Life with OG probably hasn’t gone as planned for Nils “k1to” Gruhne. Winless at BLAST Fall Groups, it took until IEM Cologne for the new team to even get a win on the board.
Having faced limited practice time and a tough group to debut against, faith in the new OG roster was low, but now with two rounds under their belt, we spoke to k1to after the team’s most difficult game yet.
Sam “AN1MO” McKenzie, BLIX: A tough game there against Vitality, how are you feeling straight after?
k1to: Bad. We didn’t get into map one at all, we just got destroyed on our own map pick. Nothing. Then it’s hard to bounce back, but we actually did on map two, we could’ve won the second map if we just won this one 2v1 against Spinx on A. Other than that, they were just the better team today.
BLIX: We were speaking to nexa about the stars in the team, and he said if it doesn’t work out with FASHR being the star, then you would become the star, is that something you would be comfortable with?
k1to: I don’t know, I don’t really think about it. I play the positions I play right now and I’m totally fine with it. I think I can have big impact right now as well, but today, unfortunately it was a really bad day for me individually.
BLIX: Are you happy with your performances overall since you joined?
k1to: I think they’re fine, but as I said today was not so good. In the other games I did what I’m supposed to do.
BLIX: What do you think some of the issues have been? Is it just a case of getting more practice in?
k1to: For sure, our map pool is not so strong like Vitality’s or any other top ten team who stayed together or didn’t make big changes like we did, so of course we are behind most other teams.
BLIX: How much practice did you actually manage to get before BLAST Groups?
k1to: Just one day, and then we practiced every day there like a bootcamp and we are far better than we were then, but still not good enough to beat Vitality.
BLIX: Is it hard to do that kind of mini bootcamp while playing at an event?
k1to: Yeah, it’s hard to find the balance between practice and official mode. You obviously want to win the game so you prepare for them, which means less time for practice.
BLIX: Will you have a proper bootcamp after this event?
k1to: We will have one, but I’m not sure when. There is a bootcamp planned, but right now we focus on IEM Cologne and hopefully we make playoffs.
