The BLAST.tv Paris Major Europe RMR A was GamerLegion’s first offline event since the underdog squad qualified to the IEM Rio Major in November. As such, many did not know what to expect from Kamil “Siuhy” Szkaradek and co. this time around. Fortunately for the young squad, the GamerLegion managed to squeak by into the Paris Major with wins over OG, 1win, and Falcons. During this run, BLIX had a chance to sit down with siuhy to discuss changes within the team since the Rio Major, being a young IGL, and CS2, among other topics.
Note this interview was recorded following GamerLegion’s win over 1win.
Paris Major vs. Rio Major
Hugo “TheSwedishJoker” Nilsson Meier, BLIX: Congratulations on the win and making it to the 2-1 stage. You guys had a little bit of a rocky start in the beginning. Do you still feel like you can make it all the way to the Major?
Siuhy: I think so, for sure, especially in our group. And also, if I look at how we played before we came here, the results have been really good. Maybe some here and there, maybe some off days, but in general, we’ve been doing really well lately, improved a lot even since the last Major, and I think we have become a lot more consistent.
BLIX: Will we be seeing a different playstyle compared to the last Major? What do you think will be different this time around?
Siuhy: I think this time we got a lot more time to prepare or even grow as a team because last time it was a bit rushed. We qualified even before we actually became a team. So now we do have more time. Our team is a lot more established, developed, and it just feels like we play much more consistent and safer CS.
BLIX: The Rio Major was the first one for you and most of the guys on your team. Making it so far in your first Major, did that raise the expectations and the objectives that you guys have as a team?
Siuhy: I don’t think so. I think that no matter what we play, no matter what we win or whatever, I think we always look at the next day and what’s coming up. We just focus on the next opponent or next tournament, whatever it is, we put the same preparation in, and we just try to treat it as every other one. I mean, there’s no better or wrong. I think every tournament we should give our 150%.
Siuhy, the young IGL
BLIX: You are the youngest player in your team and also the In-Game Leader. How is it to be the IGL when you are the youngest player on the team?
Siuhy: It can be sometimes difficult because sometimes you could say the team maybe doesn’t show you the 100% trust that you need. But I feel like in this team that doesn’t happen, and that’s what I’m really happy about. I get the trust, they believe in me. And maybe for others, it’s different in their teams, but here it’s really nice. I feel like it’s really good for me to use this opportunity to grow even further, especially as a young player.
BLIX: You used to play the IGL role for MOUZ NXT. Was it a big transition for you to come from an academy team straight into a main team and especially as a young IGL?
Siuhy: Yes. I think even during my last few months in MOUZ NXT, I knew in my head that I want to move on and I’m ready for the next challenge. And that’s exactly what I kind of wanted – join maybe a tier two team or a tier three team that I can help grow even further, maybe reach a Major just like we did, and go from there. Because, as you know, playing in an Academy team, you’re locked from playing Majors or qualifiers, stuff like that, the bigger tournaments. So now I do get an opportunity, and I feel like we’re using this opportunity really well.
Siuhy made large strides in a short amount of time going from MOUZ NXT to GamerLegion. Credit: ESL/Helena Kristiansson.BLIX: What would you say is the difference between IGLing in an academy team versus being the IGL of a bigger team like GamerLegion?
Siuhy: I think it’s tough to say. In an Academy team, you’re basically like a teacher to others. Maybe that’s the way they treat it. But I think in our academy team, the team we had, it was not the case exactly, because we already had really good players that knew how to play the game. There was no teaching needed. Maybe just some development, of course.
And then in GamerLegion, it’s more like you have to take the pieces that you have and join them together. They’re already really good players, and they’re very developed, and they have experience in whatever they played before. But they have their experience, they have their skill, and it’s just a matter of matching those pieces together as an IGL.
BLIX: So it’s a lot easier than in an Academy team, you would say?
Siuhy: You could say so, yes.
Siuhy on CS2
BLIX: So Valve recently announced CS2, and obviously, a lot of tournaments before that will be played in CS:GO. Have you been able to play it before coming to the RMR, or have you just focused on CS:GO?
Siuhy: I played it a little bit. I’m not a fan of switching to the new game before. I still have a job to do in CSGO, so I’m not going to switch over yet. But I played it the first time it got out. I got the Beta, unlike Mateusz “mantuu” Wilczewski. *laughs*
BLIX: Do you think that it was the right time for Valve to release it?
Siuhy: I don’t know. It’s up to them, really. I don’t care about the specifics of that. I mean, maybe they had in mind that it’s around ten years now since CS:GO was released, so maybe that’s why they released it. I think it’s okay timing, it’s not wrong.
BLIX: What differences have you been able to see between CS:GO and CS2 so far in your limited playtime?
Siuhy: I just think it’s a bit more realistic, compared to what you see in CS:GO. Whenever they started adding Ancient and Anubis, you could see that these details in the map are a little bit more realistic, maybe more detailed and I feel like that’s what CS2 is right now. It’s a lot more realistic. And the gameplay, I think they still have a lot to work on, but it’s obviously the beta. So I don’t really mind that, and I know they will work on it.
BLIX: My very last question. If you could hand a wish list to Valve and say, “These are the things that I would like in the new game”, what would you say to them?
Siuhy: I would like them to add a bazooka. *laughs*
Check out the rest of our interviews from the RMRs and our coverage of Counter-Strike 2 in BLIX’s CS hub.
