Author: Sam "AN1MO" McKenzie
Once the star of ECSTATIC, Dion ‘FASHR’ Derksen didn’t quite set the world alight as many would have hoped for him in his time on fnatic. Now on OG, the roster initially got off to a poor start with four straight defeats spanning BLAST Premier Fall Groups 2023 and their opening game at the IEM Cologne 2023 Play-In.As one of the stars of the team, it would be easy to blame FASHR, but as he admitted to us himself here in Cologne, he still needs time to relearn the roles in which he once dominated tier two.Despite him still needing…
One of four tier two teams to rain on the tier one parade at the BLAST.tv Paris Major, there were high hopes coming into IEM Cologne 2023 as to what Apeks could achieve at the tournament.Reinforced by Aleksandar “CacaNito” Kjulukoski after the lost of Justinas “jL” Lekavicius, the team unfortunately couldn’t bounce back from a narrow defeat against Astralis to take down OG in order to advance from the Play-In stage.Following their loss to OG, we sat down with IGL Damjan “kyxsan” Stoilkovski to discuss the recent roster move, their elimination from the event, and the expectations the team has…
One of the brightest young talents in the game, Daniil “headtr1ck” Valitov has been a key figure for NIP for a while now. The team faced disappointment at the BLAST.tv Paris Major, but since the return of Hampus “hampus” Poser, the team has so far defeated Vitality to qualify for BLAST Premier Fall Final and now qualified for the IEM Cologne Group Stage.After their qualification and the nailbiter of a third map versus Imperial, we spoke to headtr1ck about the game, the difference between hampus and Aleksi “Aleksib” Virolainen, and the potential this new NIP team has to succeed.Sam ‘AN1MO’…
Aurimas “Bymas” Pipiras burst onto the pro scene as a stand-in for FaZe Clan. Overshadowed by Helvjis “broky” Saukants there, he found himself picked up by MOUZ where he would remain for two years before the arrival of Dorian “xertioN” Berman a year ago.Now one of BLAST.tv Paris Major quarter-finalists Into the Breach’s newest signings, Bymas looks to battle his way back to tier one with an organization that has already defied all the odds once.We sat down with Bymas at the IEM Cologne 2023 Play-In to discuss his integration into the team, the differences between ITB and MOUZ, and…
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…