One of the greatest to pick up the AWP, and indeed touch the game overall, we spoke with Ladislav “GuardiaN” Kovács after FaZe’s unfortunate exit from IEM Sydney about their progress through the event, and how the team had handled the situation with their fifth player.

It’s a little bit hard to take much from an event like this with the circumstances that were out of your control with NiKo (Nikola Kova?). What can the team take away from an event with only four players and having to have YNK (Janko Paunovi?) stand-in?

GuardiaN: I would say there’s not much to take from this. I think in other circumstances we might not have come. We decided to wait to see if Niko can get his visa and we will do our best to make it as far as we can. It didn’t work out, so nothing we can do about it. We tried our best, some of us were not as good as we as we could have been. Obviously YNK tried his best. He had some insane plays but, as I said that’s all we could do.

At the moment if we had been in form earlier, we could probably at least beat some of the teams. I think we had a good shot against NRG, but we failed in some crucial rounds. I mean it was an experience. We don’t have to be mad or sad or anything or frustrated. That’s how it is, and it’ll be always like this to play with a stand-in.

Looking back over the roster changes that ended up with AdreN (Dauren Kystaubayev) coming in, you won Blast Miami and you’ve had a 3-win streak in your Pro League matches. Does the squad – excluding this tournament and the visa issues – feel like it’s finally settled down and you can get back to your dominant best?

GuardiaN: It’s hard to say because at the moment AdreN is still standing in so it’s not like we have a stable line-up, so we are doing our best. At Blast, I don’t know what happened but from day to day we started to play amazing CS and that’s how we won the tournament.

We came to EPL group stage and I think we have Devils.One which is not a top 10 team and then we had Heroic which is also not a top 10 team. So, we are expected to beat teams like that. Obviously, we cannot underestimate them, but we are expected to win teams like that. I don’t remember the third team…

NIP.

GuardiaN: NIP, yeah. So we just played amazing CS. It’s hard to say why. We communicated well we hit our shots and so we played good. But at the same time, I think if Niko would be here, I think we would keep playing good because it just it just started working really well and everyone’s communicating playing (well).

I think we would be at least in the semi-final at this tournament and sadly we are not. I don’t really know why we suddenly started playing it again just probably guessed it. The communication has started to be on. We started to understand each other as a team and I think that’s why we are playing good, or were playing good.

There isn’t much on for you guys until Dream Masters in Dallas. Is this a chance for you guys to take a break? Or possibly start up a heavier prac schedule to consolidate the run you were on before this event.

GuardiaN: For sure will take off some days I mean it’s needed because we have been on the road for the past two months, since blast in Brazil earlier and we’ve had only like four days between the events. We’ve had Brazil, then we were four days at home and then we were in Shanghai and straight from Shanghai to Miami. Then straight from Miami to the EPL group stage and then we had again four or five days at home and we came here to Sydney which is an insane amount of travel time.

I am pretty sure as least like four or five days and then we’ll figure out what to do with the lineup if we keep AdreN for some time more or we’ll look for some IGL or other player. So, I’m sure we’ll sit down and first we will relax and then we’ll figure out what to do. But it’s really needed and hopefully we will be able reset ourselves.

[Gesturing to his wedding ring] It must be a little bit difficult having such a busy travel schedule having the family as well.

GuardiaN: Of course, it’s insanely difficult.

You’ve been one of – if I may say so – one of, if not the best AWP’ers in the game for a very long time. You’ve seen a lot of eras and different styles of playing the AWP over your career. Some famous soccer players like Lionel Messi have been at the top of their game for over 10 years, and you’re kind of like that with an AWP. Do you ever think about how long you’ve been at the top and how hard you’ve worked for it?

I’ve never really thought about stuff like this. I play CS to help my team to win tournaments and that’s my main goal, to win tournaments. If I’m good, I’m happy to be good and I’ll do my best to be on the top as long as I can. I mean I’m turning 28 I’m getting older and older.

So, I’ll still do my best and as long as I will play CS I will I’ll try to be the best with the gun I’m playing with and I chose to be a sniper so I will do my best to keep it up.

It’s more something you can look back on when it’s all said and done rather than while you’re still playing?

GuardiaN: Yeah.

And lastly, assuming you’re the best for purposes of this question, who’s going to be the next “best in the world” after you?

GuardiaN: There’s many good young snipers. I would say woxic (Özgür Eker) and ZywOo (Mathieu Herbaut). I think it might be one of those two. ZywOo is really good. You can see on the statistics and how he helps his team. So maybe he’s not as flashy as for example KennyS (Kenny Schrub) but he’s pretty accurate and he’s playing really good.

I would say ZywOo or woxic but there are a lot of years to go, so it’s hard to say that but I’m sure they’ll be good.

Thank you so much for your time.

With the fifth member situation now moving forward since this interview with the addition of NEO as a stand-in, FaZe Clan and GuardiaN will have their first event with the new In-Game Leader at DreamHack Masters in Dallas next week.

Ahead of the knockout phase, we caught up with Aaron “AZR” Ward and known Oceanic traitor Sean “Gratisfaction” Kaiwai individually and spoke to them both about returning to Oceania, their run through the tournament and what’s next with Gratisfaction’s visa issues.

