FNS: "Would be really heartbreaking if we didn't make the Major Qualifier"

In a match that surprisingly went all three maps, Ethan "⁠Ethan⁠" Arnold and Kenneth "⁠koosta⁠" Suen were eventually able to help CLG power their way over the Brazilian side. Afterwards, we spoke to Pujan "⁠FNS⁠" Mehta about their upcoming match against Renegades, new coach Steve "⁠Ryu⁠" Rattacasa, and the upcoming Americas Minor.

FNS is feeling confident about the upcoming tilt against Renegades

What did you make of the match against Tempo Storm, were you surprised they took a map off of you?

Yeah, for sure, we didn't think they would be as prepared for us as they were. Obviously they are a pretty decent team, we've played them in scrims a couple times, they are pretty good, but we usually end up beating them pretty handily. So we didn't think they would perform that well. When they won Cobblestone, that rattled us a little bit, but we knew the third map was ours.

The last time you played them on Cobblestone you won 16-4, what did they change on the map?

I think they won both pistols, I can't remember, but they won all the key rounds. We messed up in a lot of communication situations, and they won every single 3v3. Normally that doesn't happen when we play a team we are supposed to be better than. That kind of caught us off-guard, I think I ran a couple quick strats, and that didn't catch them at all, they just stopped us. They also eco'd us multiple times, that is something we definitely need to fix, our anti-eco rounds.

It has been a couple months since you added Steve "Ryu" Rattaca as coach, talk about what he does for the team and how he compliments your role.

He and I work together in the sense that he usually ends up watching the team that we are playing against, he usually tells us the tendencies of the other players, and what would work that we do — how to keep us playing our own game while also anti-strat'ing the opponent. He also is able to discipline players when they make mistakes which is really important, I think all coaches should be doing that no matter what. Overall, I would say "So far, so good".

Has there been any difference in Kenneth "koosta" Suen since he has been reunited with Ryu?

He is definitely happier to have Ryu around, just because he is almost like a father figure [for koosta], I think. Outside of that, he is the same old koosta, he is a very consistent player. He is probably one of the best AWPers in North America right now, so he is definitely a big asset for our team.

You are now waiting for a rematch against Renegades, how confident are you heading into that?

I think we can beat them this time around, we were close to beating them before. We got off to a terrible start, I just don't think that is going to happen again. We were just underperforming. I think the problem with our team is that randomly, two people will perform one day, and then the next day they will be off and the other three will perform. If we can get all five of us to perform, we'll definitely win.

Looking forward, you have the Americas Minor coming up, what are the expectations going into that?

It would be really heartbreaking if we didn't make the Major Qualifier, we were third last time in the Minor and just barely didn't make it. This Minor is a little bit easier in terms of competition, I think it is only Liquid that we have to really worry about. We feel we are better than all the other teams, so it would be bad if we didn't make it this time around — we are fully expecting to make it through.

You'll be playing WESG Canada alongside Damian "daps" Steele and other well-known players, do you know if your American teammates have any plans for the event?

I'm not really sure what they are doing, I think Ethan "nahtE" Arnold is making a team with some people. My team is just playing for fun, we aren't taking it too seriously, if it conflicts with matches [for CLG], I'll skip the WESG matches.