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 season. And therefore, it is becoming more difficult against every team, and every team is also stepping up because they want to defeat us, obviously.
So, the amount of work that we put in before the tournament is going to be the result we get out of the tournament. I think we are really good at just putting in the hours every day before every tournament and practicing for the actual opponents that we will be playing in the tournament, preparing specifically for teams.
Q: You are scraping the top thirty position with MOUZ NXT, and at one point, you even overtook the main roster. What is it that is missing for you guys to breach into the top twenty? What do you need to get deeper and get closer to the top twenty teams?
siuhy: I think it is difficult to say obviously we are very limited in what we can play, so that plays a huge factor in that. But, other than that, I think we have what it takes, but we need to use it effectively in our gameplay, and we can win against top teams. Against Fnatic, we had a really close result which we could have won. Obviously, we got defeated in the last map, but it was a really close game, and that just shows we are capable of it, but we just need to use what we have effectively in the games.
Q: When it comes to academy teams, normally in traditional sports, academy teams play the same system and play almost the same tactics as the main team. Is it like this in MOUZ NXT and MOUZ that you guys are playing the same system? Because sycrone is coming from MOUZ NXT to MOUZ, you guys have a new coach, TOBIZ. Is he also implementing the same kind of things, and is he working in tandem with sycrone?
siuhy: Yeah, I think it is not the same. Obviously, we try to keep somewhat of the system we had with sycrone because it suited us well. But obviously, every player is not going to be suited to the system. We need to adapt every player, we have roster changes all the time, so we need to adapt every player so that they feel comfortable. We try to come up with a new system, and we involve everyone in the team so everyone feels comfortable.
The stuff we take into consideration is how a player feels in each system, what is he missing, what does he need, what type of player he is and obviously as well I think it is my role and the coach’s role to do that most importantly. We want all the players to feel comfortable, no matter who it is, because that is when the players can stand out the most.
Q: Is it hard for you to watch to watch your teammates being promoted? I imagine you feel happy that your teammates get opportunities, but at some point, I think you would also like to get a promotion yourself. Is it hard for you to see, or are you just patiently waiting for your opportunity?
siuhy: I think everyone’s idea of being in an academy team is to get promoted one day. That’s the dream, right? And seeing my past teammates do that just motivates me even more. I am so happy for them that they got the opportunity, and I know what I am capable of, and if I keep it up, maybe I will one day get promoted, or maybe I will find something new.
