Fresh off their victory in DreamHack Winter, Monte started their bid towards winning a second consecutive ESL Challenger tournament by progressing to the playoffs in DreamHack Atlanta. Despite falling to Virtus.pro in the Group B winnerâs match, Monte breezed past BESTIA to advance to the next phase and set up a semifinal match against Apeks.
Following their win over BESTIA, Monteâs Volodymyr “Woro2k” Veletnjuk talked to BLIX for an interview on the teamâs journey in DreamHack Atlanta, how he views their progression in 2023 and much more.
Advancing past the ESL Challenger group stage
Pedro Romero, BLIX: It was a good way for Monte to end the group stage by defeating BESTIA 2-0 to progress to playoffs. What was that series like from your perspective?
Volodymyr “Woro2k” Veletnjuk: I think we can win this tournament easily. We came here only for first place because we already have an ESL spot so here we only want the trophy. That’s it.
BLIX: Of course, you guys won DreamHack Winter shortly before this tournament so how has the transition been to go from that event to this one? And what changes, if any, were made preparation-wise?
Woro2k: We didn’t have time for practice at all because we needed to fix a lot of stuff. After the last DreamHack, we came back home, and we fixed our stuff and we came for this tournament and that was it. We didn’t have practiceâzero.
BLIX: You guys suffered defeat against Virtus.pro earlier in the group stage. How did you guys rebound from that result to get to the playoffs?
Woro2k: We just talked. Because we didn’t have practice and we didn’t play individually [speaking], some players had few games before this tournament, and right now we’re trying to get our individual [form] back. And we also talked about team play, what we were missing, what we were doing before, and what we were supposed to do right now. All in all, I think we will be ready for playoffs.
Looking back at Monteâs 2023 season
BLIX: This run in DreamHack Atlanta is a continuation of Monte’s progression this year in light of the success it has experienced, such as what happened in the Paris Major. In reflection of what happened for you and the team in 2023, what do you feel has been the biggest thing that worked?
Woro2k: This year was insanely good for us and our org also. We did a lot together and I’m very happy with what has been happening right now. We’re Top 10 in the world and we’re not falling back. We’re still in the Top 10, and we’re playing well in tournaments. Well, some tournaments were not good, while other tournaments were good, but overall, everyone is happy. I think, after the new year, we will start practicing good, we will have time, and we will be ready for Katowice, the Majorâthose first two events.
BLIX: Monte has been one of the teams that had plenty of reps by playing in many online tournaments such as CCT. How much did that help in the team’s performance for those more major events this year?
Woro2k: A lot of officials helped us too much because the best practice is to play those officials, in my opinion, and I was pushing for this to happen. Some players were tired of it, but I explained that overall, this would be good for us. It doesn’t matter if we play 300 games a year. It’s a big plus for us. We can play two or three best-of-threes per day, and we’re ready. Overall, it’s very good because, during practice, you can’t be 100 percent focused. It’s too hard because sometimes you can have fun [there], but on officials, you’re trying your best and you see the most important mistakes.
BLIX: What do you think were the biggest mistakes for the team from your point of view?
Woro2k: We had communication mistakes. It’s like default mistakes, with the most being communication. We were missing [things] sometimes, and [I felt I] was missing [it] too. Individually, we should play more because, for example, if we win a tournament or have a good place, we can have more chill days, but we should solo individually play more.
BLIX: Looking at your contribution to the team, what do you feel was the biggest thing in your game that changed?
Woro2k: Nothing. I don’t care about stats. The goal for this year was for us to reach Top 15 at least and get to Top 10 and be stable there. We lost in the Major, but it was also the most important [event for us]. Now we have all the invites for the ESL tournaments and we will try to also go to the BLAST tournaments. For the team, that’s the most important.
âWe lost in the Major, but it was also the most important [event for us]. Now we have all the invites for the ESL tournaments and we will try to also go to the BLAST tournaments.â
BLIX: Having managed to crack the Top 10 in the global rankings, do you feel satisfied with what this team did this year, or do you feel a sense of “maybe there is more potential to be realized”?
Woro2k: Of course, I’m very happy for this year, and overall, I understand how [this team] can be [like] in the future. For next season, it will be better, and you can always do better. Even this year, it could’ve been better. We could be at a better place in the Major or have better places in some tournaments, but we could always do better and we were very close to doing it. It was only in the Major in which [our opponents] beat us too hard but overall, everyone was playing at the same level and we never lose without a fight.
BLIX: Since it’s been almost half a year following the Paris Major, where you finished in the quarterfinals, how do you look back on that experience?
Woro2k: It was an insane experience for us to be on stage for the Major, but as of now, we don’t care about LANs at all. We’re already playing in a lot more LANs than usual, so for the next Major, I think we can make better results for sure. And our goal, no matter what can happen, is always first place. We don’t come to get playoffs or something. We want to only win tournaments. That’s it.
