Author: Nicolas "Niholas" Manzano Martins

We sat down with Christopher “dexter” Nong following his team’s Quarterfinal defeat to Astralis at IEM Cologne 2022.Q: So, despite the unexpected run, I have the feeling that the loss yesterday was quite disappointing. You had Astralis on the ropes, the map veto favored you, and all the three maps you are comfortable on – Mirage, Nuke, and Ancient. You had the chance to go 2-0, 2-1; tell me about Nuke, Ancient. Why didn’t you close it out on either of those maps?dexter: On Nuke, communication just dropped off quite a bit. I am not really sure why; maybe we…

We sat down with Viktor “sdy” Orudzhev before Natus Vincere’s Semi-final clash with the winner of MOUZ/Astralis at IEM Cologne 2022.Q: You got an extra day off because you are in the Semifinals. Is this an advantage for you guys as you have more time to prepare, or does it not matter as much due to the long break?sdy: I think it is more like an advantage because we have time to practice one extra day and to figure out the team that we need to, and I think it will help us.Q: You seem to perfectly fit into this…

We talked with Finn “karrigan” Andersen at the LANXESS arena during IEM Cologne 2022.Q: You guys breezed through the Group Stage without dropping a single map. Still, a very strange tournament. The underdogs knocked out many favorites. Are you more cautious playing against underdogs now?karrigan: Not really; I think that’s what you see in this season; some teams, it’s hard to play at 100% every single time. I think many teams wanted to achieve 100% in their game and in their playstyle, and if you don’t achieve 100% other teams like MOUZ and Movistar will overperform, and they will win.…

We sat down with MOUZ NXT in-game leader Kamil “siuhy” Szkaradek at IEM Cologne 2022, following the academy side’s fourth consecutive WePlay Academy League victory.Q: You won every iteration of WePlay Academy League so far, how do you keep winning those tournaments with roster changes happening so frequently? And, what is it that you guys do to stand out the most in comparison to the other teams?siuhy: I think it is the dedication and the hard work that we put in. Every season is getting harder and harder. Since the first season, there have been four more teams joining per…

We sat down with Jonathan “EliGE” Jablonowski following his team’s heartbreaking and close-fought Quarter-final defeat to Movistar at IEM Cologne 2022.Q: First of all, heartbreaking loss; there were two very close maps in the series. On Inferno, you came out on top, but on Vertigo, you fell short. Let’s start by talking about the first map, Ancient. It was your pick; you had a rough T Side; why couldn’t you guys string more rounds together on the T Side? Why do you think that was?EliGE: I just think that Ancient is a very forgivable map in the last fifty seconds.…

We interviewed Robin “ropz” Kool after FaZe Clan’s massive triumph over Natus Vincere to win the PGL Major Antwerp 2022, marking the first-ever Major trophy for FaZe and their players.Q: Inferno, I would say on the T side some really perfect rounds, especially the three flashes out of balcony where you only had like three flashes and some tec-9s and stuff like that, but then on the CT side, you were crumbling. What was in your guys’ heads to reset and go to overtime?ropz: I think starting on the T side, it was just a masterclass by karrigan, talking about…

As the dust settles on the European RMRs, it’s time to shine a light on the unfortunate big names who are missing out on the most prestigious tournament of the year. It is the natural procedure of every qualification for the Major, where some teams that underperformed in previous tournaments, suddenly exceed expectations, whereas, some underdogs upset the big boys and a few big names disappoint completely.Some of the biggest names who fell short and were not able to qualify are arguably MOUZ, Fnatic, and OG. While fans of the respective teams were shocked and in disbelief, for the keen…

Following their 2-1 loss against Natus Vincere during the quarter-finals of the PGL Major Antwerp 2022, we had a chance to talk to Heroic’s in-game leader, Casper “cadiaN” Møller.Q: Let’s talk about Inferno first. It was quite convincing, even though there were two clutches that went in your favor, the TeSeS 180 and yours, were you still convinced that you were gonna win it, despite those clutches, besides every round being so close?cadiaN: I think like in a game with two top teams like this, a lot of the time it also comes down to the clutches, and on Nuke,…

We sat down with Martin “stavn” Lund after Heroic bowed out of the PGL Major Antwerp following their 2-1 loss to Natus Vincere in the Quarter Finals.Q: Pretty tough loss. Last major (Stockholm), you went to the Semi-Finals. This time, you fell even shorter in the Quarter Finals against a NAVI that people think was more beatable compared to the last Major. What is it that is still missing for the last percent in order to reach the final?Stavn: It’s a good question. Obviously, we are super devastated right now after the game, it was a really close game, and…

FaZe Clan took home the PGL Major Antwerp 2022 trophy yesterday, beating out Natus Vincere in dominant fashion. However, prior to the final, we caught up with Patrick “es3tag” Hansen, who fell to FaZe in the Quarter Finals, and we got his thoughts on NIP’s run at the Major.Let’s talk about the major, you went out in the Quarter Finals against the now finalists FaZe. Tell me something about your preparation; you just added Brollan recently; what was the preparation like going into this Major? Did you have to change the system? Did you make any adjustments to the roles?…