JDC: "I showed that I'm here to destroy if it comes down to it"

We sat down with the top performer at the WePlay Academy League Season 1 Finals after he and his team raised the trophy in Kyiv.

Ádám "⁠torzsi⁠" Torzsás stole the show in the WePlay Academy League grand final with a 1.60 rating in MOUZ NXT's victory over Young Ninjas, but Jon "⁠JDC⁠" de Castro was the international squad's stalwart throughout the tournament, ending the event in Kyiv as the top-rated player with a well above average 1.29 rating in the 11 maps he and his team played.

To celebrate MOUZ NXT's victory at the WePlay Esports Arena in the Ukrainian capital, as well as JDC's performance at the event, we sat down with the player after he and his squad took revenge on Young Ninjas in the grand final to hear his thoughts about MOUZ NXT's run through the gauntlet at the youth tournament, how the team managed to come out on top in the final after a long day of play, as well as some questions dealing with the 21-year-old's personal history and the coming together of MOUZ' academy team.

You won!

Yeah [laughs] we won!

How did it feel taking into account yesterday's loss to Young Ninjas and having to play both the consolidation final and the grand final on the same day?

It feels really deserved, in a way, because it was mentally very tough for us. It was a long, long day, but it was really amazing and we kept playing through everything. The mental game was really important and we were fighting for every moment, every situation, we were hyping each other up. We had a nice talk after losing a map to fnatic Rising, I took over and wanted to make sure that everyone is feeling good and that they enjoy being here because it's a privilege in a way.

We do this for our living, it's our passion, we should value the moment no matter what happens. So I had a really nice talk with the boys, I was hyping them and then we go into the next map, which was really close, and we broke the mental toughness, we got out of the nervous zone and just played like home. It was the mouz NXT that we are, that we showed before, the real shape we should be in every time.

Speaking of breaking the nerves, what was playing a LAN like this one and adjusting to being under the spotlight?

I have to say the boys managed it amazingly. I've been to a couple of LANs, so I'd say I was fine, but every time you go on LAN a bit of nerves kick in. It's completely normal, so I tried to talk to them as a way of accepting the fact that they have nerves and that it's only human. Every great sportsman, no matter what, will feel that, so they shouldn't hide it, they should embrace it. So we talked about it a lot, if people are feeling nervous, anxious, whatever it is. And yeah, I think we managed pretty well.

I don't think it affected us too hard, I think it pushed us in the end even more. The screaming, we had a lot of hype going on and that was the LAN environment. Seeing everyone so close, everybody bleeding for the same goal, it was truly amazing and I'm glad it worked out the way it did.

It appears that you're a bit of a leader outside of the server, so what has your role been and what role do you have in this team?

That's a really good question, I'm very multi culti rolewise, I'd say. I bring a lot of mental strength to the team, that's one of the specific things I focus on. I want everyone to be their best version, and I try to be mine as well. I don't know if you can call me a leader outside of the game, but I will always be there for everyone, equally, and I will support them if they have any kind of bad feelings about anything.

In the game I'm a second to third entry kind of guy. I like to play clutches and high pressure moments, I really strive with that. I also support my mates, and I'm pretty much an all-rounder. I second AWP, too, but my main strength is building a good, focused environment for everyone. I instantly notice when someone is feeling down, from their body language and everything, and I'm just there to pick them back up, which I think is one of my biggest strengths.

You were a bit more discrete in the group stage, but you came alive and played lights out in the LAN. What was it you found here that got you in the groove?

As you say, I didn't perform to this extent online. I think that here, this is just what I do, what I want to do for the next years, so the hype here is different. The feeling, I love to play on LAN. I would say that in general, my teammates needed me here, so this is the kind of feeling I want. When we were playing online it was going really good, I'd say, and I just did my job. It wasn't extraordinary. But here, I got played on a lot. They challenged the sites I play and I showed that I have my team's back and I'm here to destroy if it comes down to it. So yeah, it was an amazing tournament for me, I would say.

You were the favorites with Young Ninjas to take it all. How did the team come into the tournament mentally?