With half your team coming from Australia, how did you both feel playing in your or your teammates home region?

AZR: Coming into the event,the vibes were good.I mean coming back to Australia and us wanting to play in front of the crowd and everyone’s support, it feels amazing. And we had it last year, like had the crowd behind us so we really wanted it this year, which obviously sucks but coming back to Australia and playing in front of everyone, it’s just a huge pride factor – just playing for your country so coming into it everyone was feeling pretty good.

Gratisfaction: I think it’s cool because you get to share the experience with your friends & family. Like my family coming over from New Zealand to spectate, sadly we didn’t make the stage, which is a bummer, but you still get to catch up with all your friends & family which is really good.

Grat, do you think we’ll ever get to see an event like this in New Zealand?

Gratisfaction: Maybe, in a few years but at this point it’s not a big enough scene there yet. I don’t think they’ll be able to sell enough tickets.

You guys had a bit of disrupted prep, particularly with your pro league having the visa issues. Do you think that had anything to do with not making it?

AZR: I feel like we could say it was, but we could say it isn’t, it obviously sucked that we couldn’t get the full on practice that we wanted heading into IEM Sydney, it definitely wasn’t efficient but at the same time I don’t think that’s the reason why we lost here. I think us losing here was really just a mental thing. I think we just put too much pressure on ourselves because having it last year, in front of the crowd was amazing and we really wanted it again this year and IEM Sydney just being our home town, playing in front of the crowd, just put a lot of pressure on ourselves and came out flat.

Moving on to the event, I would like to touch on a couple of points. As of late, you guys have had a lot of success on Mirage, what was the reasoning behind not targeting Mirage in the early veto against Mousesports?

Gratisfaction: We tried to just pick inferno into Mousesports, we thought we would have more success on it than Mirage because we know they’re pretty good on Mirage. We thought we would leave Mirage in; they would pick it as well and we knew we’d come to the third map.

You guys have had some prolific battles with Mousesports over the years including that epic bo3 last year. The result didn’t go the way you wanted but is it exciting to get those year on year rivalry matches going against them? Obviously, it’s a very different roster the one you played last year.

AZR: I mean like it definitely seems that way right now. We constantly keep playing them in these big games, and they keep knocking us out so, I mean it was last year in Sydney, and we had them in Odense last year in Denmark in the pro league finals, now again in Sydney and they just seem to keep knocking us out. I definitely want to get one back on them, so hopefully we can get them at the major.

Looking forward, how is the visa situation looking for you guys for future events?

Gratisfaction: Jkaem’s visa is sorted, mine isn’t so after this there’s a few comps in America that I’m not going to be able to attend, like Summit, at this point it’s up in the air because it’s still in the processing phase. Most definitely missing Pro League qualifiers which is pretty sad but after that we’ve got the Major coming up in Europe I can attend and Cologne as well which will be really good. So still a lot of solid comps coming up.

AZR: We’ll probably have to look towards another 5th, another ringer to play in Pro League and Summit, as well as the Dreamhack Masters tournaments and then after that we’ll be heading towards Europe to play in Cologne, and maybe another tournament in Portugal by then, not sure yet. Yeah but hopefully we can get Grat’s visa issues out of the way because it’s hurting us a lot for the future.

He’s our main awper too so it’s a huge thing, he brings a lot of impact and good vibes to the team, and we definitely need that so losing him if it goes as long as what it could, could be pretty detrimental. We just gotta keep our heads high and go into our games with a strong mindset.

Last question for each of you. AZR, you guys had to come back and play through an Australian event to qualify for the Katowice major. You won’t have to do that for the next major which is excellent, but do you get the sense that when you come back to Australia you sort of get to show what you’ve learnt from all the international teams into the Australian scene and that sort of uplifts the whole scene? Do you guys see that opportunity?

AZR: Yeah I definitely think so, I mean it’s maybe not for as long as what these teams would probably hope but when we come back and obviously when they play us I’m assuming they would learn a lot because we learn a lot overseas because we have opportunities to play a lot more tournaments against Europeans and Americans. So, I’m assuming when we come back teams can learn. [laughs] I was listening to the Chiefs communication the other day and they were saying ‘yeah let’s do the “Renegades strat”’ so I think the teams can definitely benefit when we come back for sure.

In the long run you could be responsible for the next great wave of Australian CS players by bringing it in. Grandfather AZR bringing the Australian scene up – in 20 years you’ll be able to tell the kids about that one!

AZR: Yeah man! [laughs] Definitely for sure.

Grat – you’ve been in a couple of media-type things, a couple of funny skits specifically with the Grayhound guys, is that something you get a kick out of, to be able to expand your brand as a player? What do you get out of these?

Gratisfaction: Usually I just get asked to do it and I’ll do it, if it’s funny enough. If it seems enjoyable then I’ll do it.

Do you get any creative input on that? Or is it more ‘hey we got this idea; can you act it for us’?

Gratisfaction: It’s usually unscripted so yeah, I have some sort of creative input but personally they have the ideas for the skits like, we just act it out as we would.

