GuardiaN: "I know we are well prepared, but something happened; we aren't playing calm CS"

We managed to talk to Ladislav "⁠GuardiaN⁠" Kovács following FaZe's second defeat of the tournament, an upset-loss to AVANGAR on Mirage.

The European mixture started IEM Katowice convicningly, crushing HellRaisers on Train, but didn't manage to continue their form against Renegades and AVANGAR , losing 16-14 and 16-13, respecively.

In an interview with GuardiaN, we discussed the issues his team has been facing, their pre-event bootcamp, a the potential of Dzhami "⁠Jame⁠" Ali.

You had a bootcamp coming into this event, what was it like, what were you doing during it?

I would say that this was probably the best, most effective bootcamp for us since I am a member of FaZe Clan. It was very strict, the practice went very well, we upgraded some stuff with YNk coming into the team. He knows the game very well and I would say he taught us a lot of discipline and how to play certain situations.

That is what we are working on, and on our T-side we have many more tactics than we used to, we are not only relying on pure skill, exploding somewhere, now we have some set strats. That was what we were working on, even though it didn't work out so far. But I think we are well prepared, we just need to execute it in the perfect way.

With what you said, I guess you had high expectations going into the Major? Obviously, that is one of the few things you are missing in your career, getting the Major trophy...

Of course, the expectations are high, you want to win this tournament, but at the same time, coming to the Major, you understand that everyone is prepared. But you can even be 0-2, it doesn't mean you are out. We still have time to fix what we messed up in the two lost games, but there is no more space for mistakes.

We have to come back, get together as a team, and play calm CS. I don't think we are playing calm CS, I think it is pretty chaotic. Today, against AVANGAR, our CT side was just chaotic. I think we need to calm down and everything will be perfect, that is it. Of course, the Major is the Major, everyone here is in top shape. It is not a problem individually, though, but as a team, we failed in these two games. That's why we need to wake up, a lot.

The first game was pretty good, but then against Renegades and AVANGAR, underdog teams that impressed people, you suffered two close losses. You mention communication being chaotic, that is something that FaZe had issues with before, do you think that stems from adding a lot to your game and then not having that much practice?

First of all, we were working on this at the bootcamp and every single practice was calm, the communication was perfect. Also, when we started with HellRaisers, it was all perfect, we were in clutches, 3v4, 2v4, and we were calm, we were not rushing somewhere. We were taking our time, communicating in the right way, it was all perfect, and you can see it in the result. When we came into the game with Renegades, and now AVANGAR, it was completely different. I don't know why it is happening, it was something we don't understand, but we have to fix it.

Because our communication at the bootcamp, in the first game, it was all perfect. But now something happened, I don't know why, it is just screaming information... basically, not calm. (laughs) I know we are well prepared, but something happened and it is time to figure it out. Now that it is BO3s it will be calmer because even if we lose one map, we can still win. I believe it will be calmer and we will come back.

What are your impressions of playing against Jame? He is this up-and-coming AWPer from the CIS region, not your region, but you played there with Na`Vi...

Of course, he is a very good player, he is a rising talent in the CIS region, I'm pretty sure he can get into the top ranks soon. I think he just isn't believing in himself as much as he should, that is my feeling. Now, when we played them, I didn't feel any pressure from him. Of course, he killed me a few times and he had some moves, but when you play against him you don't feel the same pressure you feel when you play against other snipers like kennyS or FalleN or something. You feel that they are there and they will do some move. So if he will turn into some kind of a monster and you start feeling the pressure, then he will be very good. He is already good, I don't know if he is still calling in the team, but I think he is going to be a top-tier player.

What is the mentality of the team going into the final, elimination matches?

I think that the mentality of the team is still good. We are not out of the tournament, we don't have to worry about it yet. Of course, there will be more pressure on us because we are 1-2 and every single mistake will maybe cost us the Major. We will review our VoDs from all the games we played and prepare for the upcoming games. We prepared on the bootcamp very well and all we need is to get together, focus, prepare for the game and that is it.