HObbit: "Didn’t prepare for RNG"

In the second group B match, Gambit managed to take down OpTic 16-10 on Cobblestone, earning a spot in the winners match against Renegades.

After their successful opening to DreamHack ZOWIE Open Winter 2016, we talked to the new addition to Gambit - Abay "⁠HObbit⁠" Khassenov.

First let’s go back to Tengri, talk to me about the team and how did you feel playing with them?

They are my friends, Tengri is my first team when I came to the professional scene. Because of them I came here and am now in Gambit. The players in Tengri are very nice guys, fitch is my best friend and we are always playing together. In Tengri I was a somewhat important player and my role was the lurker, I did it for I think 90% of the time.

Then you got the call to join Gambit—there are AdreN and mou from Kazkhstan who you played with in the national team—is that where the connection came from or was it from somewhere else? How did the switch happen?

AdreN just asked me, said: “join with us and let’s play together” and I said ok, because it was my dream to play at the big tournaments, and the Major of course. And AdreN and mou, they are the best players in Kazakhstan.

You were living in Kazakhstan—how does it work now? Are you living in a gaming house, how do you play and practice?

We are living in a gaming house now, in Kiev, Ukraine, but before it was in Saint Petersburg, Russia. We are practicing and playing from there.

Let’s move on to this tournament, you played against OpTic in your first match, which you won. How did you feel coming into this, as they were playing pretty good, winning Northern Arena Montreal and advancing at ELEAGUE? Were you confident against them, and on Cobblestone?

We were prepared, we watched their demos on Cobble and Train and we knew it was going to be Train or Cobble. 

How did you change your playing style and your role in the team moving from Tengri to Gambit. You said you were lurking 90% of the time, is it now a lower percent?

Yes, now I’m just an aim player, I play on A or B, not as the rotator but as the guy solo on the site. It was not my role but I’ll try to play it 100%. On the T side it also changed, I play something like an entry fragger.

Moving on, you are playing against Renegades. Have you watched any demos, have you prepared or did you think you were going to play against someone else?

We actually didn’t prepare because we thought it was going to be Cloud9. Now we will go to prepare, watch some demos and talk. It’s going to be a very hard game in my opinion.

Professeur writes for HLTV.org and can be found on Twitter.