RUBINO: "jkaem is a talent"

LGB are the second team to qualify for the major in Katowice next month after defeating Copenhagen Wolves in the only one-sided match so far before taking care of Flipsid3 for a spot.

Ruben "⁠RUBINO⁠" Villarroel talked to HLTV.org and gave us his input on both of their matches and how his team has prepared. He also attempted to predict the outcome of the other group and enlightened us on how the team would prepare for the major.

First off, how was your preparation going into the qualifier? Was there any bootcamp?

Ruben "⁠RUBINO⁠" Villarroel: "Our preparation has been really good, we have been practicing every day from like 6 to 12, so we have been practicing a lot and we had an event last week at IOS Pantamera. I think that helped us a lot at the upcoming event."

You knew your opponents days before the tournament, you knew you were going to play Copenhagen Wolves and then either Flipsid3 or Liquid, how did you prepare for these teams specifically? 

"We didn't see so much of those teams. We talked about it and we thought that we play our game and not think about their game. We know that we are really good individually and we can go against them individually, have some tactics and just play like we normally do."

First you played against Copenhagen Wolves, it was the least close match here in Katowice, everything has been very close so far, why was it that you could beat them so easily?

"I'm not sure really, but we know how Copenhagen Wolves play, we have confidence versus them, we just play as we normally do and it worked really well. We got ten rounds as Terrorists and we got really shocked about that, because we thought it was going to get closer, but everything worked out."

Then you went up against Flipsid3, you only got eight rounds as CT, which is not too good on inferno, even though lately both sides have been strong from time to time. What did you do to battle against Flipsid3's executes?

"The problem was probably the rotations, we just played bad. Bad rotations, but also because we played versus Flipsid3 in the ESL qualifier to get to the offline qualifier and we lost 16-14. The problem was that they faked us a lot, smoked on A and went to B, we were a bit more solid on the hold this time. I think they knew we know that so they used it on us, their Terrorist side was really good."

What I noticed was the eco round that you won cleanly, you stacked B and CT spawn, did you know exactly what they were going to do?

"We were talking about holding 4 A on the start, but the problem is that everyone as Terrorists thinks that when you smoke off B, there is just one there, because then you go to A site. But we thought "Okay, let's smoke and just stack B, if they don't go B we just save and get the next round with armor", so we just hoped for the best and it went really good."

What was the overall plan as Terrorists, what did you know about their CT side? 

"We knew that DavCost and markeloff were holding B and they were playing it really well, so we were trying to get entries on A, because they were not as good as markeloff and DavCost. We just got some entries and played off that, basically."

What do you make of the other results here in Katowice, all of them were really close, some even went into overtime?

"I was really surprised, actually. Our group was PiTER, Titan and such, and I thought that Titan was going to win both matches and get to the major fast. But PiTER really surprised me and that guy waylandeR was playing out of his mind. CLG too, they have been playing really well, I was shocked that they got through, I thought it was going to be Titan and Gamers2. So I'm surprised, but it's cool to see some new teams coming."

What about the other group? Is there anyone that stands out for you?

"I think that Cloud9 has a chance and I hope they will get to the event. Dignitas should come through, I don't know about the others actually, I haven't watched them much. KaBuM might have a chance, they have improved a lot and I love watching them."

You're now qualified for the major, you have a month to prepare for that, what will you do to prepare? Will there be any bootcamp possibilities?

"We were talking about that before we went to this event that hopefully we can manage a bootcamp, it's a bit hard since some of us are working every day. But we will try to get a bootcamp or it's going to be usual practice probably every day."

Last question, who from your team stood out the most for you at this tournament?

"I probably need to say that rain has been playing really well, but he always does. But jkaem is a really good talent, nobody knew who he was before he joined LGB and he has been improving a lot."

Last words, shoutouts to fans, sponsors?

"Thanks to our sponsors GUNNAR, Xtrfy, Ekelund, everyone else and my family."

Stay tuned to HLTV.org for more content from the main ESL One Katowice qualifier, including more text interviews with some of the teams of the latter half of group A later today.