After missing the mark at [IEM] Sydney, Renegades fans will have lots of chances to see how the team adapts to Smooya standing in as they have Summit and Dreamhack Masters coming up over the next two weekends.

Nikola “LEGIJA” Nini?, the ex-player for BIG and the current manager of the team spoke to Snowball Esports about the visa process, the biggest problem of the German scene and segments of his career.

What happened with the visas in terms of XANTARES and on who’s end did it fail?

LEGIJA: Right after when we qualified for Australia, we applied for the visa. The thing is, obviously, the political situation. It’s a longer process. Because of him, he has a working visa and he’s living in Germany with us. We actually flew him to Turkey with one of our staff. We applied for the visa and I’m not 100% sure, but apparently the German government had to approve it as well. They approved it in Turkey, sent it to Germany.

But then there was Easter in between and Turkey they had a holiday. In the end, it just didn’t work out unfortunately. We did it as soon as possible.

I know that XANTARES is one of the big pieces in BIG, how has he taken over other players’ roles and been integrated into the team?

LEGIJA: I would say so. In general, German terms they have a certain philosophy of the game. It’s a lot of communication and teamwork based, which is what XANTARES is lacking a bit. As in his previous teams, he was the main person, everyone was around him. In our team, everyone has to be there for each other.

He did a great job and he obviously still has to learn a lot. He will learn a lot. The problem is – I think our system is maybe way too structured for him to adapt really fast into it. But with time it will come. He’s doing a really good job and I think we can work around him.

In terms of the overall team chemistry, with Smooya leaving the team, what happened in that situation?

LEGIJA: In the end, it was from both sides. Once you have problems in the team and people get unhappy with each other, the mood is not really the best. It will hold you back at tournaments and online games. It is really hard to say, it was kind of from both sides, we didn’t agree with his attitude sometimes. Not that it’s really bad or anything but sometimes it can be rough. He gets really emotional. Owen is a really good player and a good person. At some point you have to learn how to control your emotions.

I think he learned a lot in the last 6 months since he has been benched and we will see what the future holds. I think he is very talented.

In your personal career what has it been like since your top 8 run at PGL Krakow, in terms of transitioning into a back-end role?

LEGIJA: It was hard. For me it was because I had health issues, I really had a lot of problems with my stomach because of stress. It influenced my performance in the end and I wasn’t happy. Because these guys are my best friends inside and outside of the game.

Maybe it’s on me that I put sometimes too much stress on myself. Sometimes the community too.

Tabsen has been transitioned into the main AWPING role, how has it been for the team in terms of implementing him into the team?

LEGIJA: The good thing about Tabsen, is that I feel like he is one of the players with the best game sense in the world. Obviously with some other people. It helps you a lot if you have an [main] AWP with a good read and anticipation of where the enemies could be. With the AWP it can open the rounds and he’s a very good clutch player. I think the weapon suits him very well. He still has to learn a bit.

Sometimes the aggression he had as an entry fragger causes him trouble in the game. But I think he’s learning very quick and it works on himself a lot.

In terms BIG and your personal career, who has been your biggest mentor in the game?

LEGIJA: I think my mentor was Gob b, which is probably [the same] for everyone else on the team. He has the most experience and he is in and outside the game a really good friend of mine. He taught us so much. How to react to things and how to stay calm.

In the German scene how do you see the scene progressing, is there any one particular problem in the scene?

LEGIJA: I would say the attitudes of the people. I don’t see the dedication that we showed at the beginning of BIG and still show, I would say. The biggest thing is the dedication, how they react and how they talk to each other. It’s more of a rivalry for them. Rather than working together and learning from each other. I remember when back Mousesports and Alternate-aTTaX in 1.6 were the best teams. I know that Gob b taught me before tournaments that when Mousesports didn’t play a tournament they would talk to aTTaX, they talked to each other. They gave each other confidence. They spoke about the games, the enemies, what would they do.

Maybe it could be the case that I don’t see it as much as we are not that involved in the German scene, as we are playing internationally. From what I can see, there is no dedication and I don’t like the attitude.

To close, why did you start playing Counter-Strike?

I started Counter-Strike in 1999 in Beta 7.2, I think it was. Ever since then I started loving the game and was a casual player till 2002. Until I got introduced to ESL and started playing all the ladders and started playing professionally. It took me and I just love it.

Obviously, the thrive to win competitively is really nice. I think it’s the best esport ever.

It’s easy to play on a decent level, but it’s very hard to master, and that’s what I like about it. There are so many components in the game in which many people don’t know about. There is so much to the game. It’s beautiful and it’s nice.

With BIG returning to Europe to compete in the Closed Qualifier for the StarLadder Major and ESL One Cologne over the next couple of months, LEGIJA returns to his usual post as XANTARES returns.

He’ll be looking to get his charges back to the heights they experienced at the FACEIT Major in London last year.

Photo credit: ESL | Alex Maxwell & Adela Sznajder

We had the pleasure of speaking with BIG’s veteran leader gob b after their elimination from IEM Sydney 2019. We caught up on BIG’s major future, their VISA issues, and what they can take away from an event where they weren’t at full strength.

How has BIG reacted to Valve announcing the dates for the next 4 Majors?

