mantuu on joining OG: "It relit the fire inside me and gave me the opportunity I always wanted"

We had a chat with Mateusz "⁠mantuu⁠" Wilczewski ahead of his debut with OG at cs_summit 5 to discuss his expectations for this new challenge, adapting to a different role and the first weeks of practice.

The 22-year-old enters cs_summit 5 hoping to prove his doubters wrong, with his arrival in OG representing the biggest challenge of his career. The British AWPer, who made a name for himself in PANTHERS and ALTERNATE aTTaX, will make his debut for the team at 18:00 against a woxic-less MOUZ side.

In this interview, mantuu talks about his feelings on joining such a veteran squad, plays down community pressure and says that the team can dream big next year. If you want to know more about his career up to this point, you can read our feature article with insight shared by ALTERNATE aTTaX's Dustin "⁠DuDe⁠" Großmann and by former coach Niclas "⁠enkay J⁠" Krumhorn.

This is undoubtedly the biggest challenge of your career. What were your initial thoughts when you were approached by an organisation like OG to play alongside some big-name players, including a two-time Major champion?

I was honestly surprised when the offer came around and NBK told me to try out in OG. Towards the end of the year in ALTERNATE aTTaX I was slowly losing motivation and enjoyment for the game. I had won the German National Championship three times and always wanted to go further in the CS scene. When the team and OG agreed on signing me I felt like it relit the fire inside me and gave me the opportunity I always wanted in my career. Right now we are super excited and extremely motivated to improve individually and as a group.

This will be a considerable step up from the teams where you played before. Did you have any reservations?

I had no reservations when it came to joining OG. The team is made up of talented and passionate players. I believe this is a perfect playground for me to develop as a player while I have such experienced players teaching me along the way. When I have an opportunity like this in front of me, I will always face it head-on and give it my everything even if some people don't believe in me.

Throughout your career you’ve played multiple roles, from entry fragger to hybrid AWPer. Could you expand a little bit on your role in the new team and how things have been going for you in terms of adapting to a new system and a new role?

I am the designated AWPer for OG. I always wanted to play the main AWP role during my career but I always ended up being the hybrid AWPer for my past teams. The adaptation period these couple of weeks has been really fun and I am learning a lot the more we play. I have players in my team who have played with the best AWPers in the world and they are helping me in every step along the way.

As the newcomer in the team and the one to fulfill the key AWP role, you will have a lot of eyes on you. How do you think that you will be able to handle the pressure?

My teammates believe in me and are giving me the confidence to set the pressure aspect aside. I also have a lot of fans from across the world who have followed me in my career and believe in my skillset and what I have to offer to the team. With these factors, I am confident in myself and the team that we will perform well and that we will gradually improve as we keep playing.

To those who don’t know you or your trajectory thus far, what can you say about your style? What can people expect from you?

I would say I have an aggressive playstyle where I will always search for the fight first. With the help of Aleksib and NBK I am developing the best playstyle for myself where I can balance being aggressive and passive as the rounds go along.

What has it been like to work alongside such renowned players? What has the team been focused on since you got together?

It has been a great privilege to work alongside such experienced players. We are all extremely motivated and we have been practicing really hard these past weeks. We have a good team environment and because of this our practice has been really beneficial. We are focusing on perfecting the basics and making sure we are all on the same page. The chemistry is already naturally there as we are all getting along, so we are quickly improving on the server.

I imagine that there is a look to take in at this stage, especially for you. What goals have you and the team set out for 2020? How much time do you think that it will take for the team to be at 100%?

Being a top-five team in the upcoming year is a rational goal. We are improving really quickly as we have really experienced players in the team, who are motivated to perfect everything. I believe in the upcoming months we will truly show our skill case individually and as a team.