TACO: "We didn't play our A-game, but we'll have to play it tomorrow"

Liquid's Epitacio "⁠TACO⁠" de Melo talked about closing out the HellRaisers game and tomorrow's semi-final in our post-match interview.

The North American side was a big favorite going into the quarter-final match against HellRaisers, but Kyrylo "⁠ANGE1⁠" Karasiow's side was able to put up a decent fight on all three maps, coming back to deficits on Mirage, Dust2 and Cache.

However, TACO's team was able to close out the game and advance to the semis, so we talked to the Brazilian to hear what is going in with the team and what they learned from that series.

Going into the match against HellRaisers and looking at the map pools and map vetos, did it go as expected? Did you get caught out by the Dust2 pick from HellRaisers?

To be honest, we didn't know which map they would pick, to be really honest. We knew that they had a good Cache but Cache is our best map as well so we felt that they wouldn't do something like this. But we didn't know at all which map they would pick. We tried to focus on our own game, we knew that we would pick Mirage and we didn't do any anti-stratting, it was only our game.

What is your general approach when playing against a team like this, they are obviously an underdog but they have two very dangerous players, we saw ISSAA being pretty deadly in the group stage, woxic as well?

I know that they have their style to play, they know how to mix an aggressive style with a passive style as well. They are not that much of a tactical team, they played a lot of maps in the qualifier and in the second stage, so that helped us to figure out the style they play because we watched a lot of matches before. So of course, we know that they are dangerous teams to play against, it was really hard today, it was a really hard match for us. But our approach this time was just trying to focus on our own game. Even though we didn't have a good day it was kind of enough.

Tell me about the Dust 2 game you lost, they made a comeback on the T-side. It seemed like the A site defense was the biggest issue, they were bullying that part of the map. Obviously, you are not there that much, but what was the communication like, what were your guys talking about when HellRaisers were starting and finishing the comeback?

What I heard was that "their flashbangs are so good". We didn't find a solution to what they were doing on their A take. They didn't use B that much, I didn't play this game at all on the CT side. (laughs) Our retake was not good as well, actually, we didn't have any chance to retake. It was definitely a really hard match for us as CT and that is it. zews tried to pause the game to find a solution for that, but we were not able to find a solution. What we are going to do now is talk and think about a solution because it is easier now, during the game we couldn't find one.

Dust2 could obviously come up in the semi-finals if Astralis win especially, but even if FaZe win there is a chance. So is that the thinking now, that you have to figure out what HellRaisers did and that could potentially help you win the semi-final?

Yeah, I think both Astralis and FaZe are really good, I don't know who is going to win, to be honest. Today we didn't play our A-game, but we know that we will have to play it tomorrow to win against any of these teams. But we are confident and we are ready. We also didn't play in the tournament for quite some time because we qualified as 3-0 and we were just practicing, it is a different story when you are actually playing the tournament. For FaZe and Astralis, we are just going to try to play our game again. Let's hope we wake up, play our A-game, with communications high, with team spirits up as well. That's it.

Let's touch on Cache, you started pretty well, NAF was fragging really well, you individually were having an off-map though, but what were the issues in closing it out in the end? Were there any jitters or a feeling that you could let it slip away?

What we talked about before the third map is that we have a lot of skill in our team and on Dust2, when the game got close, we were kind of afraid of taking fights. Then on Cache we said "guys lets take the fights, we are the better team, we have insane aim, let's use it". NAF went off, he played really well in this match, I think everyone except me played really well in this match. As CT, the game was kind of done, over already, so we just slept for a few rounds (laughs), then we were able to close it out. Cache, even though it looked like a difficult match for us, it was really ok, we were really calm and we knew we would win when we won the CT pistol round, we knew it was almost over.

Lastly, touching on NAF individually, he has been one of the standout players throughout the tournament. You obviously share some sites, play together, and he is a different style of a player to you, so how is it playing with him, how has it been working out?

I actually love playing with NAF next to me, every bombsite that I play I like to call for my bombsite and he is a good teammate, he listens to everything that I tell him during the round. And of course, it helps that he is super skilled and he always finds a way to get two or three kills - which also helps a lot, of course, because that is really important. In our team, of course, we try to build a structure, and our structure is around NAF, EliGE, and Twistzz, because in my opinion, they are the fraggers, they are the guys with the aim. If anyone of these guys goes off in a game I think we can beat anybody.

That is what happened on Cache, NAF was on fire and when someone is like this in our team, NAF or Twistzz or EliGE, it is kind of easy to win. They do their jobs really well and then behind them, I and Nick are doing the dirty job, Nick with good calls of course and I'm always trying to support and everything. I feel happy when I see one of those three players going off in a game because that is their job. I think our success, right now, is because they are doing their job really well, and of course, we have Nick as the in-game leader doing a really good job and zews as well helping us a lot.

More interviews from the Major playoffs:

fer: "We are still confident in our Dust2"
flamie: "We're playing well as a team, but it's more about the individual plays"