It was always difficult to plan ahead further than maybe a few months, but now you know when you need to be having a peak as a team. There will always be tournaments such as the majors or like Cologne that are more important to some teams, so being able to plan and use your energy more efficiently over the course of the season is really good, especially for us. I also really the dates they’ve chosen as to me they are where the year climaxes and I think they did a good job with that.

Of course, BIG wasn’t one of the only teams plagued with VISA issues for Sydney. How does something like this effect the game plan going in?

To be honest, we didn’t have a backup plan ready. We initially went to Smooya, but due to ESL rules he was unable to play with us unfortunately. So our next best choice was to play with Legija. He is more familiar with our strategies and we have really good chemistry.

Our game plan was to come here and play as best we can without pressure but to also have fun and hopefully surprise one or two teams. If we had Xantares with us, I would have had higher expectations. But I feel like we definitely took some good steps forward.

You really were able to surprise, especially in your first game against Mousesports. What changed between the first match against them to when you later met them in the elimination match?

In that first game, Tabsen obviously played really well and when that happens it is a lot easier for us. I also believe in the best of one, mousesports felt like they were afraid to lose. In the next match it was a best of three and they played like they wanted to win. Due to playing with a stand-in, we also didn’t have as strong a map pool and replacing Xantares as well as the positions he plays was difficult, particularly on maps like Mirage where I believe he is one of the best players in the world.

What are some of the things BIG is taking away from IEM Sydney?

We need to keep doing what we were doing before ESL Pro League. We had good talks, a good plan for practice that included our roles which we’re comfortable with. We just need to have a little more experience with this setup. We have more Pro League matches coming up which is good because we have nothing to lose there in our group and a lot of experience to gain. Then we have a couple more weeks after that to shape up and be ready for Cologne, so the timing is overall great for us and I want to use all this to achieve the results that we deserve.

Cologne and qualifying for the Berlin Major must mean a lot to both you and the whole team at BIG. What challenges do you see yourself facing on the road to these events?

The biggest challenge was finding the right roles and giving them to the correct players. The first few months together I believe we had these wrong, so we tried to solve this. We want to be more dedicated to our goals and what we want to achieve.

The Berlin Major is so far ahead, we want to use the time leading up to get better and better, so that we are in a position to play our best Counter-Strike and enter this mode in time for the event. I have no doubts that we will go to the European Minor and be ready for it and that we will make it. I am confident, even though we are starting from one of the most difficult minors, I am ready to go from the bottom again all the way to the top.

What have you thought about the local food and sightseeing while here in Sydney?

We’ve been able to try a whole range of food and I enjoyed it a lot. I love the city so much; in fact it might be my new favourite city.

With not much other than Pro League and their path through the Minor on the horizon, it was a real shame that VISA issues blocked one of BIG’s best chances to prepare for the road to the Major with XANTARES. Their next tournament is ESL One Cologne in early July.

Photo credit: ESL | Bart Oerbekke & Timo Verdeil

We had the courtesy of speaking to Brazilian support player and the consistent presence of Epitácio “TACO” de Melo. He spoke to us about the team’s travel, the nature of the competitive scene and the bond he has with other Brazilian teams.

In terms of your lack of practice because of travel, is that a big issue for the team?

Our schedule, our busy schedule, is a big issue for the team. With LAN, our schedule with the team for everyone together. There’s no one to blame because we all agreed and everyone was on the same page for it. But we actually regret it. Because we decided to play a lot of tournaments, almost every tournament possible. It was not the way we wanted, because we didn’t have time to practice.

The travel and flights were so long! We had to go to China two times, which was a really long flight. Then we had Sydney. We had a lot of really faraway places. Yeah, it definitely was a big problem for us because we didn’t have time to practice, to adapt. CS:GO is about week to week, you have to change a lot of stuff. CS:GO is a lot more competitive now. So it definitely was a problem.

You mentioned the competitiveness, what did you mean by that?

By saying CS:GO is getting more competitive, I mean there are a lot of good teams now. Back in the day there were only 4 or 5 teams that could compete for the trophy. Nowadays, everyone can win against any team.

So, there is no favourite – of course Astralis is now the best team in the world and they are proving it in every tournament they go – but beside Astralis, I think everyone is the same level, everyone can win, everyone can lose in the group stage.

Counter-Strike is very volatile now. You guys had a very good showing here in Sydney, what was so special about this event that pushed you guys to perform? Was it the fans or your preparation?

Absolutely, the fans in the arena make it special. It’s awesome to play here. This was my second time here, we got invited to play, as soon as I joined Liquid, we got invited to come back to Sydney. But we only had like three days to pack our bags and get the visas and travel so we decided against it.

In terms of your time on Liquid, what was it like for you to speak English compared to now being back on a full Brazilian line-up?

Of course, It’s always better to communicate in your native language. For example to communicate in Portugese. But in Liquid I was already used to it. In my mind it was already alright to communicate in English.

In the beginning, I was kinda bad. But I improved a lot and I was getting better and better. In the end it was really fine to communicate in English. But of course, it feels better to come back to MIBR and communicate in Portuguese. Even daily talking Portuguese with my team-mates is awesome and much better.

How do you feel about the map pool change? Is Vertigo something that you are preparing?

