Author: Sam "AN1MO" McKenzie

Given their poor performance at the BLAST.tv Paris Major, it was no surprise that MOUZ made changes in the recent off-season. Kamil “siuhy” Szkaradek’s return was inevitable, however, there may have been a slight shock when Jimi “Jimpphat” Salo came in to replace siuhy’s former MOUZ NXT teammate, Jon “JDC” de Castro.The younger brother of former ENCE player Jere “sergej” Salo, Jimpphat has long been a future prospect for Finland, and in his first event for the MOUZ main team, he’s already gotten two wins under his belt.We sat down with Jimpphat after MOUZ’s advancement to the IEM Cologne 2023…

Having endured a difficult start to life during their team’s defeats at BLAST Premier Fall Groups 2023, OG got their first win as a team on the fourth time of asking against Complexity.With a revamped roster, OG finally saw the return of their IGL Nemanja “nexa” Isakovic in the recent off-season. A man currently struggling, having not touched the game in four months, we spoke to nexa about his performances, the growth in the team, and whether they have any expectations at all to succeed.Sam “AN1MO” McKenzie, BLIX: You’ve picked up your first win now as a new team, how…

GamerLegion may have made the Grand Final, but it was Into the Breach who were the real surprise package of the BLAST.tv Paris Major. Shocking the world by even making the RMR, no one would have ever expected them to reach the Champions Stage.Now without their talisman Cai “CYPHER” Watson, the organisation debuted a new team feature Aurimas “bymas” Pipiras and Adam “NEOFRAG” Zouhar at IEM Cologne 2023, an event where they would bomb out in last place.After their elimination, we sat down with honorary UK player Joey “CRUC1AL” Steussel to discuss the team’s struggles at the event, what the…

Handed a difficult opportunity in his first tier one team, Sanzhar “neaLaN” Iskhakov still managed to impress during his time with Evil Geniuses. Now a member of GamerLegion, he and Sebastian “volt” Malos have the hard task of replacing Kamil “siuhy” Szkaradek and Ivan “iM” Mihai.Following an opening loss to fellow BLAST.tv Paris Major surprise package Monte, we sat down with neaLaN to discuss his transition to his new team as well as the difficulties he faced while with EG.Sam “AN1MO” McKenzie, BLIX: A tough opening game, how are you feeling?neaLaN: I’m sad that we lost, but we’re still trying…

A long-term target for the organization, Victor “Staehr” Staehr was finally captured by Astralis in the recent off-season. A player who shot to fame thanks to his performances for Sprout at the IEM Rio Major, he has so far struggled to recapture that form on his new team.We sat down with Staehr at IEM Cologne to talk about his difficult start to life with his new team, proving the doubters wrong, and how the first Major of CS2 in Copenhagen is the team’s only goal.Sam “AN1MO” McKenzie, BLIX: You’ve opened your time here in Cologne with a win against Team…

If Kenny “kennyS” Schrub and Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut didn’t exist, Aurelien “afro” Drapier would have probably got his first real shot at tier one a long time ago. The best AWPer in France outside of ZywOo, he now joins fnatic off the back of a strong year with both HEET and LDLC.An underrated signing amid bigger moves this rostermania, we sat down with afro to discuss what playing with a legend like Freddy “KRIMZ” Johansson will be like, as well as his optimism towards transitioning to tier one.Sam “AN1MO” McKenzie, BLIX: You’ve just signed for fnatic, how are you feeling?Aurelien…

Elias “s1n” Stein made his debut for BIG’s main team while standing in for the team at the RMR event for the IEM Rio Major. Now a fully-fledged member of the team just under a year later, the team have endured a difficult start since their roster rebuild in the off-season.Having been eliminated from the IEM Cologne 2023 Play-In following losses to Apeks and Liquid, and failing to qualify from BLAST Premier Fall Groups 2023, fans might be down on the roster, but s1n couldn’t be happier with their progress so far.Following their elimination from Cologne, we sat down with…

As a player, he dragged NIP back to relevancy. As a leader, dragged them kicking and screaming to the top ten. It was never easy for him, Nicolai “device” Reedtz came in to be the star he never had, and before they even managed to put together a competitive roster, life got in the way, and device never played another game for the team.Roster instability was the norm, a constantly changing roster where he had to get accustomed to playing with a variety of stand-ins, constantly ripping up his stratbook and starting all over again. Even when he had a…

A stalwart of their region, NAVI has been home to a Ukrainian team ever since its inception in 2009. A time before CS:GO was even released, it took fourteen years for that status quo to be shifted.The consequence of war and a lack of players available to play the roles required by the team, the decision for NAVI to go international was an inevitable one. All the same, it remains a risk, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a risk worth taking.Ever since Kirill “Boombl4” Mikhailov departed the organization and Denis “electroNic” Sharipov took up the mantle of in-game leader,…

Laurentiu “lauNX” Tarlea’s move should be being held in higher regard as a coup for Falcons, although sadly it has since become overshadowed by the pure insanity of rostermania in tier one.A move that he describes as coming at the “right moment” BLIX sat down with lauNX to discuss the end of his time on Sprout, as well his excitement for joining up with his new teammates Nathan “NBK-” Schmitt and Alexandre “bodyy” Pianaro, teammates he says that playing with is something he was “dreaming of” when he was younger.”When I found out that Falcons are interested in me I…