Alvaro ‘SunPayus’ Garcia defied the odds to qualify for the IEM Cologne 2023 playoff stage last year with Movistar Riders, now on ENCE, the IEM Dallas winner has just done so again with the Finnish organization.
A 2-0 victory versus fnatic, we sat down with SunPayus after the game to discuss their difficulties closing out map two, as well as the changes made to their opponents.
Sam ‘AN1MO’ McKenzie, BLIX: You guys maybe struggled to close out the second map against fnatic, but you got the win in the end, how are you feeling?
SunPayus: I’m feel really good. For me, my best experience last year was in Cologne, so being here again at the Cathedral of Counter-Strike will be an amazing experience again.
BLIX: Let’s talk about last year then, you defied the odds with Movistar to make it to the arena last time, do you think it was more in your favour for you to be there again this year?
SunPayus: I mean, we haven’t shown our best CS right now, but today was a more comfortable win than yesterday. Yesterday was actually really hard, but it was a good warm up for us too. Today we were comfortable even though the result looks quite close, we deserved it.
BLIX: fnatic have just changed their IGL, do they play different now to before?
SunPayus: I don’t remember facing them, to be honest, I think we did at Rio a long time ago, but right now, I think their playstyle is quite good. I think mezii is going to have more freedom, and I know dexter, and I know he’s a really good IGL, so I think they’re for sure going to be a stronger team.
BLIX: What about yourselves? You’ve had Nertz for a while now, are you close to your peak?
SunPayus: No, I don’t think we are close to our peak. I think we have a lot of work ahead of us and if we keep working every day on learning new stuff, not inside the game, more outside the game, we can be one of the top three teams in the world.
BLIX: You won in Dallas, do you think there will be more trophies by the end of the year?
SunPayus: We hope so. We are working every day, we are talking a lot, we are friends. We hope to get at least one more trophy before CS2.
SunPayus at the BLAST.tv Paris Major. Credit: Stephanie Lindgren/BLASTBLIX: You’ve been in the top five of the world rankings for a while now, do you think maybe because you don’t play BLAST events, or for another reason that fans maybe don’t respect you as a top five team?
SunPayus: I don’t know about what fans think, but when we play teams they know that we are strong. That is what matters to us. We are good, we are showing results at LAN, at stages, and in practice it’s going really well. Like I said, I don’t know about fans, but I think we are a top five team in the world.
BLIX: In terms of your own ability, you’re a very good AWPer, but where do you place yourself in terms of all the AWPers in the world? Is it top five as well?
SunPayus: I don’t know, actually. I think I am a different AWPer, I try to take things from all the AWPers and learn every day. So I don’t know how to position myself because there are other really good AWPers in the world. I know I am decent at least, if I wasn’t I wouldn’t be in ENCE, so I’m just happy and know I need to keep working.
BLIX: What do you think you do need to improve on? You’re incredible on CT side to such an extent that your T sides don’t look as good in comparison, is that where you’d like to improve further?
SunPayus: I think I’m adjusting more to T side, my numbers have improved. I think I just need to learn more things, to understand when I need to play more passive and more aggressive. And obviously, outside of the game I have more space to learn too.
BLIX: How do you go about learning that?
SunPayus: Taking things from my old matches, finding mistakes, or just watching other AWPers I’ll always learn something. Also, a lot of work with Snappi and sAw, because they are insane, the have a really good POV of the game, and they help me a lot.
BLIX: Finally then, you made the semi-finals last year with Movistar, what are the hopes for this year? One step further? Maybe even winning the event?
SunPayus: Individually I haven’t set a goal. Overall, I just want to enjoy the crowd again and feel the game on the stage. Most importantly, have fun.