So, to be honest, I really like the fact that Valve is changing the map pool and putting in new maps. I think it’s beneficial for everyone, for the fans and the players as well.  We always have something new to learn and we have something new to watch.

But I’m not sure if Vertigo was not the right map to put in the map pool. I just think the map is so casual. It’s not that competitive. If we compare Vertigo to Mirage, in Mirage you have mid, you have B, but Vertigo is kind of a mess. We started playing this map last week, but we are planning to full-practice the map this week.

Something else I wanted to ask, as a member of the players board, what has your been impact been so far? Also what is the money system like?

I think the CSPPA is doing a great job. In the end we are working for the players. I’m pretty sure everyone is doing a really good job. For me personally it’s great to be a part of this. It’s awesome that Valve is also listening to us. I think it’s really great.

And about the money system, my first reaction was that it would be nice. Because it would make teams have more money. Because resets would be out and would not exist anymore. But somehow now I feel bad, because when teams are winning a lot of rounds but the rounds are really close. If the other team wins one round, then the winning team is broke.

It doesn’t really make much sense in this sense. I don’t think it’s a huge problem, but I think there should be a good solution for this problem.

Who is the favourite player you have ever played with?

I have a huge history with Coldzera. We started playing together professionally in Brazil. So we came from the very bottom to the very top.

We were together for so long. But I really liked everyone I played with in SK. I really like fnx (Lincoln Lau), I really like felps (João Vasconcellos) and fer (Fernando Alvarega) of course. Everyone I played with in SK was really special to me.

How do you guys feel about the tier two Brazilian teams and their development?

I think it’s awesome. Since we have came to the US, of course we wanted to win trophies. But we wanted to help the Brazilian community.  When we look back and it would have been impossible to have a qualifier in Brazil. Like a ESL Pro League qualifier in Brazil. But now it’s possible. Every season we have a Brazilian team playing in the ESL Pro League.

It’s even better that another team in Brazil is doing great. I really root for Furia, LG, INTZ, TeamOne – I really like the guys and want them to succeed.

TACO and the rest of the MiBR squad have a couple of leagues going on, but they’ll be out of events to participate in until ESL One in Cologne at the beginning of July.

Follow them along on their journey to re-find their world-dominating best now that TACO has rejoined the fold.

Photo credit: ESL | Bart Oerbekke

Snowball Esports was fortunate enough to sit down with legend of the game and long-time Swedish role model Patrik “f0rest” Lindberg. He spoke about his form, why the Swedes always play like it’s the end of the world and also NiP finally coming out of a slump.

The team made the semi-finals in Sydney against long-time Swedish rivals in Fnatic and played one of the best series in recent memory.

Firstly I wanted to ask, how have you been a mentor to some of your younger players such as REZ and Lekr0? How has this contrasted to your early days in your 1.6 days and what is your biggest difference in mentality?

f0rest: I don’t see myself as a mentor, if I’m going to be honest. I guess they do look up to me. I just try and set an example because I have been playing for almost 14 years now on a pro level. So if I see them, or I catch them be nervous, or I catch them talking about something, sure I will help them out, but I think they’re doing great. I can give a few tips and tricks to REZ (Fredrik Sterner) for example, but that’s pretty much it. I just try to be myself and hopefully it rubs off.

You mentioned you have been playing for almost 14 years, how have you continued this era of consistency for such a long time?

f0rest: I believe I am very fortunate to be able to do what I love to do. I don’t take anything for granted and I just try and work hard and I do love everything I do here. As long as I have the motivational drive to do it, I will not give up on that dream.

Well it’s always the passion isn’t it?

f0rest: I think the passion is one of the biggest reasons that I think I can keep going. Even though I’m over 30 now, I still love it.

I know that you have had a couple of close games against Fnatic, what is so special about these swedish derbies? Is it about the rivalry between history of Fnatic and NiP or the history of swedish CS?

f0rest: It’s definitely is the rivalry between who will be the best Swedish team. I think once we get up on the stage and play against Fnatic, I believe they feel the same – we are not playing at this tournament anymore, we are now playing [to decide] who is the best team in Sweden. I would say it becomes a messy game. Gloves are off and we just go in.

I will honestly say that was one of the best games of Counter-Strike I’ve ever watched. I wanted to thank you for that.

f0rest: It’s a hard game to play and I think I know that as well. I think that decisions are poorly made and everything is all out war.

In terms of your overall preparation coming into Sydney, what were your expectations?

f0rest: We had pretty high hopes. We kind of fluked out of ESL Pro League in London prior to this tournament, but I still believe that Dennis came back to this team. We felt good to have him back, we had high hopes in this tournament. It was definitely not in our plan [to go out in semi’s]. The way we went out as well, definitely saw us going to the finals here and fighting for the trophy.

Going back to EPL, I know that you went 1-2 and it was decided off of map differential compared to playing another series? How would you like for it to be decided?

f0rest: I would rather have it decided by rounds. Maps was new, we didn’t know – but it doesn’t really matter at this point. I definitely would have taken another game. It took us hard that we lost. That was the rule that had been decided and we have to live by it. We should not have lost against Devil’s Ones but they played well that day.

