Author: Sam "AN1MO" McKenzie

Since joining ENCE, Guy “NertZ” Iluz has been a revelation. One of the stars as the team won IEM Dallas, he has continued from where he left off after the player break at IEM Cologne.Now into the Grand Final, we spoke to NertZ about the game, his performance, and the Israeli scene.Sam “AN1MO” McKenzie, BLIX: Congratulations, you’ve made it to the final, how are you feeling?NertZ: I feel great, I’m happy that my teammates carried me this whole best of three. I’m really excited for tomorrow.BLIX: Are you disappointed with your performances today?NertZ: I’m really disappointed because I didn’t show…

After announcing himself at the RMR for the IEM Rio Major last year, it always seemed inevitable that Victor “Staehr” Staehr would find himself on one of the world’s best teams. Now a part of Astralis, the team has blitzed even their own expectations as they now find themselves in the semi finals of IEM Cologne following a 2-0 victory against Heroic.After the game, we spoke to Staehr about his first time on stage, beating Heroic, and the form of Christian “Buzz” Andersen.Sam “AN1MO” McKenzie, BLIX: It’s your first experience of the LANXESS, you won the Danish Derby, how are…

Astralis look a completely different outfit since Benjamin “blameF” Bremer has taken over as IGL, and not just because they have two new players. The best team in the world on Ancient, they also looked comfortable on Inferno as they took down Heroic 2-0 thanks to an incredible showing from Christian “Buzz” Andersen.After their quarter-final victory against their Danish rivals, we spoke to blameF about readjusting to the IGL role, his playstyle, and the crowd being on Astralis’ side.Sam “AN1MO” McKenzie, BLIX: You’ve taken the reigns of IGL again very recently, what’s it been like? Has it taken some getting…

Despite being such a new team, Astralis are already impressing having qualified for BLAST Premier Fall Final and the Playoff stage at IEM Cologne 2023.Following an intense series against NAVI, we spoke to Astralis coach Peter “casle” Ardenskjold about the game, the team’s development, and being in the LANXESS so early into their time together.Sam “AN1MO” McKenzie, BLIX: A crazy series there, how you feeling straight afterwards?casle: Pretty good, of course [laughs]. It was a good series.BLIX: It’s the second event with the new team, the first real tournament environment, how it’s all coming together so far?casle: I think now…

A relatively unknown player when he was brought into the fold, Christian “Buzz” Andersen struggled during his first season with Astralis. Now playing under a new IGL and in different roles, the youngster is beginning to show why Astralis saw so much potential in him while on MASONIC.Following their advancement from the IEM Cologne Group Stage, we spoke to Buzz about his development in the team, those new roles, and playing in a Danish Derby for his first appearance in the Cathedral of Counter-Strike.Sam “AN1MO” McKenzie, BLIX: You’ve made it to the LANXESS, it’s your first time there, how are…

ENCE finished the first season of 2023 on a high as they claimed victory at IEM Dallas. With an extended break, it was understandable they were concerned it might affect any momentum they would have otherwise built up, but given their place in the IEM Cologne semi-final, it’s safe to say those worries were unfounded.Following their game against Heroic, we sat down with Eetu “sAw” Saha to discuss maintaining momentum, beaten the world’s number one team, and the success he and Marco “Snappi” Pfeiffer have at bringing tier two talent up.Sam “AN1MO” McKenzie, BLIX: A huge win for the team…

When Victor “Staehr” Staehr was signed by Astralis, it was met with a lot of excitement. One of the best young talents in Denmark, it was a signing that proved Astralis still had a pull within the region, and still intended to become one of the best in the world once more.However, the same could not be said for Johannes “b0RUP” Borup. Seemingly an uninspired signing at the time, fans felt like b0RUP was a ‘leftover’, and that team would have been better off by sticking with now former Astralis Talent player, Alexander “Altekz” Givskov.With the season now deep into…

Since Jan “Swani” Muller was promoted from Assistant Coach to Head Coach of G2 in October last year, the team has won both BLAST Premier World Final 2022 and IEM Katowice 2023. Now in a trophyless spell after starting the year looking like they would become the dominant team, he’s charged with helping G2 get back to winning ways.Following his team’s dominant 2-0 victory over FaZe at IEM Cologne 2023, we sat down with Swani to discuss the lack of changes, failure at BLAST Premier Fall Groups, and the team’s new Mental Coach.Sam “AN1MO” McKenzie, BLIX: A great win for…

The first Brit to ever feature in a CS:GO Major final, Ashley “ash” Battye saw his reputation as a coach skyrocket as a result of that achievement. With GamerLegion now playing at their first tournament since the departures of both Kamil “siuhy” Szkaradek and Ivan “iM” Mihai, the coach looks to help bed in new arrivals Sebastian “volt” Malos and Sanzhar “neaLaN” Ishakov.After the team picked up their first win of the event against TheMongolz, we sat down with ash to discuss the changes in the team, finding the new star, and GamerLegion’s roadmap to get back to their peak.Sam…

A Major winner with NIP, Richard “Xizt” Landstrom is now one of the best coaches in the world with Heroic. Winners of BLAST Premier Spring Final, having booked their place in the LANXESS arena, they look to win their first LAN IEM event here in Cologne.After their game Monte, we sat down with Xizt to discuss advancing to the playoffs, the growth in the team over the past year, and the debut of his former rival Filip “NEO” Bubski as FaZe’s coach.Sam “AN1MO” McKenzie, BLIX: You’ve made it to the LANXESS, how are you feeling?Xizt: It feels amazing to finally…