Maniac: "We were in a bad mindset"

Yesterday Titan managed to grab a spot at the major in Katowice following a quadruple-overtime win against PiTER, a narrow loss to CLG and a confident win versus Copenhagen Wolves.

We caught up with Mathieu "⁠Maniac⁠" Quiquerez to talk about various topics considering the offline qualifier here at the angelo Hotel in Katowice.

How has your team's preparation been going towards the offline qualifier?

"We actually had an okay preparation, because we had two big events before that, ASUS ROG and Pantamera, so basically we just had to get ready for those two competitions and we came here with an okay preparation I would say."

Did you look at the other teams from your group, especially the initial match-ups?

"Well, PiTER we had absolutely no idea about, but we knew how Gamers2 would play, because we thought that maybe they would win against CLG, and we also looked into CLG games, what maps they play, what style they use. So yeah, we worked for CLG and Gamers2."

The first game was against PiTER and as you said, you didn't know much about them, why did you let it go to quadruple overtime? What do you think was wrong in that game on de_cache?

"I think there are many reasons, first of all we had a very bad mindset, we were stressed, we were afraid of losing. We were not in a good mindset, we were feeling a lot of pressure, actually. We had a bad start, around 7-1, and you could see that they had no pressure at all. They just rushed on us, they had a high skill level, so they just rushed on us, gave us headshots and went to the next round. We took way too much time to really start playing and after that, they just had good rounds. We were this close to losing, so in the end it was an okay performance for us to save our life in the overtime, because they were playing really great."

You had a never-ending duel with wayLander on B, he was almost always pushing out, was there a point where you realized you should do something differently and wait for him to push out? 

"I actually think it was an even duel, I killed him once or twice in the smoke. The problem is, I realized too late that he had a trick with a smoke, he had a specific smoke where he could see me and I couldn't see him. I was a little naive about that and I got killed twice in overtime, it was a really bad play from me, but after that I just played very defensively. But yeah, we had a lot of duels, but that's what will always happen on B on cache."

Then you played CLG on dust2, what can you tell us about the match that stood out for you? What went wrong?

"As I told you, we were still in this bad mindset, feeling the pressure. They played really aggressively in the beginning, we were way too passive and they had a really good level. They played really great and we could have lost 16-7. They could have destroyed us. We still have to talk about it and do a briefing about the event, but the main reason would be that we played way too passive and we let them go on fire, use their tricks. We were just waiting and they did what they had to do, really."

At one point you started pushing aggressively, took a few rounds in a row and nearly took it to overtime, but then they rushed long and ended it there. How was the communication when you were down so much?

"Well, actually, we are kind of a team who never give up. I must say, until the very 16th round, we are definitely confident that we can come back, we could have one or two good rounds and save some money. We've been doing this quite a lot, coming back into games, this event PiTER and CLG, we had two really bad starts and we had to come back into the game. We know we had to do that, so we were just not thinking about the issue and went one round at a time."

Last match was against CPH Wolves on de_nuke, we both know that de_nuke can be really one-sided just because one team starts on CT and then takes a T pistol, but what can you tell us about the match from your perspective?

"The most important thing for me was that after losing against CLG we gathered and we just went like "Let's not think about Katowice, there's no major anymore, there is no competition, there is no qualification, let's just start playing our real game, what we didn't do the whole tournament before that." And you could see that in our mindset and in our behaviour, we were really ready to fight, we went to the game, we were 100% focused and we wanted to kill people - of course in the game - but we really wanted to destroy them. We were very focused and I really liked this attitude. So yeah, then nuke, if you start as CT and you have a good start, you can just crush the enemy. But we knew that even if we start as T, we would have some solutions to use, because we have quite a game as T on nuke, so we were feeling quite confident."

You now have one month to prepare for the major, how will you use that time?

"I think we've come to the part in our game where people start to know us and know what we do. Our main tactics, some specific moves, they start to know it, and they learn and adapt, so now we have to do the second job. It means, we have to take our game, see "okay, this works, this works, this doesn't" and we have to recycle. Get new stuff, modify some stuff, change the tactic, bring a new pistol. We just have to make ourselves less predictable. I think right now we are quite predictable as a team, so we have to work on that."

What do you think about the other results here at the qualifier, has anything surprised you so far?

"All of the teams that qualified are good teams, so it is no surprise that they passed, but the thing is it's a BO1 tournament and there can be upsets everywhere. When you play a BO1 and you lose the pistol and first gunround, you're gonna be 0-5. So BO1 leaves a possibility for every team to surprise, that's the beauty of the game and also the risk for the favourites."

What do you think about the system then? It is a BO1 and there's the issue that some teams have to wait for hours while the others just finished playing.

"I think that was not a good point, the fact that we had to play at 1 PM against CLG and then at 10 or 11 PM. I would've liked that every bracket would be played to the end directly, no wait, just play, play, play, then another bracket etc. Otherwise, I would prefer BO3, because there is a lot to win and to lose here. A qualification for a major has some serious consequences for a team, participating in the biggest tournament, with the biggest prizemoney, there is the financial aspect and stuff. It's not something light, so I would've liked a BO3 for that, to ensure that the eight teams are definitely the best generally."

What about group B then, Cloud9 have already qualified, now we're waiting for the other winner game, which is Vox Eminor and dignitas, who do you think should advance from those last three spots?

"I actually see dignitas as the favourites, but I'm a big fan of Vox Eminor, I like these guys, they have a lot of energy when they play, it's so satisfying to see them play. So I would like them to upset dignitas. Otherwise, I'm really looking forward to see what the Danish ESC can do, they are kind of a mix, they have some really good players. They can definitely upset. I think mousesports is playing really decent, we've been watching their matches today and I've felt like their game is getting better and better. They could also grab a spot for Katowice."

Anything else you want to add? Say thanks to sponsors, fans...?

"As always, thanks for everyone supporting us, it's a really great feeling for us to meet fans and talk with them, take pictures. The support is really important as a player, and of course thanks to Titan who still give us this amazing support. Also thanks to Valve, because we are here thanks to them. Taking the travel in charge and stuff, that's really a good gesture from them."

There are still two more spots left up for grabs among dignitas, 3DMAX, mousesports and KaBuM, so stay tuned to HLTV.org for more content from ESL One Katowice Main Qualifier.