In terms of you recent form, how has it felt to be back under the limelight of CS, compared to two years ago when you were in a bit of a slump? How does it feel to be playing some of the best teams in the world once again?

f0rest: It feels great. Yeah, it definitely feels great to at least make it to the playoffs and play in front of the crowd again. I think the major, being back in the major circuit definitely boosted our morale. I don’t like being down behind the shadows of anybody else. It definitely feels good to be back. At least fighting for playoff spots and being in the playoffs too – to have a slight chance to make it to the finals. So we will just ride that momentum and see where it goes.

One last thing, who has been you own personal mentor in your own career?

f0rest: The only one that I can come to think of was when I was playing with SK in 1.6 was Robban, who used to be the coach for FaZe Clan. He had a very big impact on me as an individual. So I think for me in some sense, he would be the guy that I look to.

NiP look currently hold the 9th rating in the world and look to make a run in BLAST Pro Series and the next major in Berlin that is being hosted by StarSeries. Only time (and f0rest) will tell if the Ninjas in Pyjamas magic finally bring their first victory since IEM Oakland of 2017.

Photo credit: ESL | Helena Kristiansson & Sarah Cooper

We spoke to Liquid’s Jonathan “EliGE” Jablonowski fresh off their marathon 3-2 victory over Fnatic in the final of IEM Sydney 2019.

I’m here with the victorious EliGE from Team Liquid after a successful campaign at IEM Sydney 2019. So, welcome to Sydney, congratulations on the win. How does it feel to be here in Sydney, taking out the trophy?

EliGE: It’s been great ever since we got here. Everyone has been really kind to us, really outgoing and nice and the crowd has been awesome with all the “Aussie Aussie Aussie” chants. That’s like my favourite chant so I love it.

Getting into the match, you guys traded maps back and forth with real blowout wins either way to close out the series. Did it feel like a momentum series as it progressed?

EliGE: I didn’t think so. Honestly the first map cache was kind of like a whatever map that was the one map where they actually had the advantage because I feel like they never stopped practicing it even after the Vertigo announcement where we kind of thought “we’re just going to try to keep a little bit warm on it”. But obviously they were way stronger than us on it. But every other map I felt like we had the advantage going into it even more eyes their pick.

The only map that was kind of disappointing for me was Dust2 because that’s obviously a good map for us. I don’t think they’re great on it and I thought that we started off kind of cold and the whole way through was pretty cold.

A lot has been said about Liquid’s performance in the knockout rounds of events dating back to the major and beyond. We spoke to NAF and Stewie earlier this weekend and they both talked about the attention you guys have given to the resiliency part of your game. Does it feel vindicating to get pushed to the full five maps, hold your nerve and come out on top in the end?

EliGE: It felt pretty good, yeah. I think we obviously had things where we got a little cold or a little quiet, but we’ve been able to bring it back. I think that was the main thing and our dominant performance on the last map really spoke wonders for me.

You top-fragged the series coming within a sniff of 100 frags. Mirage was where you really came alive with the big numbers. How do you feel about your own individual performance in the series?

EliGE: I thought that I played decent. I think that I could definitely play better. Before this event I actually wasn’t feeling that good individually. I was feeling pretty off with my game. So I just like…DM’d really hard during the days off that we had and every day actually and I feel really good to know that it paid off because I started playing really good in the semi-finals and the finals and got the win.

Having said that, speaking of Mirage I do have to ask you about a little bit of a whoopsie at A-Main. What happened with that play?

EliGE: Well basically I was telling everybody “play back because I’m going to win the round – I’m right behind them.” We had a guy at Triple who he was fighting and then nitr0 went through the smoke as well and he was fighting so I just kind of feel like a little bit rushed.

And then NAF died and then nitr0 was stuck at Stairs where they can peek him at any time and I knew that they were coming on him, so I was feeling pressure to try to keep him alive. So, I had to try to go through the smoke and get the kills as fast as possible ‘cause my team mate couldn’t fall back, and he had the potential to die. So, it was kind of just a rushed urgency feeling.

How are your teammates like getting you back into the game after that? Did you need a mental reset after that or was it was just like “It’s fine, whatever.”

EliGE: I mean I was being pretty quiet during half-time this day like “Man. I can’t believe I fucked that up” because it was like a really important round we had to close it out 10-5 and after a bit they were like “F*** it, it doesn’t really matter let’s just go into it, go hard” and T-Side I thought we started off really well and I immediately got two kills and JW kind of gifted me a kill just sticking out of the smoke so I feel like I got right back into it .

nitr0 (Nicholas Cannella) was a bit of a one man highlight reel throughout the whole series and NAF (Keith Markovic) was monstrous at times especially on Overpass, I thought. What can you say about the whole team effort particularly those two players?

EliGE: I thought that nitr0 was playing really insane he’s been stepping up really hard, getting highlight looking kills and really important kills. So I’m pretty proud of him for being able to play that well. I feel like he was kind of dogging on himself or he was feeling or not great individually. So, for him to bring those kills out and play really well and get really important round secures was pretty awesome for me.

NAF is obviously playing, like, really well all the time. I think that he’s really clutch. He always is a level head so you can always count on him to play really good in these situations.

