HAVU on Flashpoint run: "We probably played the best CS we've played with the current roster"

We sat down with HAVU's Olli "⁠sLowi⁠" Pitkänen and Joonas "⁠doto⁠" Forss to ask about the team's impressive run in Flashpoint 1 ahead of their campaign in BLAST Rising.

The Finnish side surprised many during their campaign in Los Angeles last month as they claimed the third prize of $100,000, taking down much of the competition in the league along the way, including MAD Lions, c0ntact, Gen.G, and Cloud9.

We had a chance to speak to two of HAVU's players after they returned home from the United States during their time off following the month-long event. In the interview, sLowi and doto discussed the team's improvement, the run in Los Angeles, and shared their thoughts on overtaking local rivals ENCE in the rankings.

With HAVU set to return to action on Tuesday in BLAST Rising, in which they will compete in Group B with AGO, Giants, and Nordavind, we also asked the duo about their expectations for the tournament, in which they are the highest-ranked team in attendance.

What kind of expectations did you have before Flashpoint? Was a top-three finish realistic in your mind?

sLowi: "In my eyes it was, a lot of the teams attending had just done a roster change, which I thought would help our chances to make a deep run. Of course, we also probably played the best CS we've played with the current roster."

doto: "We expected to do well in Flashpoint. We knew that we could beat every team there but also lose to many due to not really knowing the state of the NA teams. Top four was our goal and we are happy we did even better."

The team had stagnated for the previous few months. What changed when you were playing in Los Angeles, where you beat seven different teams, in many cases from the position of the underdogs? What were the keys to that success?

sLowi: "At the beginning of the year we had some problems role-wise as doto and I have similar play-styles in some senses, but we got that sorted out and got good practice while being in LA, and of course beating MAD Lions in the first game gave us confidence going forward. Personally, I was taking every game at a time, not really giving any thought to who we were facing or what was on the line, which I think helped with the pressure of being the underdog."

doto: "The start of the year was pretty rough for us and our game just simply felt off. The biggest thing about our improvement in LA was probably the ability to practice more and better and, of course, the inability to do anything besides focusing on CS. We didn't really see ourselves as the dark horse or underdogs for the most part. We knew what we were capable of and we were excited to show others that."

The opening matchup of the first phase pitted you against MAD Lions, a team that many saw as one of the tournament favorites. How important was that victory to your confidence?

sLowi: "Well, it surely created some confidence. After the first game I was pretty sure we had what it takes to win it all, even though it was like their first game with AcilioN instead of HUNDEN."

doto: "I feel like the first game against MAD Lions meant a lot to us since it was against the best team there and also the opener and eventually our only LAN game. We gained some confidence and momentum from it, but ultimately it didn't matter since there was a long break from games after that."

Did you see your showing as your highest peak yet? Did the competition help you find a new ceiling?

sLowi: "I think the only thing we proved to ourselves is that working hard does pay off, we put in a lot of work to improve as a unit and I truly think that we are capable of continuing to improve."

doto: "Definitely not. Although people are skeptical of our individual players' performances I truly believe every one of us can improve easily by just gaining confidence in playing against higher-level teams. Our team play is better but still flawed, so we will be working on that even more."

You've been putting in great numbers lately and that shone through in Flashpoint especially. What was behind that form?

sLowi: "There might be a couple of reasons, actually, it's pretty hard to pinpoint exactly what it is. I try to make a few adjustments to my playstyle and also the way I hold my mouse if that makes any sense. It might just be a placebo effect, but it seemed to have worked (laughs)."

After a few days, the tournament went online amidst the start of the pandemic. How was that experience, to play out the rest of the event being locked inside in Los Angeles for close to a month?

sLowi: "It is what it is. Of course, the whole 'experience' is a bit different when it's not played on LAN, but Flashpoint did their best to work around the pandemic and I'm happy with the way they did it."

doto: "It was a bit disappointing, to be honest. We were eager to get some more international LAN games under our belts. However, just like every other team, we had to make the best of the situation and with assistance from Flashpoint managed to work around the pandemic."

How significant was it for you to find that you had overtaken ENCE in the rankings after the tournament? Is there a sense of a local rivalry with them?

sLowi: "It feels pretty good, but in my eyes, ENCE still has a lot more merit than we do and I rank them quite highly even though they have been going through a rough time recently."

doto: "It would be naive of me to say there isn't a rivalry and overtaking them doesn't matter, but overall I think both teams are more focused on how they perform instead of focusing too much on each other."

What do you make of their move for a six-man roster with Jamppi? Did you ever consider getting him yourselves?

sLowi: "Jamppi is an amazing player, so his addition will be beneficial for both if they can make it work. The only thing that worries me are the roles in that team, but the individual skill is there for sure. And no, we didn't really think about getting Jamppi."

doto: "If they can make it work, then why not? Jamppi is an insane player and hopefully it can all be sorted out. Only time will tell."

By going as far as you did in Flashpoint, you ended up giving up on DreamHack Masters Spring. Was that tradeoff worth it? Do you expect to get more invites in the near future thanks to your showing in L.A.?

sLowi: "We really didn't even know we were giving up on DreamHack Masters Spring, we were 100% focused on Flashpoint. Even though we gave up on a few Finnish tournaments, I think the tradeoff was definitely worth it in the end."

doto: "Honestly, I don't even think we knew about this tournament since we were so focused on Flashpoint but these tournaments come and go, so I think we'll be fine. We are hoping to get some invites to future bigger events, but I think right now it's looking unlikely since all the top teams can pretty much attend everything they want."

You will be the highest-ranked team in the upcoming BLAST Rising. What are your expectations for the tournament? Do you see yourselves as favorites there?

sLowi: "We decided to take a few weeks off after we came back from LA, so I'm not too sure what our level of play will be, at least at the beginning of the tournament, but in the end we are the highest-ranked team for a reason and I'm sure we can finish it on top."

doto: "I don’t really know where we are at right now, but as always we play tournaments to win them, so I'm expecting a deep run if not even a tournament win."