woxic: "I don't care what their name is; in the game I give no respect to anyone"

MOUZ' AWPer Özgür "⁠woxic⁠" Eker sat down with us during the second day of ESL One Cologne to discuss his rise through the ranks, his impact on the team, and departing HellRaisers.

After starting the tournament by losing to Natus Vincere, MOUZ bounced back in the lower bracket, securing wins over MVP PK and FaZe to set up a rematch against the Russian-Ukranian side which will decide who will move on to the LANXESS Arena for the playoffs.

In our interview with woxic, we discussed the defeat to Natus Vincere on Train, which broke MOUZ' streak, the 20-year-old playing his first Big Event semi-final in Montpellier, and breaking into the top 10 with his team.

You started this tournament against Na`Vi on Train, which is a pretty good map for you with this lineup. It starts pretty well, but in the end, you couldn't close it out. Talk to me about that inability to close it out and the frustration that came with it.

Firstly, we played Train because we were confident we would win on this map and with this feeling, we started well, everything was perfect, but at the end of the game some communication problems started during clutch rounds. So I was doing some dead talk, for example, in the last round when electronic killed two, I was saying "hold here, hold here" and I said that nobody was watching behind and at that time ropz and chrisJ checked behind together, chrisJ left lower because of it. So communication problems happened there, that is why we lost the round, electronic did the flank with amazing timing, it can happen only once in a game, maybe even in one year, and it happened.

But we have to handle this better or otherwise it can lead to more heartbreak for us. Because now we have one more chance, we played MVP PK and FaZe, we won these games, but what if we do the same mistake against FaZe on the last map, last round? You lose the game like that, you are going to feel so bad. So that is why we have to work on it, it is just a one-time thing and I don't think it is going to happen again.

What is the communication like? You played in English-speaking teams for some time now, but what is it like in mousesports?

My English is not like the other guys' because they are born in Europe and they have a different type of English level, but I have no problem communicating in-game, it is enough for us. And outside of the game I have no problem either, I know the basic, daily-routine English, that is enough for me to talk in and out the game. I don't think we have a problem with communication in our team.

You weren't in the team before, but obviously, mousesports from last year was a very, very quiet team, very calm. Even when they won tournaments there were almost no emotions shown. Now when you and karrigan came in a lot more fire is brought in, you are very emotional in winning and losing. How do you feel that developed with you joining the team?

It feels good, because as I hear from people there was just silence, they were playing calm, normally, without emotions kind of. For me, emotions are a part of the game so if I cheer up my teammates I feel like they are going to shoot better. So that is why I'm always trying to cheer up someone, even if he does a mistake, I'm just trying to say "bro it is ok, it is nothing, it happened one time and it will not happen again, let's go and fu** them". Also, karrigan is doing the same, we have a similar character. He is yelling, I'm yelling, everyone starts to yell and we're cheering each other. When someone is cheering on my team, believing in the win, I'm playing better also, I'm hitting my AWP shots better. It is good to feel that your teammates are on the same ship as you.

You've been on this team for about four months, this is the first time you've managed to reach the top 10 with a team, you recently played your first Big Event semi-final, a couple of these achievements are starting to build. How does that feel for you?

I was waiting for this feeling for a long time. I thought I could make it with HellRaisers but after we were failing in tournaments for a long time, I decided to not play with them anymore. I talked with them and I said: "You know I love you and you will always be my friends, but I want to win some good trophies, I want to play semi-finals, finals, always, I want to be in the top 10". Some said that we could do it if I stayed but for two years we weren't able to do it, we only reached 12th place I think, after the FACEIT Major quarter-final.

And in this team, I think we can stay within the top10 always because if we are playing like this after four months, I can't imagine what will happen in the future when everyone knows everything about everybody. Yes, we are together for some time, but you can't know somebody truly after four months, you are still learning from your teammates in real life, and in CS also, what kind of habits they have... We are just learning and when you are getting closer with your teammates it is impacting your game as well and you are playing better, that is my opinion at least. It is such a good feeling to be in the top10 and play playoffs, semi-finals, and right now to beat FaZe... the first game was a bit unlucky but we know that if we are going to face Na`Vi we will beat them in a BO3.

Let's touch on the FaZe game, obviously, for karrigan it is a big thing because they removed him from the team, you beat them in Montpellier as well but now it was an elimination match. How big is the feat for you because they are players that won a lot after all?

When I'm in the game, everyone is on the same level as me. If I can face him in the tournament that means that I can win against him as well. I don't care what their name is, they can have a big brand name, they can be famous players, but if you think about that you will lose the game, you will be under pressure. In the game I give no respect to anyone, I don't care if it is FaZe, if it is Astralis, Liquid, or someone else. I have to do my job because I have only one goal: to win the tournament we are attending. So whoever comes to you: win. That is it, it doesn't matter.

The Liquid game that you had at the ESL Pro League Finals in the semi-final, and especially the Nuke game where you had an exceptional performance individually - does that give you additional wind in your sails, prove that you are capable of doing great things?

Yeah, exactly. I was feeling ok to peek whoever, but now I'm feeling more comfortable because I know I'm better than these AWPers, if I'm on my day, there is no chance for them, I'm going to hit every shot. This Liquid game gave more confidence on LAN, in the playoffs, when you are playing in front of people. It is a bit different, your team communication can be changed because someone can be under pressure, shaky... of course, that shouldn't be happening, but I learned how to deal with it.