Neo: "You can't win [them] all"

Kubski's Virtus.pro won the first major of 2014 and placed second at Copenhagen Games, but have since struggled with 4th and 5-8th place finishes at SLTV Finals and DreamHack.

Online they've continued to thrive as they won FACEIT Spring League, and now they will have a chance to redeem themselves at ESEA Invite Season 16 Global Finals this weekend.

You’re fresh off attending DreamHack Summer 2014. How would you analyze your performance in Jönköping? Why were you unable to defeat Natus Vincere in the quarter-finals?

Neo: We have (almost) always underperformed at DreamHacks, but it feels pretty weird after a strong group stage day. There are always plenty of reasons you can come up with, but Na`Vi was just stronger. Feels like they just did their homework better.

After ESEA Finals there will be a break in the calendar with the next international event, Gfinity, schedule for early August, two weeks before ESL One. How will you spend this time before the next major?

Neo: A week after ESEA Finals we are attending EPS Finals in Poland. Then we will take a small break from CS, which I feel is needed since we haven't had a break yet this year. We didn't really discuss it, but I think everyone on the team will agree that a bootcamp is a must before such a huge event like ESL One Cologne.

How have you prepared for ESEA Invite Season 16 Global Finals after DreamHack, and do you feel ready for the event? How do you plan on spending the remaining time before the event kicks off?

Neo: After coming back from DreamHack we just tried to analyze what went wrong and did some strat corrections. We tried to get back to the regular daily practice schedule. There are not many teams that are playing right now which made it a bit harder to get fully ready. What's left is just individual practice.

Player	Age	Rating
Jarosław "pasha" Jarząbkowski	26	1.15
Wiktor "TaZ" Wojtas	28	1.09
Filip "Neo" Kubski	27	1.08
Janusz "Snax" Pogorzelski	20	1.08
Paweł "byali" Bieliński	20	1.07

Will the North Americans be a factor with some of the world’s best European teams present? Are you at all worried about iBUYPOWER, who beat Titan last time but never do well in Europe, or compLexity, who have been very underwhelming since losing swag?

Neo: In CS:GO you can't really understimate anyone. US teams are strong and we all know that. Plus, European teams are playing official matches more often, which means it is easier to check their game plan and get prepared for their strats.

What do you make of your chances at ESEA? With the bracket published, we know you will play Netcode in the first round, followed up by OverGaming or iBUYPOWER. How do you expect to do in those match-ups?

Neo: I don't like playing the prediction game. We know we are capable of winning, but there are too many factors that can affect the result, which makes it unpredictable!

Your last two tournaments have been disappointments. How important is it that you do well at ESEA Finals, with a lengthy break coming up after? What if you have a third weak showing now, two months before ESL One?

Neo: There are plenty of events nowadays and it is obvious you can not win all of them. Failing at SLTV Finals and DreamHack was kind of a disaster, but it feels like we were not mentally ready to win them. ESEA is definitely the most important out of these three. ESL One is a huge tournament that everyone is already looking forward to, so I don't think our performance at ESEA will affect the approach anyhow.

pasha has been one of the world's absolute best players so far in 2014, but struggled badly at DreamHack. Is there any reason the fans may not be aware of that may have contributed to his uncharacteristically weak showing?

Neo: Like I've mentioned already, I believe it is more about the mental approach to the event. He's been telling us many times how much he is excited about the ESEA Finals. You will see it yourself when Biceps is hungry for frags!

Coming up next will be an interview with iBUYPOWER's newest member Joshua "steel" Nissan, scheduled for release tomorrow afternoon, followed up by Na`Vi's Sergey "starix" Ischuk.