momentum from Dust2 into Mirage. When you win map one like you did, how does that effect your mental state going into map two to allow you to carry on a round-winning streak like that?
We understood that we started strong and we could do the same again, so on Mirage we just kept that mentality and didn't give them a chance to comeback. I think we did it really well, and obviously, Jimpphat played out of his mind so that helped us take the win.
Photo: Stephanie LindgrenSeeing as you mentioned him there, Jimpphat ended the first half of Mirage 21-2, how much easier is a game when you have everything going right for someone like it was for him?
Of course, it's really easy when you have anyone popping off, but that's especially true with Jimi. He's usually the quiet guy, so when he's popping off you can feel the confidence from him and that helps us all to play some good CS.
Even with older MOUZ lineups, FaZe have always been a bit of a bogey team for the organisation, does it feel like there's a rivalry there that makes beating them better?
We have a long history against them and they had a long win streak against us in 2024. For me, it's just really important that we don't think about it, we need to stay locked in and play game by game. But yeah, it's really nice to beat them seeing as they've beaten us so many times.
The win sets you up with a match against Falcons. It didn't go so well for you the last time you played against them, how are you feeling about a rematch?
Of course, in Melbourne they absolutely smashed us, so it felt really bad after that tournament to go out like that. We learned a lot from the game, it was a lot mentally, they came into the game swinging and we weren't ready for it. Hopefully tomorrow we will be ready to face them in the semi-finals and have a different outcome.