I have a very strict mental approach to every kind of tournament we play, and it's that we should win it no matter the opponent. I always try to keep my mind out of that, specifically, because I think that worrying about the opponents you have and the names they are, can only make you unsure about what you are and I think that the only way to play to your greatest is to just be yourself and accept that you're better than them. Even if maybe you're not, on the HLTV ranking or whatever. But you just need to be as sharp as you can be, and that can only happen if you don't get intimidated by names or anything.

I talked to the boys, everyone was on the same page, 'we're going to win here until we get proven otherwise.' We got beaten in the second day and everyone was sad, I was sad, but that's just part of the game and I told everyone that losing is just what makes you better and it shows that we just need to learn more. And that's what we did, we learned from our loss and came back stronger in the final.

You played six maps on the final day, including a nail-biter in the final map against fnatic Rising. How was it going into the second series after already playing a full best-of-three? Did it help you warm up or was it too long?

We were really energetic playing the best-of-three, and I was afraid that it could take a lot of energy from us. But it actually did the exact opposite. We were so hype, we were so strong in every aspect. We warmed up really well in the first game and broke our mental weakness, in a way, because we just accepted that we're good and we play together and that we'll win no matter what. fnatic Rising played a really good match, they're really strong, so overcoming them in this very close match just relieved us from a lot of pressure.

Going into the Young Ninjas game they had beaten us up yesterday, so we had no pressure. I told the boys that we were going to play our game, believe in ourselves, be confident, do whatever we'd do at home. I made a couple of jokes and it worked perfectly. They started to make moves, to not be scared anymore, and that's what happened in the end.

What about torzsi in the final? He went pretty crazy in that final series. But it seems like he hasn't quite found his peak yet in this team. Is he still adjusting?

I wouldn't say that he's adjusting, I think he's a really good AWPer if not the best I've ever played with and he's just amazing. He had a slow start, but I think it was mental. We had a good talk after the map loss to fnatic Rising and after that he just exploded. The final series was just his, he played so well. I think it's a mental thing, everything in the game is a mental thing, and as soon as you get control of it, like he did today, you'll play amazing, and he did. So I'd say he's not adjusting, it's more that he's finding his mental spot to be in.

You spent some time grinding through German teams and fighting in the lower tiers. What is it like for you now to have a shot with mouz NXT?

To be fair, I think I always got underestimated in Germany a lot. I had a bad reputation for being maybe a dumb guy or just an individual player. I always said that I want to prove myself differently than in the German scene, that I want to show what I can do internationally. This chance is exactly what I wanted since starting to play professionally.

I wanted to get out of the German scene, where I think I was underestimated, or looked at in a wrong way. Right now I have the reputation I fought for over the past four years of playing professionally and right now I think it's going in the right direction. This means everything to me, this is my life, my goal since I'm 15 or 16. It has been a long ride, I've sacrificed so much and I will not stop until I'm at the top. That's the plan for the future.

Regarding the team and its creation. You were one of the first guys on, so can you tell me how it came together?

Along sycrone, we were pretty much the first two on the building spot. We had xertioN in talks, as well, but we joined a bit earlier. From there on sycrone, myself and the CEO of mouz we had a lot of talks about potential players. We watched a lot of demos, opened up our ears to the scene and informed ourselves about potential players. We found them pretty quick, I would say. We had the Polish duo in our eyes because they played amazingly and fit the age and roles. As I said, torzsi is just a beast in his role, we needed and AWPer and personality-wise it clicked instantly.

After picking up the guys we had a talk and after we talked for the first time we connected instantly. The jokes were all over the place, it felt like we knew each other for years. I think it's very important to have that connection in a team, not being afraid of showing emotion in front of each other, not being afraid to lose together, to win together, like a unit.

Before mouz NXT you always played in the German scene, but you're also Portuguese. Did you ever think about playing in a Portuguese team?

I never thought about it before. It came up in the past six months and maybe the opportunity arising of me playing in a Portuguese team, but I don't know. I like the international style and I'm good at English considering where I'm from. Along with German I'd say it's my mother tongue, I'm very confident speaking it. Portuguese, not so much. I understand it fluently but I sometimes struggle to find words, so it's not a priority. But if the chance arises and I think it's the right team, who knows? My goal is to be in the top 30 and the top 10 someday with guys that have the same goal, no matter what country they are from or what language they speak.