xertioN: "Spirit are the best team in the world"
MOUZ may have gotten the better of Spirit back at BLAST Bounty Season 2, but Spirit dominated on their map wins to take home the BLAST Open Porto crown.
After the game, we sat down with a dejected xertioN to discuss the series, MOUZ’ success despite a short time together, and his surge in confidence since taking over IGLing duties.
“We choked some important rounds”
Unfortunately, you lost today. Could you take me through the series and just the struggles on some of the maps?
Yeah, I mean, it's hard to talk about specifics now; we also have to rewatch the game first.
But definitely on T-side, on Dust2, we kind of choked some important rounds that we had. On the CT-side, maybe we kind of lost some crucial rounds, but I think it was still a pretty good CT-side. And overall in the game, on all the maps, we were just a bit mentally checked out for a bit too long, and we let them run over us in so many moments. And yeah, I mean, it's a shame that we didn't show our A-level today, but I'm still really proud of the progress the guys have been showing.
In terms of the strength of your team right now, but also the time you've been together, in a game like this, is that where the length of time together is actually preventing you from lifting the trophies, where in a few months you might?
Of course, there is the excuse that we are still a new team. But at the same time, we are working super hard, and every loss will be heartbreaking. I think today Spirit were just a better team. They showed up better. They are the best team in the world, in my opinion, at the moment. So I think that definitely there's a lot of takeaways from today. But overall, still really proud of the performance we have been showing up lately.
Since you became the IGL, it feels like you're more outwardly confident in games. Did the IGL role give you more confidence in yourself that you didn't have before?
I would say that maybe I'm not as big of a character as other people. But for the team, I think I have a pretty open personality. So right now, I just feel more confident that I'm the IGL to kind of go up and show up on the stage and in front of the crowd and try to get them to support us and kind of be the front figure in our team. And I'm just trying to lead by example. So yeah, I mean, I wouldn't say it's like new or forced; it's just that I'm getting more comfortable doing it.
If the win at BLAST Bounty gave you belief in this team and this era of MOUZ, what will the loss give you?
I think it will just give us motivation to get even better. I think you cannot fault the work we've been putting in; it's been second to none. We have been working super hard.
I'm disappointed that we couldn't win to reward this hard work. But at the same time, a final is something that we can work with, of course. We are still a young lineup; it’s the first time we're playing on stage together on such a big stage compared to the past. So yeah, overall, just really happy with it. We definitely take this game as motivation to get even better and beat Spirit next time.
