Misutaaa: "...being in the top 15 on HLTV or the top 20, is our goal..."

We sat down with Kévin "misutaaa" Rabier, Team Falcons rifler, at the BLAST Paris Major 2023: European RMR A after their loss against NAVI to talk about what he learned during his time with Vitality, joining Team Falcons and more.

Hugo “TheSwedishJoker” Nilsson Meier, BLIX.GG: Congratulations on the win! What are your feelings now after this game?

Kévin "misutaaa" Rabier: Feeling great. Amazing because obviously, it's a tough tournament. Everyone can win and everyone can lose. But yesterday we did well. It could have been worse, but it could have been better as well. But being 2-1 and the team that we faced NAVI, it's a good thing because we don't have to face them again.

So, we are feeling confident, and we showed good CS today. So, that's the best thing that could happen right now.

BLIX: Now I want to talk a little bit about you. It's been a while since you got cut from Vitality. What do you feel are the main things you learned from your time with that team and roster?

misutaaa: I mean, in the beginning, when I started to play with Vitality, I didn't play any tournaments. I was tier three or four, whatever you call that, and instantly pushed into the top-tier tournament scene. Obviously, I didn't know anything about the preparation, the game, the opening play and counterstratting, etc.

So, I had to learn all these things first. And then be able to [...] it's mostly all that. And then how to be the best version of yourself with your teammates.

BLIX: Do you feel like it made the transition a lot easier than if you would have come directly into Falcons without playing for Vitality prior?

misutaaa: Yeah, of course. Obviously, starting from Vitality and then going to Falcons, obviously boosted my confidence because people will probably trust you more in a sense. But you don't lose confidence at all. It's just growing for me.

BLIX: Was it a big transition to switch over from French to English?

misutaaa: English wasn't a big thing because I have great English. I don't have any trouble speaking English and I'm used to speaking English.

BLIX: Do you think that there’s anything that you could have done to change the outcome and stayed with Vitality for longer?

misutaaa: If I obviously played better in a way, if I had like... if I had better stats, maybe, yeah, I probably would have stayed, or the roster would have kept the same, but I feel like they needed a change.

Moving to Falcons

BLIX: So, you joined Falcons, after a while. Did you have any other offers that you were considering?

misutaaa: I had other offers, yeah. But it was between two teams and Falcons were the better option, I guess.

BLIX: Do you feel more comfortable playing in a French lineup and in the future, would you consider going to an international team once again?

misutaaa: Being in the French lineup, I think it's the best thing for me. Talking in your own language, I mean, native language, you feel just confident about it. You don't have to put some words together and make a code.

Because when you have to speak English, you have to make codes with some words to understand better. And so everyone understands when you all speak the same language. So, speaking that same language, obviously, could be way easier in French than it would be in English.

BLIX:The last CS:GO Major is in Paris. Obviously, you and the whole team are French. Does it put a little bit more extra pressure on you guys to make it?

misutaaa: No, not really pressure. We love CS, we play CS, but obviously, we don't want to [...] How do you say that? Make our fans disappointed, exactly. But we do it for ourselves. The most important thing is thinking about ourselves, and doing it for ourselves.

Then all the rest about the fans, maybe the arena, maybe whatever you can, maybe the qualifier for the Major is just a plus. And that plus is what gives us motivation, even more.

BLIX: I know you have Albanian roots. I don't know exactly about your background. I've seen you've been very public sometimes about BNE and everything like that. Has that ever crossed your mind that maybe you would go to a Balkan-speaking lineup?

misutaaa: The only very good Balkan lineup I know is BNE. I can speak Albanian, but I have to be reminded of some words and everything. But I know that I can speak fluently with my family or with some friends, and I know that if I speak more often, my Albanian skill will come back, and it would be easier.

But it would be hard to play. Maybe it might be a thing. I don't know, maybe. But probably, I don't know.

BLIX: This team is a pretty experienced squad. What are the main objectives with this lineup and what have you guys set as goals for this team?

misutaaa: We're just thinking about the Major. Of course, grinding all the online tournaments and events, if we can qualify for some events. But the online tournaments and grinding as many points as we can. It's the best. As I said to everyone, being in the top 15 on HLTV or the top 20, is our goal. As I said, the Major as well.

On the CS 2 beta

BLIX: I want to talk a little bit about CS2 before I let you go. Obviously, CS:GO is still a thing. Many tournaments as well as this Major ahead. Have you been able to play the beta yet?

misutaaa: I played it the first day, I think. I didn't have much time to play it, because obviously there is CS:GO, and there is still a Major and other tournaments still to play. But it's the beta. I haven't touched it since the first day and therefore I need more time to give it proper judgment in that sense. But so far it looks very new with all the smokes.

I don't know if the recoil changed a little bit, but the weapons look a bit weird. I didn't watch that much but it looks promising, and it looks very good as well.

BLIX: Do you still prefer CS:GO over CS2 so far?

misutaaa: We'll see about that next summer.

BLIX: Is there anything that you've noticed that you would like to see changed before it gets released publicly?

misutaaa: That's hard. Something that I want to change, maybe the price of the M4A4. Because then I will play it and then release some more maps. Then we can have more fun and everyone in the community can have fun.

Also, to have something to do except queuing Dust2, then it will be much better, I think. But yeah, I think that's it for me.

BLIX: Was it the right time for Valve to release it, knowing that the Major is here and there are still big tournaments to be played in CS:GO?

misutaaa: By Valve? Depends on the people, obviously, for the community, it's the best thing because then they can be happy about that new game, that new CS that is coming and it looks very nice. But for the professional players, I think it's not a big thing because we just focus on the tournaments that are coming for CS:GO.

And then, of course, you can just work on some things and be prepared for the future. But for right now, CS:GO is the most important and what we focus on.

BLIX: Can we expect to see you still playing CS2?

misutaaa: I mean, everyone's going to switch, I think so. So [...] Of course!

BLIX: All the older players have been talking about being a part of the old switch between CS 1.6 and CS:GO back in the day. How does it feel to be a part of the switch to a new version of CS?

misutaaa: I don't know, I don't really have any feelings. I mean it's weird because obviously, it's kind of the same as CS:GO right now. It's not just the graphics change. There is some new meta stuff with the nades that is going to change everything about the game but, overall, I'm not feeling too much.

Feature Image Credit: BLAST