So, what’s next for Liquid? Looks like you guys are off for a couple of weeks in terms of events do you guys get to have a short break or is it straight back to the grind.

EliGE: Well probably take two or three days off just to adjust for jet lag and stuff like that but we have ECS matches that we have to play the following week and then we actually have Summit the second week after we get back. So we kind of basically go right back into it, but that’s kind of how CS is right now.

Astralis has been copping a little bit of flak for missing events like this and now you’re tied with them on Grand Slam wins. Do you have a message for them now? Are you coming for them?

EliGE: I mean if they don’t want to come to the Grand Slam wins, we’ll happily take it. I’m down for some gold bars and the million-dollar thing so I’m fine with whatever.

Absolutely. Lastly, do you have any message for the Team Liquid fans back home and of course around the world?

EliGE: I just want to say thank you to all the fans that have been supporting us. I know that we made a lot of fans, especially over the last year since we’ve been playing really well. I think that we’ve been a really good NA team and something for the fans to cheer for. So, I’m really happy that we finally were able to give him the win and thank you for the support

Thanks so much for your time, congratulations on the win. Those jerseys are SICK, by the way.

EliGE: I know. *chuckles*

With another title under their belt and Astralis in their sights, Liquid turn to CS Summit on the 23rd May to consolidate this run, where you’ll see them up against fellow IEM Sydney combatants Renegades and NRG, along with ENCE, Ghost Gaming and Vitality.

Photo credit: ESL | Helena Kristiansson

The beauty of any esports scene lies in the strength of its community.

A viewing party is a great chance for fans of games to gather and enjoy the games they love with like-minded people that can create memories to last a lifetime. We were at Bankstown Sports Club during the week of IEM Sydney to check out everything the viewing party had to offer.

Every Intel Extreme Masters Sydney sees something new pop up alongside the event for fans to enjoy. This year, ESL Australia decided to link with the Bankstown Sports Club to create a group stage viewing party so fans can cheer on their teams as the squads battle for a spot at Qudos Bank Arena come Friday afternoon.

Getting There

It was less than a five minute walk from Bankstown Stadium, so getting there was relatively painless. The T3 Bankstown Line connects Lidcombe (home of esports btw) Liverpool and the CBD to this microcosm of Sydney. On top of that, there’s plenty of bus options, and driving to the area is as easy as following the signs.

Once inside, the staff were friendly enough, with Ties even able to store his luggage in the cloakroom while he took in Thursday’s proceedings. And assuming you didn’t get directed to the playing area instead of the viewing party by mistake, signs allowed you to make your way to the Theater to watch without too much trouble.

The Viewing Party

So, once you’re inside, what did you really get for your $15?

Well, to be honest, not a lot. You did get a soft drink or some popcorn, but that’s about it in terms of in-hand value. You’re basically paying to get in the door, and the understated convenience of having a bar at the back of the venue so you didn’t have to go far for a frothy or softy.

In what’s becoming a yearly tradition before #IEM Sydney, @DannyKimHD has been out & about, meeting esports celebs, tackling double-decker burgers, & sampling some bodacious brews.

All at Bankstown Sports Club – the venue for #IEM Sydney group stages! pic.twitter.com/eQvjDOZ45o

— ESL Australia (@ESLAustralia) April 26, 2019

Going in the middle of the day meant the atmosphere was fairly lacking until it started to get going, as people obviously couldn’t get there while stuck at work. However the crowd did start to build past close of business each day. The theater itself was spacious, with plenty of relatively comfortable seating available. That included seating at the front, in a first come, first serve capacity.

If you were lucky, you might have been able to have a cheeky chat or a pic with some of your favourite players checking out the matches in their downtime. ESL had set up signing sessions with the Chiefs and Grayhound on Thursday, and the crowd got to enjoy some good-natured banter and a classic “Aussie Aussie Aussie” with karrigan at one stage as well.

Overall, I would say it was worth the ticket price to get in, but you were hoping for a long best-of-three series to get everyone in the crowd hyped up.

Drinks

This is where things started to fly up quicker than a Melbournian on their seventh cup of coffee. Bankstown Sports has a multitude of drinking options available, from a range of different establishments around the venue.

The best of these options were the in-house beers of the Brewhouse, located in the basement of the club. There was over thirteen specially made beers on tap, starting from a $4 price range. The beers ranged from Czech-style Pilsners, to a strong Witbier (wheat beer for those playing along at home), and pretty much everything in between. It was perfect for any fan of the amber liquids.

But the pièce de résistance would have to have been the especially made de_lager, available at the Viewing Party Bar for $5.50. This drink went down smoother than listening to HenryG and Sadokist casting an action-packed game. The de_lager was hands down one of the best beers available in Sydney, and you’d be a fool not to get your hands on some next time around.

There was more than just beer at the Bankstown Sports Club though, with Platform Zero Esports providing good quality drinks and snacks. There was also a multitude of consoles and computers to game on once the IEM action was done for the day.

Food

But none of those factors hold up if the food isn’t up to scratch.

Luckily, it’s safe to say the sports club had some of the best eats the city has to offer at reasonable prices. It would have taken a dedicated person to starve there, with eight restaurants and cafes located inside the club with options ranging from Asian cuisine to quality vegetarian options.

