TaZ: "You will see a good VP tomorrow"

The Polish giants are currently in Atlanta to face Astralis in a winner-takes-all $250,000 encounter, hosted by ELEAGUE as a rematch of the Major final, which the Danes won by a 2-1 scoreline.

The last few months have been very rough for Virtus.pro, who suffered early exits at IEM Katowice and at the SL i-League StarSeries Season 3 event, and were relegated from the ESL Pro League. 

TaZ believes the team will be ready for the Major

As we get closer to the Major, Virtus.pro are ranked 9th in the world - the lowest they have ever been since our ranking was created -, but Wiktor "⁠TaZ⁠" Wojtas is confident that his team will put on a good performance against the Danes.

"This is the best thing and the worst thing about VP," TaZ said in a conference call with members of the media. "You can have a great team and you can have the worst team on any given day.

"I think that is what excites all the people around the world, even if they hate us or trash talk us. They just love this anticipation and the lack of knowledge about the kind of style we will show. 

"I love it as well, maybe not when we lose, but I love the hype. I think you will see good things tomorrow [today] and a good VP."

Over the years, Virtus.pro have had many ups and downs, and they have always managed to get back to life when least expected. TaZ rejects the notion that this is the team's darkest period, but he openly admits that, for a team that has been this long together, it is extremely hard to go back to the drawing board every time that things do not go their way.

"If we had beaten Heroic in Katowice, we would not be talking about this," he noted. "Before StarSeries, we changed some roles and some fundamentals.

"It is hard to be on a team for three years and say: 'we will need to do everything from scratch'. You need to forget everything.

"We want to bring our A-game to every tournament, and I feel we are getting closer. We have games in which we play really well, and some in which we just do not click.

"I am sure we will be ready for the Major, and tomorrow [today] will be a big test."

TaZ was then quizzed on the best-of-three format of this match and whether important encounters, such as title deciders, should always be played over a best-of-five series.

"I think I prefer best-of-fives, I like long games and I like to compete," he says. "But for TV that's not really suitable. 

"There's also a different approach from the teams. It will be a shorter match and every round will count. 

"In best-of-fives, you try to get your aim duels, not thinking about consequences, whereas in best-of-threes you play in a more strict way to make the best possible moves."

Virtus.pro and Astralis will face off at 04:00 , with the match being broadcast live on TBS and Twitch.