After Nigma Galaxy’s reverse sweep against Furia Esports at the ESL Impact Finals, we had the opportunity to discuss the win, the forming of ESL Impact and playing on LAN.
Zain: First of all, congratulations to all of you guys on the win, and happy 24th birthday Tory. How does it feel to win such a big event on your birthday?
Tory: Just amazing. It feels so good. Words can’t describe how good it feels.
Zain: So when did you guys first hear about ESL impact? And what were your overall thoughts about it?
Vilga: ESL Impact was like a fresh breath for the female CS:GO scene. 2021 was rough for everyone, you know, especially in the female, CSGO scene, and everyone started leaving for another game. ESL basically created opportunities to continue developing the female scene and we’re very grateful to them for this.
Zain: So in the two matches you had today, obviously, you guys went down the first map and then came back and won the next two. How did you guys reset mentally and kind of get back into the two matches?
Twenty3: Basically, for the grand finals, the first map wasn’t our pick or our best map. We kind of just accepted that we lost it because it wasn’t our best map. The next two maps were like our strongest. We just reset our minds and went outside to get like a fresh breath. Then we came into the next map like it was 0-0 score like we didn’t care about the last map.
Zain: ANa, you had that insane 1v3 AWP Clutch on vertigo that kick-started the run you guys had in map two. How were you feeling throughout the clutch and how did that really get the team going?
ANa: I mean, it was obviously like a really good feeling for us, especially with the clutches and it gives us good momentum as well as a good advantage against them. We knew from that moment that we can win the map because we can easily clutch everything, we can trade, and do everything. It was an amazing feeling.
Zain: Are there any overall thoughts on how ESL impact will kind of help grow the female CSGO scene as a whole?
Vilga: ESL Impact is definitely bringing a lot more teams into the scene. We can see that in every cash cup, there are around 30/40 teams. We can see a lot of new names, new talent, and that’s exactly what we need for the scene to flourish. To have more competition and eventually for the scene to develop into something bigger, where girls can compete on the same level as the boys.
Zain: So I think this is some of your first big LAN. How would it feel to play in front of this crowd here in Dallas?
Kat: It was very stressful. I was very nervous. And it was kind of obvious the first day because I didn’t perform as well as I usually do or how my team expected to play. The next day, I was prepared more mentally
Zain: Alright, well thank you very much and congratulations on the win!
