We're at the playoffs here at BLAST Open Porto. How are you feeling about it?

Feeling ready to hit the playoffs. We have days to prepare now and we are going to make the best out of it. We'll make some small tweaks to our game, just see what areas we can improve at, and just believe in ourselves whilst going into the semis with a lot of confidence.

You sound like you quite enjoy having an extra day to prepare, but I know a few teams have a pretty bad record when going straight to the semis. How do you feel about that extra day, do you think it can only be positive for you guys, or do you wish you had an extra match to get warmed up?

I think the main positive of playing in the quarters is that you get to feel the arena. But also, having the extra day going into the semis where you'd have to play one good team that you could potentially lose to in the quarters, you don't have to do that anymore. You've also won three games in your group stage, which gives a lot of confidence, and you get an extra day to prepare. If you use that day to prepare properly, it puts you in a much better spot than other teams who have to play the quarters. So with what we have, the coaching staff we have, we will do a really good job at preparing for the semi-final. It will definitely be a bonus for us that we get to start there.

You're a few months into your tenure as the IGL now. Has it gone better than you expected as you picked up that trophy at Bounty so early in your career as an IGL?

I mean, I would say on an individual level, I wouldn't say I'm surprised. I always knew that I had some of what it takes. My coach had a lot of belief in me when he wanted me to take over the role, and I'm lucky and thankful that it worked out, with a lot of hard work from my side and his. I think that as a team, it definitely went better than expected. Going into BLAST Bounty, we weren't sure where we would stand with the order, we didn't have that much practice yet. Taking down Spirit in the fashion we did, considering how dominant Spirit are right now, it shows a lot of good signs for us. I would say definitely it's been going well, but when you're in MOUZ, when you're in this organization, you always expect to maintain yourself at the top.

In terms of your own output as an IGL, you've kind of broken down walls of what an IGL can do in the fragging department. Are you consciously calling to look out for yourself, or did it reignite something in you as a player when you became an IGL?

On T-side I don't think I have many rounds for myself. I usually try to put everyone else in good positions. Of course, the team also needs me to succeed. I'm not going to be this typical IGL that is going to run in and die every round or throw util and not really get much impact done. I want to be an IGL that is somewhere in the middle. I can also sacrifice, I always did that in my career but at the same time, sometimes I can just take over rounds now. I don't want to be a liability. I want to be a new generation of an IGL, to be something that no one has ever done before, that's my goal. On CT-sides now I just have more confidence overall in our game, how we play, because I'm the leader now. I think it's easier for me to perform well. Of course, spending time on Skybox, watching demos and this repeated work also made me a better player in the last couple of months. So yeah, I think it's a bit of a mixture, but I wouldn't say that I'm calling for myself to succeed.

torzsi did an interview with BLASTtv where he said it was great that you guys got that win. But with the two younger players in the team now, and the kind of inexperience that they have compared to you guys, you've had to lower expectations slightly. Maybe it will take a little longer to get back to the MOUZ of 2025 when you're always in the top four. What are the actual expectations that you guys are setting right now?

Well, to be honest, I think our expectations were getting lowered already in the beginning of 2026. We had a really rough four months with the last roster, so I think for us it was about getting back to the road that we were on for the last four years in MOUZ. We have been a top five team for two and a half years now already, and people maybe don't remember that, but also in the Vitality era we were the second best team in the world. Not many teams could have done that. Overall, the expectations went lower in the beginning of 2026. With the roster change, we didn't really know what to expect, we wanted to see how it goes. So far I think it's been going really well, and confidently I can say that we are maybe one of the top three best teams in the world right now.

You said your expectations were lowering anyway. Was that more a consequence of the form of the team, or of the form of other teams and other teams improving?

I wouldn't say it was due to other teams. I think it was a lot due to us, how we performed, how we connected over the last four months was not so good from everyone. Everyone had a tough moment, that's the reason why we made the roster change in the end, and also why it became a bit drastic with me becoming an IGL. Everyone felt that we needed something new, and while I have respect for all my ex-teammates, I think it was the best thing that we could have done in that moment.

You're a young IGL. Is it harder for you that you've got to learn this new role while having these inexperienced players that you've got to help find their way in tier one? Or do you think it's actually beneficial, because you're all in that space of learning together?

I think there's two sides of the coin. If I had four really experienced players, I would be able to progress a bit faster probably, I'd also be able to focus more on my own individual development and stuff like that. At the same time, I think the other side of the coin is that having two young guys means that I can shape them up in ways that I would like them to be. They are really open for feedback, they are really open to listening, they have a lot of respect for me and all the veterans in our team. I think there is definitely positives for both. If I could choose, I would definitely choose the route of having the young guys and helping them develop. Sharing a bit of my knowledge, especially to xelex, who played the roles that I used to play, it's a blessing for me as a leader. I'm seeing and learning how I can positively influence him as a young player without putting too much pressure on him yet. It's a blessing to have two young players on the team while I become a new IGL.

📺 Watch the interview on YouTube here.