HObbit: "We came here only to win"

Gambit began their campaign in Krefeld with a 2-0 victory over Singularity, assuring themselves of a spot in the semi-finals, in which they will take on Seed, with the winner qualifying for the $250,000 ROG Masters event.  

HObbit believes that Gambit should win the tournament

Read on as Abay "⁠HObbit⁠" Khassenov talks about his team's goals for the German event, their new coach, Andriy "⁠Andi⁠" Prokhorov, and the recent results. 

Let's start by talking about your preparation for this event. What was it like? 

We prepared for this tournament during a two-week bootcamp we had with Andi, our new coach. He just gave us some new tactics, some new things, and we came here only to win and with a new story to tell. 

Can you talk a bit about Andi? How did you decide that he was the right person to be your new coach? 

Andi is awesome, he used to coach Natus Vincere. When Zeus and Kane joined Na`Vi, Andi left the organisation, so we just talked and offered him a position. He is very clever, and that is why he is our coach. We are very happy with him.

Tomorrow you will be meeting Seed. What do you think about that match-up?

It is going to be hard, especially because they are playing at home. They have a lot of fans here, and that always makes things a bit easier. So it will be a hard match. 

How do you see this tournament? What are your goals?

Actually, we have two goals for this tournament: the first one is to win it, and the second one is to take it as practice. We are trying out some new strategies and a new game style. After all, we practiced for two weeks.

Recently, you failed to qualify for ESL New York and ELEAGUE Premier. What was the mood like when that happened?

Every tournament for us is very important. We have some pressure from fans because we won the Major, and now we lost two online qualifiers. We came here only to win. If we lose, we do not feel like we are champions. We are like nothing [at all]. 

fitch has been on the team for a while now. What is your opinion about him?

He is feeling some pressure because he came into a team that had just won a Major. He feels some pressure, of course, but he is doing very well. We like him, he is a very, very good guy, and, of course, he is our friend.

Finally: what are your goals for the rest of the year?

Our main focus will be on EPICENTER, and, after that, on IEM Oakland. We should be at least top three at both events.