For a light-ish lunch, you could head over to the Greenfield Station Bistro and try one of their salads for a good, healthy food kick to get you to dinner. Once again, however, the best food was found at the Brewhouse, where the name of the game is burgers, sandwiches, and everything to make a degenerate meat-eater (myself included) jump for joy.

For people wanting to try and limit the damage the Brewhouse can easily induce, the Reuben Sandwich was a great compromise. This could have saved someone from destroying their diet faster than MIBR checking out of the knockout phase.

Finally, for those who were ready and raring to eat a cow whole, the Monster Burger Combo was perfect for anyone who loves burgers, chips, and a pint of beer for the low price of just $25. It provided great value for anyone saving their money to buy as many jerseys and pins as possible.

So was it worth going? In a word, definitely.

While the crowd may have been lacking early, once people got off work and the crowd builded the viewing party became something else, and if they’re planning on bringing it back when IEM Sydney returns, you’d be a fool to miss out.

Nitr0 had some words to say about the team’s previous choking mentality, how they fixed it in game 5 of the finals and why this line-up was so special compared to others.

Firstly, congratulations on the victory, what changed for you guys in that map 5? I saw that you had a bit of a huddle. Was there anything that was said there? Did you guys put pressure on yourselves?

Nitr0: We didn’t say anything like, “we have to win this”. We really don’t put pressure on ourselves, because that’s what we did in the past. We went into that map and felt like, let’s just have fun. Let’s just have fun like we do in scrims and online leagues. Let’s play like we do when we destroying people in the server. We are all just laughing and having fun.

We all regrouped and tried to refocus for Inferno. Because in Dust 2, we had very little comms and the ideas weren’t flowing. We knew that Inferno was the last map and we just had to refocus for it.

In terms of your own personal career, I know that you have been there since the very beginning and for the 2016 Majors. Why was this lineup so special and what was the distinction for this lineup in particular that made it stand out from the others?

Nitr0: I just think that this line-up has obviously the most skill right now that we have ever had. I think that everyone can play for themselves and can adapt to the game to their role. I think this is what separates us from our old line-ups. We all have the experience now and we are all becoming more mature. And also, out of the game is a big factor. Out of the game we have a winner’s mentality and a championship mentality. We were kind of like let’s just get on and play. I think that’s what the biggest difference is right now I think. We are here to win and become the best team and everyone has that goal in mind.

Now everyone is going to be asking you this question, can you take on Astralis?

Nitr0: Yeah we are always ready to take on Astralis. Like I said in my other interview, I don’t think that Astralis is our biggest enemy. I think the finals are our biggest enemy. Overcoming the finals was the biggest thing for us, no matter who it was against. I think in our past group stages against Astralis, we were fine. We matched up pretty well with them, but when we got to the final, we just fell apart against any team.

So do you think the pressure was the main factor in falling apart in finals?

Nitr0: I don’t know exactly what it is. Obviously the pressure is a big factor because that’s what causes our mentality to weaken.

? @nitr0 #IEM pic.twitter.com/dThLn5lBZc

— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) May 5, 2019

I know it was mentioned in previous interviews that you had an esports psychologist. How have they helped out the team?

Nitr0: He helps a lot. What he does is that he tries to keep a steady competitive performance. Like for example, there’s the A game, B game and C game. When you’re on your A game, you don’t want to be too over confident. Where you make mistakes where you are too overconfident peaking an example, for example. But you don’t want to be too scared. Say you’re on your C game, where you are playing so passive and holding an angle, waiting for the other team to play their game.

The B game is when you are in between and playing your game. That’s when you are going to perform your best and obviously if you can control your A game, that is when you are going to perform your best as a team. And that’s what we have talked through a lot.

When you are looking to your future event schedule, I know some teams are prioritizing certain events. Allowing them more time to bootcamp and prepare for tournaments. Are you looking at going to less events and adopting that mindset?

Nitr0: Last year we went to a lot of events. There was a lot of travel, like 260 something days on the road. This year when we go to a tournament, when I feel like we are going to win it. We are going there to win it. That way we can feel prepared as a team. We want to feel more prepared as a team.

I feel like that’s the biggest difference between last year and this year: We want to feel more prepared when we go to a tournament. Instead of just going because it’s a big tournament. I think we’ll have a way better chance at winning more tournaments over a long period of time, rather than just going to every single tournament hoping to win one without the right prep.

One last question, what is your favourite part of Australia as it is your first time here?

Nitr0: The fans are crazy. They are always doing something crazy. It’s just fun in games and it felt like they weren’t cheering for a specific team. Obviously, the Renegades but they went out in groups.

I feel like they came here to enjoy CS and that’s perfectly fine. It doesn’t matter if you are here to support or not, but having the fans there is amazing and they are a great crowd.

With Liquid taking out IEM Sydney 2019 they move to a share of the lead for the next IEM Grand Slam worth $1,000,000. They’ll next contest the Grand Slam at DreamHack Masters Dallas at the end of the month, but Liquid fans can see them a little earlier at cs_summit on May 23rd!

Photo credit: ESL | Helena Kristiansson